DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 11/20/09

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E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA SUBJECT: DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 11/20/09 INDEX: (1) Interview with Ambassador Roos: Nago is the best Futenma relocation site; Japan, U.S. to cooperate for Six-Party Talks on DPRK issues; disagrees with talk of deterioration of alliance (Tokyo Shimbun) (2) Editorial: President Obama's tour of Asia - U.S. will be tested over North Korea's nuclear issue (Mainichi) (3) Seiron: Reflecting "principle" in foreign, security policies dangerous (Sankei) (4) Prosecutors seek three-year prison term for former Chinese husband for kidnapping and keeping two daughters in China for about 10 years (Yomiuri) (5) Political Cartoon (Asahi) ARTICLES: (1) Interview with Ambassador Roos: Nago is the best Futenma relocation site; Japan, U.S. to cooperate for Six-Party Talks on DPRK issues; disagrees with talk of deterioration of alliance TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full) November 20, 2009 U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos, 54, gave an interview to Tokyo Shimbun in Nagoya on Nov. 19. He discussed the relocation of the U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan City, Okinawa) and said that "the two governments are aware of the importance of reaching a conclusion expeditiously," indicating he is confident that the issue will be settled at an early date. On the abductions (of Japanese nationals) by North Korea, the Ambassador stated: "The U.S. government will give support and cooperate in a variety of ways." He spoke positively about the recent Japan-U.S. summit, regarding this as a "powerful start toward the deepening of the Japan-U.S. alliance." Q: The cabinet-level working group on the Futenma issue has kicked off but the gap between the two countries remains wide. Roos: President Obama respects the process taking place in Japan. The two leaders agreed to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. The working group was created to support this process. Q: What if a conclusion is not reached before the end of 2009? Roos: The U.S. has never set a deadline and has no intention to do so. The important thing is that the two sides hold close discussions in good faith to reach a conclusion. Q: Does the U.S. insist on the coastal area of Camp Schwab (in Nago City, Okinawa) as the relocation site, in accordance with the Japan-U.S. agreement of 2006? Roos: The United States' position is clear. The conclusion that we reached after a long process of dialogue is the best one. It is a feasible option. Q: Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has announced a total of over 5 TOKYO 00002686 002 OF 006 billion dollars (approximately 450 billion yen) in civilian aid for Afghanistan as part of the war against terrorism. Roos: This is very significant not only for the U.S., but also for the international community, for the sake of global stability and as solution to the problem. The President has expressed his appreciation. Q: On the other hand, the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean will be terminated in January. Roos: This is the Japanese government's decision, and the U.S. is not in a position to comment on it. The international community has certainly appreciated the refueling operations so far. Q: What is the Obama administration's basic stance on North Korea? Roos: Japan and the U.S. have a close cooperative relationship on this issue. We will consult closely with Japan to prod the DPRK to return to the Six-Party Talks. The President made special mention of the abduction issue in his Tokyo speech. We will give support and cooperate in a variety of ways for the resolution of this problem. Q: Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the revision of the Japan-U.S. security treaty. Roos: I disagree with the talk of the deterioration of the bilateral alliance. The alliance relationship remains strong, and it has contributed to stability in East Asia. As we commemorate its 50th anniversary, we also need to take up new roles suited to the global community while maintaining the alliance's fundamental elements. Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and global-warming countermeasures are some of the areas in which Japan and the U.S. can work together. True friendship and partnership must be between equals. I think the recent Japan-U.S. summit was a powerful start in terms of deepening the alliance. (2) Editorial: President Obama's tour of Asia - U.S. will be tested over North Korea's nuclear issue MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) November 20, 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama visited South Korea at the end of a four-nation tour of Asia that started in Japan, and made an announcement there that was suitable for that region. Obama said that the government will dispatch Special Representative for North Korea Policy Stephen Bosworth to Pyongyang starting on Dec. 8. The visit will become a major turning point to determine whether the U.S. will be able to bring North Korea back into the Six-Party Talks and to resume negotiations toward its denuclearization. The President's trip to Asia was naturally based on his grand scheme for Asia policy. He spelled out the scheme in his speech in Tokyo last week. The speech has been translated into Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, and Indonesian and made available on the official website of the White House. This reflects Washington's eagerness to expand its influence in the Asia-Pacific region. The President already achieved this aim in Singapore, which he visited after Japan. The main purpose of his Asia tour was to attend TOKYO 00002686 003 OF 006 the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders meeting. Besides that meeting, the U.S. held the first summit with the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at which Washington's policy switch to start talks with the Myanmar military junta was welcomed. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono particularly expressed a feeling of intimacy toward President Obama. Obama expressed his desire to visit Indonesia, where he spent his boyhood, together with his family. In response, Yudhoyono said: "You are a friend of Indonesia." In China, however, the situation was slightly different. A meeting for dialogue between the President and students was held in Shanghai, but many of the questions posed by participants were convenient to the Chinese government. They were probably selected by the government. Obama also made a critical comment on the Chinese government's regulations regarding the use of the Internet, but the meeting was televised not nationwide but by a local TV station. Although Obama reportedly referred to the human rights issue during a meeting with President Hu Jintao in Beijing, since the comment was not publicized, conservatives in the U.S. have criticized his stance as more weak-kneed than those taken by former President Bill Clinton and previous President George Bush when they visited China. It can be said that the power relationship between the U.S. and China has shifted. Obama also said in China: "There are few global issues that can be settled even without agreement between the U.S. and China." This view probably is behind his remark in the Tokyo speech: "The U.S. will not contain China." To be sure, China is a major player in dealing with such issues as the global economic crisis, global warming, natural resources, and security. China must be the core of Washington's new policy toward Asia. The question is what China should do. First, China should make contributions to resolving North Korea's nuclear issue. Since China chairs the Six-Party Talks and also controls the lifeline of North Korea by providing it with food and energy, it can exert strong influence over the North. By indirectly supporting Bosworth's visit to North Korea, China should strongly urge the North to return to the Six-Party Talks. (3) Seiron: Reflecting "principle" in foreign, security policies dangerous SANKEI (Page 7) (Excerpts) November 18, 2009 By Toshio Watanabe, president of Takushoku University Few results produced in Japan-U.S. summit Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama met on the evening of Nov. 13, but few results were produced in the meeting. They issued only joint statements - one pledging to aim at attaining the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 PERCENT by 2050 and another on realizing a world without nuclear weapons. It is true that these are the most crucial issues for this century, but both statements include only normal, common proposals. TOKYO 00002686 004 OF 006 I wonder if it is proper for such (global) issues to be discussed in a bilateral summit meeting. Even if Japan, which has no nuclear weapons, calls for a "nuclear-free world," the call is just a "paper pellet." It is good for the leaders to discuss an outline of the benchmark for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But since its roadmap has yet to be presented, it is hard for us to believe the attainability of the goal in 40 years. The prime minister probably easily agreed on the target out of diplomatic courtesy to preserve President Obama's honor. Why did Hatoyama refrain from taking up an imminent issue pending between Japan and the U.S.? Why has Japan stopped working on its national security, although ensuring national security is vital for the nation? The imminent issue I point out is whether to implement the accord reached between the governments of Japan and the U.S. in May 2006 to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in Nago City. Unless the accord is implemented, other existing plans will never be translated into action, such as the transfer of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam and the overall return to Japan of six facilities located in the southern part of Okinawa's main island. Disguised agreement It is necessary for Japan and the U.S. to reduce the burden on Okinawa while maintaining the current level of military deterrence in the Far East region. To attain these goals simultaneously and in a well-balanced way, there should be no other option at the present time but to implement the 2006 agreement. In the latest Japan-U.S. summit meeting, the two leaders reportedly agreed to set up a new ministerial-level bilateral panel and aim at bringing about an early solution to the base issue. This is an apparently "disguised" agreement. Focusing on improvement in the weapon system and geopolitics in the Asia-Pacific region, the U.S. laid out a U.S. force realignment strategy for the region, taking sufficient time. It therefore is inconceivable for the U.S. to accept the conditions that will inevitably undermine this strategy. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada must be aware of the position of the U.S., but they supposedly want to save the Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) honor by giving priority to its campaign pledge for moving a military base out of the prefecture or the nation. It should not be bad for a political party to try to persist with its principles. When it comes to national security, however, it is dangerous for a political party to try to reflect its principles in its policies. Responding to the rapidly changing international political environment in a flexible manner is important. North Korea is expected to declare in the future about its possession of nuclear missiles. Someday we may see China complete producing an aircraft carrier and hold command of the East China Sea. If the Japan-U.S. alliance does not properly function at such crucial moments, Japan will inevitably suffer a diplomatic defeat. A diplomatic approach should be flexible. Only this principle, "diplomacy is aimed to protect the lives and assets of people," should not be changed. Japan must hold firmly to this principle. If so, the nation should not be upset by such criticism as weak-kneed or tough, or even as being a renegade or a coward. TOKYO 00002686 005 OF 006 Measures necessary to have Japan-U.S. alliance function In the Sino-Japanese War, Japan fought in a friendless isolation. The U.S., which was the world's largest hegemonic country, is now Japan's ally. Countries surrounding Japan have taken an aggressive diplomatic approach and have deployed nuclear weapons or missiles targeted at Japan. Under such circumstances, it is necessary for Japan, which has taken a defense-only policy, to make efforts to solidify the Japan-U.S. alliance. An alliance must be between one country and another. Japan was defeated in World War II and consequently was on the brink of ruin. The original reason for this crisis is the abolishment of the Japan-Britain alliance. The Japan-Britain alliance contributed to ensuring Japan's national security during a period of 10 years before the end of the Meiji Period (1868-1919) and in the Taisho Period (1912-1926). The U.S., a hegemonic nation, pressed Japan and Britain to scrap their alliance after the end of World War I, with the aim of weakening Japan, another hegemonic nation. The U.S. strategy worked successfully. Instead, Japan concluded an alliance with Britain, the U.S. and France, but this alliance never functioned. Two countries that share common interests conclude an alliance. This is proved by the fact that Japan's security was perfectly protected under the Japan-Britain alliance and the Japan-U.S. alliance. The DPJ government appears to have taken the view that a multinational security system is superior to a bilateral alliance, as seen from its advocacy for establishing an East Asian Community. But Japan's contemporary history teaches us that such an approach is ineffective. (4) Prosecutors seek three-year prison term for former Chinese husband for kidnapping and keeping two daughters in China for about 10 years YOMIURI Tama Version (Page 35) (Full) November 18, 2009 It became clear on Nov. 17 that the Akishima Police Station has arrested Qin Weijie, 55 -- a company employee from China with no fixed address -- on suspicion of kidnapping his eldest and second daughters from his former wife for the purpose of transferring them to another country and other charges. Qin allegedly kept his two daughters in China for about 10 years after taking them away from his former wife when they were still in elementary school. A trial was held on Nov. 17 at the Tachikawa branch of the Tokyo District Court where prosecutors sought three years in prison for Qin, maintaining that it was a premeditated act that took place while the divorce proceedings were underway. The court ended with the defense team's request for a suspended sentence, claiming that Qin did not take the daughters away against their will and it was not a vicious act. The court will hand down its decision on Dec. 3. According to the indictment and other materials, Qin, who was planning to take the two daughters to his mother country of China, approached them near their school in Akishima City on June 8, 1999, saying, "Can you spend the day with me?" and kidnapped them by car. He then allegedly flew from Kansai International Airport to China's Hong Kong International Airport with them. The two daughters were taken into protective custody when they arrived in Japan to renew their passports in January this year, and Qin was also arrested this TOKYO 00002686 006 OF 006 past September when he arrived in Japan. According to the opening statement and other materials, in order to escape from Qin's violence, his ex-wife moved out of the house with their daughters in 1998. That year she filed for divorce with the Tokyo Family Court's Hachioji branch. In October 1999, the court's Hachioji branch made a decision to hand over the two daughters to the ex-wife as their custodian, and the former wife filed a complaint with the Akishima Police Station in April 2004. In response to questions at the court, Qin said, "I took them to China because I thought the children's lives would be unstable (under the custody of my former wife)," and, "The children said that they were willing to live in China." ROOS