JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 10/23/09

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E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 10/23/09 INDEX: 1) Top headlines 2) Editorials 3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) Special Diet session: 4) DPJ committee chairperson: Ship inspection bill unlikely to gain approval in special Diet session (Nikkei) 5) Hatoyama administration eliminates SDF reference from ship-inspection bill (Asahi) 6) Bill granting voting rights to foreigners postponed (Nikkei) Futenma drama: 7) Prime Minister opines no need to rush decision on Futenma; Obama visit is not a deadline (Yomiuri) 8) Tanigaki worried about review of Futenma agreement (Nikkei) Politics: 9) DPJ announces four independent lawmakers joined party (Nikkei) Foreign relations: 10) Japan International Forum submits policy recommendations on Japan-U.S. alliance to Hatoyama administration (Yomiuri) Space: 11) U.S. to use in new unmanned space vehicle approach system developed in Japan (Yomiuri) Articles: 1) TOP HEADLINES Asahi: Wasteful public work projects sneaked into estimated budget requests Mainichi: Government Revitalization Unit to publicly sort through projects to cut wasteful spending from 95 trillion yen in budget requests Yomiuri: Government Revitalization Unit to review priorities for special account budget requests Nikkei: Central government to transfer control of six administrative services, including standards for childcare center users, to municipalities Sankei: Futenma Air Station relocation issue: New candidate for relocation site to be picked before year's end Tokyo Shimbun: Education Ministry to make request for free private high school tuition fees Akahata: Toyota Motors resumes recruiting contract workers, but only for six months at most TOKYO 00002444 002 OF 005 2) EDITORIALS Asahi: (1) Reopening of Ashikaga case: The court should sit in judgment on its own mistake (2) Government Revitalization Unit: We pin hopes on panel members tasked with identifying wasteful spending Mainichi: (1) Government Revitalization Unit should serve as mechanism to enhance quality of budget (2) Futenma Air Station relocation: The will of the administration not in sight Yomiuri: (1) How will the Government Revitalization Unit cut wasteful use of tax revenues by screening budget requests? (2) Reopening of Ashikaga case should lead to prevention of recurrence of false charges Nikkei: (1) The Hatoyama administration should debate issues in Diet (2) Chinese economy only midway to recovery Sankei: (1) Extraordinary Diet session to be convened on Oct. 26: Continue efforts to submit key legislation (2) Land, Infrastructure and Transport Minister Maehara's statement: He should continue to dig in heels over illegal occupation of Northern Territories by Russia Tokyo Shimbun: (1) Appointment of former bureaucrat to Japan Post Holdings Co. president: We doubt the government is serious about moving away from bureaucracy-oriented politics (2) Reelection in Afghanistan: Priority should be given to rooting out irregularities and corruption Akahata: (1) National Association of Social Rehabilitation Centers for Mentally Handicapped Persons' case: Correct the collusive ties that allow it to swindle subsidies 3) Prime Minister's schedule, October 22, 2009 NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) October 23, 2009 07:58 Met Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei). Joined by National Strategy Bureau Minister Kan. 08:53 Attended a meeting of the Government Revitalization Unit. 10:05 Held a briefing on the Government Revitalization Unit to senior vice ministers and others. 10:57 Attended a memorial service at the Grand Arc Hotel to commemorate police officers and people that cooperated with them who died in the call of duty. 11:43 Attended a special cabinet meeting at the Kantei to examine policy speech. 12:33 Met Foreign Minister Okada and Defense Minister Kitazawa. 13:45 Attended the Autumn Garden Party at the Akasaka Imperial TOKYO 00002444 003 OF 005 Gardens. 15:18 Met METI Vice Minister Mochizuki and Trade Policy Bureau Director General Okada at the Kantei. 16:03 Attended a meeting of government and DPJ leaders. 17:20 Met Kan and Cabinet Office Vice Minister Furukawa. Kan stayed behind. Vice Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Hosokawa joined later. 18:41 Recorded a video to introduce Japan to the APEC member countries. 19:37 Attended a gathering to remember the late Ryuichiro Hosokawa, a political commentator, at a restaurant in Kita-Aoyama. 23:23 Arrived at his private residence. 4) DPJ Diet affairs chief: "Enacting ship inspection legislation is difficult" NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) October 23, 2009 Democratic Party of Japan Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka indicated to the press corps at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) yesterday that during the extraordinary Diet session (to be convened on Oct. 26) it would be difficult to enact special measures legislation to facilitate inspection of cargo on ships traveling to and from North Korea. The government is leaning toward submission of a bill to the Diet. Yamaoka did not deny the possibility of the government submitting the bill, saying, "Depending on circumstances, the government may submit (the bill)." 5) Government deletes reference to SDF involvement from cargo inspection bill ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts) October 24, 2009 The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama compiled a bill yesterday to enable Japan to inspect ships heading to and from North Korea. It is planning to submit the bill to the upcoming extraordinary Diet session. The previous government led by the Liberal Democratic Party had the involvement of the Self-Defense Force (SDF) in mind, but the Hatoyama government deleted any reference to the SDF from the bill, out of consideration for the Social Democratic Party, which is opposed to the dispatch of SDF personnel overseas. The bill stipulates that the primary responsibility for the task be given to the Japan Coast Guard. 6) Bill granting right to vote for permanent foreign residents put on hold NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) October 23, 2009 Referring to a bill that would grant local election voting rights to permanent foreign residents, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Oct. 22 said, "Preparations might not have been completed yet. It might be difficult to have it ready for submission to the next Diet session." He thus noted that the bill will not be submitted before the regular Diet session to be convened next January. He made this statement in reply to a question asked by reporters at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (the Kantei). While visiting South Korea on the Oct. 9, the prime minister said that he wanted to reach a positive conclusion on the issue. TOKYO 00002444 004 OF 005 7) Prime minister will not rush decision on Futenma relocation issue: "The U.S. President's visit to Japan is not a deadline" YOMIURI (Page 1) (Excerpt) October 23, 2009 Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on the evening of Oct. 22 said, "I do not think the planned Futenma Air Station relocation is an issue that must be settled by the time U.S. President Obama visits Japan." He thus indicated that the time of the U.S. President's visit to Japan, which will take place on November 12-13, will not be a target for a decision on the matter. He thus clarified his stance of not complying with the U.S. request. He made this remark at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (the Kantei). 8) LDP's Tanigaki "concerned" about Futenma pact review NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) October 23, 2009 Liberal Democratic Party President Sadakazu Tanigaki held a press conference yesterday, during which he strongly criticized the Hatoyama cabinet's response to the issue of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture. "Just because they've taken the reins of government, they're going to casually overturn the agreement reached between Japan and the United States," Tanigaki said. "I'm very concerned," he added. Tanigaki also stressed: "The Futenma issue is part of a package including plans to move the U.S. Marines (from Okinawa) to Guam and to mitigate Okinawa's base-hosting burden. So if they're going to change the agreement, they must come up with an alternative plan." 9) Four independent Upper House members join DPJ NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) October 23, 2009 The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) announced yesterday that four independent House of Councillors members - Yoetsu Suzuki, Toshiro Tomochika, Hajime Hirota, and Ikitsu Toyama - have joined the party. Because the four already belonged to the DPJ-led parliamentary group in the Upper House, there is no change to the 118 parliamentary group members (excluding Upper House President Satsuki Eda). 10) Tokyo think tank makes proposal for Prime Minister Hatoyama on Japan-U.S. alliance YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) October 23, 2009 The Japan Forum on International Relations (chaired by Takashi Imai) submitted to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama a policy proposal titled "Proactive pacifism and the Japan-U.S. alliance." The proposal points out that the Hatoyama administration "should make its best effort to implement" the agreement reached between Japan and the United States on the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. The forum also calls for lifting the ban on the use of the right of collective self-defense, as well as for creating a general law for international peace cooperation. 11) U.S. chooses Japanese PLS components for new unmanned TOKYO 00002444 005 OF 005 spacecraft YOMIURI (Page 2) (Excerpts) October 23, 2009 Technology installed on the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) - an unmanned spacecraft developed in Japan - has been chosen for a key component in an unmanned spacecraft under development in the United States, according to an announcement yesterday by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, developer of the technology. This is the first time Japanese technology was chosen for a core component in a U.S. space vehicle. Its selection proves, in a sense, that Japanese space technology is becoming more competitive in international satellite and other space-related markets. Japanese companies are expected to step up efforts to sell their products on international markets. Mitsubishi Electric received an order to supply Proximity Link System (PLS) components that will guide a space vehicle safely to the International Space Station (ISS). In the middle of last month, the HTV successfully docked with the ISS, giving the company a high reputation for its space technologies. Mitsubishi Electric received the order from Orbital Sciences Corporation (based in Virginia),a private firm that is developing the new unmanned space vehicle Cygnus Spacecraft under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Mitsubishi Electric will deliver the components for nine vehicles to Orbital between 2010 and 2014 in a deal valued at approximately 6 billion yen. ROOS