JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 12/30/09

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E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA SUBJECT: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 12/30/09 INDEX: 1) Top headlines 2) Editorials 3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) Futenma issue: 4) Ozawa expresses reluctance to accept existing Futenma plan (Yomiuri) 5) Okada says existing plan for Futenma facility relocation acceptable in the absence of better alternative (Nikkei) 6) Ozawa considers Shimoji Island as candidate for Futenma replacement facility (Sankei) Defense & security: 7) Hit-and-run case involving U.S. service member to be referred to prosecutor's office after the turn of the year (Tokyo Shimbun) Secret accords: 8) Blue-ribbon panel confirms existence of 3 secret accords (Tokyo Shimbun) 9) Okada says blue-ribbon panel's report on secret accords may appear after January (Tokyo Shimbun) Politics: 10) New Komeito shifts toward Ozawa (Mainichi) Foreign relations: 11) Japanese, Indian leaders agree to strengthen bilateral security cooperation (Nikkei) Economy: 12) Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan proposes JAL legal liquidation plan; rejected by banks (Yomiuri) Opinion: 13) Yomiuri poll: 20 governors give child allowances low marks (Yomiuri) Articles: 1) TOP HEADLINES Asahi: Pension records of 4,727 South Koreans verified by Social Insurance Agency Mainichi: Record 44,000 civil cases filed with Tokyo District Court in 2009 Yomiuri: Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan proposes JAL legal liquidation plan; rejected by banks Nikkei: Government debts reaching limit of reliance on household savings Sankei: Rikuzan-kai paid Ozawa 400 million yen in 2007 Tokyo Shimbun: Lower House member Ishikawa explains "loan" of 380 million yen from TOKYO 00002944 002 OF 007 Ozawa in land deal Akahata: Surplus profits of major manufacturers twice that of the bubble period 2) EDITORIALS Asahi: (1) Attempted terrorist attack on U.S. plane: How to prevent a repeat of the nightmare (2) 30,000 suicides: Give more support to the bereaved families Mainichi: (1) Japan-India summit: Cooperate also on global issues (2) Do not forget Middle East peace Yomiuri: (1) Looking back on 2009, international affairs: The world moved with the advent of the Obama administration Nikkei: (1) Japan-India relationship has potential for dramatic expansion (2) Strategies of oil producing countries changing with global warming Sankei: (1) Looking back on 2009: Do not take "old things" lightly; hidden errors in good impression of "new things" Tokyo Shimbun: (1) Thoughts at the end of 2009: Futenma and bonds between Japan and the U.S. Akahata: (1) Emissions goal: Hatoyama administration should persist in 25 PERCENT reduction 3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) Prime Minister's schedule NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) December 30, 2009 December 28 (Local time) Night Stayed overnight at Oberoi Hotel. December 29 Night Offered flowers at Raj Ghat in Delhi. Held summit talks with Prime Minister Singh at the Hyderabad House. Noon Signed a joint statement. Afterward held a joint press conference and attended a luncheon party hosted by Prime Minister Singh and his wife. Afternoon Left Palam Air Base in the city on a government plane. December 30 (Japan time) TOKYO 00002944 003 OF 007 00:35 Arrived at Haneda Airport. 01:11 Arrived at his official residential quarters 4) Ozawa expresses reluctance to accept existing Futenma plan YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) December 30, 2009 The secretaries general and the Diet Affairs Committee chairmen of the three ruling parties - the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ),the Social Democratic Party (SDP),and the People's New Party (PNP) - held an end-of-the-year party at a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo last night and had pleasant talks for over two hours. According to an attendee, DPJ Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa expressed his intention to cooperate with the SDP and the PNP in conducting election campaigns in next summer's Upper House election. Ozawa also voiced his wish to continue the three-party alliance even after the Upper House election, saying, "Let's get together like this in the summer and at the end of next year as well." The attendee also indicated that Ozawa expressed his reluctance to go along with the existing plan to relocate Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, saying that "beautiful waters should not be reclaimed." 5) FM Okada: If there are no good proposals for Futenma relocation, current plan continues to be valid NIKKEI (Page 2) (Abridged) December 30, 2009 At a news conference on Dec. 29, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada commented on the relocation of the U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa. He said: "If a better proposal comes up, we should go ahead with it; otherwise, the current plan continues to be valid." This statement reflects Okada's view that if the panel of the government and the ruling parties fails to find a new relocation site, it is possible that a solution based on the existing plan to relocate the Futenma base to the coastal area of Camp Schwab as agreed between Japan and the U.S. may be adopted. 6) Ozawa: Futenma base should be moved to Iejima or Shimojishima island SANKEI (Page 1) (Abridged) December 30, 2009 Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, has told ruling party lawmakers that he would consider an outlying island of Okinawa Prefecture as a new relocation site for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, sources revealed yesterday. Ozawa is positive about building an alternative facility at the U.S. military's Iejima island airfield in the Okinawa prefectural village of Ieson, or alternatively at Shimojishima airport in the Okinawa prefectural city of Miyakojima. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has also hinted at the relocation of Futenma airfield within Okinawa Prefecture. The DPJ will propose relocating Futenma airfield to either of the two outlying islands when the government and the ruling coalition hold a consultative meeting. Meanwhile, the DPJ will exclude the current plan to relocate Futenma airfield to a coastal area of Camp Schwab, a U.S. military facility located in the Henoko area of the island TOKYO 00002944 004 OF 007 prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago, from its listing of feasible options for the Futenma relocation. "We must respect the voices of people in Okinawa Prefecture," Ozawa told Muneo Suzuki, president of the New Party Daichi, indicating his negative view of the current plan. He added, "Is it acceptable to pollute the beautiful sea?" According to ruling party lawmakers, Ozawa told them on Dec. 15 about his idea of relocating the heliport functions of Futenma airfield within Okinawa Prefecture. "There may be a site that can be used in an area that is not being used (by the U.S. military)," Ozawa was quoted as saying. He also indicated that the government should look into the possibility of relocating Futenma airfield to Iejima island or Shimojishima island. He referred to Shimojishima airport when he met with ruling party executives yesterday. 7) U.S. Army staff sergeant, suspect in hit-and-run incident in Yomitan, Okinawa, to be indicted in early January TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 27) (Excerpts) December 30, 2009 In the hit-and-run incident in Yomitan Village, Okinawa, in November that resulted in the death of a 66-year-old man, the Okinawa Prefectural Police decided on Dec. 29 to send the indictment papers charging a 27-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant from the Torii Communications Station with negligent driving resulting in death to the public prosecutor's office as soon as Jan. 4. The police will continue investigations to build a case of violation of the Road Traffic Law (hit-and-run) against him. The staff sergeant was interrogated on a voluntary basis by the police for a few times at first, but refused to make himself available for questioning subsequently. He is currently being detained by the U.S. Army inside Torii Station. 8) MOFA committee confirms existence of three Japan-U.S. secret agreements TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Abridged) December 30, 2009 The experts' committee (chaired by Tokyo University Professor Shinichi Kitaoka) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on four secret Japan-U.S. agreements pertaining to security confirmed as of Dec. 29 the existence of three secret agreements through the discovery of related documents. Previous MOFA internal investigations had been unsuccessful in positively substantiating the existence of one of them -- the secret agreement allowing the introduction of nuclear arms during a contingency on the Korean peninsula. With regard to the fourth secret agreement on Japan's payment of the cost of restoring land to its original state at the time of Okinawa's reversion to Japanese administration, the committee intends to expand its investigation to former officials of the Ministry of Finance. 9) FM Okada says MOFA experts' committee's report on four secret Japan-U.S. agreements may be delayed TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 3) (Full) December 30, 2009 TOKYO 00002944 005 OF 007 At a news conference on Dec. 29, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada commented on the submission of the report by the experts' committee on four secret Japan-U.S. agreements. He said: "The committee is deepening its deliberations. There is an opinion that the process will take a bit more time." He pointed out that the report may be delayed beyond January 2010, when it had been originally scheduled to appear. 10) New Komeito shifting weight to Ozawa MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) December 30, 2009 Ryuko Tadokoro The New Komeito has begun clearly shifting weight to Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa, trying to woo him. Ozawa's power is indispensable for realizing the New Komeito's long-cherished wish of granting local voting rights to permanent foreign residents. The shift also alludes to the party's plan to cooperate with the DPJ in the future. After becoming an opposition party, the New Komeito has moved closer to the DPJ, moving away from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP),its former coalition partner. In fact, the party did not join the LDP's continued boycott of deliberations in the previous extra Diet session. But the New Komeito is still overshadowed by the gigantic ruling party, the DPJ. The New Komeito shifted to a critical stance toward the DPJ after the issue of "politics and money" involving Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Ozawa came to light. But the party has made a distinction in response to the two. On Dec. 24, the day the Prime Minister's former secretary was indicted for falsifying donations, New Komeito Representative Natsuo Yamaguchi called for the early resignation of the Prime Minister. But after the first hearing of the trial of Ozawa's first state-paid secretary, Yamaguchi released a statement that simply called for an effort to uncover the truth about the incident. There have been more cases illustrating the New Komeito's consideration for Ozawa. In contrast to the LDP's lashing out at Ozawa over the government's involvement in the Emperor's special audience with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, Yamaguchi defended Ozawa, who had touched on the resignation of the Imperial Household Agency grand steward. Ozawa has expressed a plan to submit to the next regular Diet session a local suffrage bill as government-sponsored legislation. The New Komeito pins great hopes on Ozawa over the matter, long shelved under the previous LDP-New Komeito administration. "In our party there is an emotional resistance to Mr. Ozawa," a senior New Komeito lawmaker said, "but after all he is the person who is controlling the DPJ," 11) Japanese, Indian PMs agree to strengthen bilateral security cooperation NIKKEI SHIMBUN (Page 1) (Abridged) December 30, 2009 New Delhi TOKYO 00002944 006 OF 007 Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met with Indian Prime Minister Singh at the state guest house in New Delhi in the morning of Dec. 29 (the afternoon of the same day in Japan). The two leaders signed an action plan for strengthening cooperation in security and agreed to accelerate negotiations for the conclusion of an economic partnership agreement (EPA). Prime Minister Hatoyama requested India sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) at an early date. Prime Minister Singh responded that "if the U.S. and China signed the treaty, there would be a new situation." The action plan includes strengthening cooperation through holding annual talks at the level of foreign affairs and defense vice ministers (two plus two),establishing a "maritime security forum" for defending Indian Ocean sea lanes, and conducting anti-piracy measures in the Somalia offing. The action plan is based on the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation signed by former Prime Minister Taro Aso and Prime Minister Singh. 12) Legal liquidation of JAL presented YOMIURI (Top play) (Excerpt) December 30, 2009 The presidents of Japan Airlines' main creditor banks, executives of the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of Japan (ETIC), and Land and Transport Minister Seiji Maehara met in Tokyo yesterday to discuss the carrier's rehabilitation. Although the ETIC presented options that combine financial aid from the body and the legal liquidation of JAL, the group of banks rejected them, citing a possible expansion of their losses and adverse effects on flight operations. They have decided to re-discuss the matter early next year. Meanwhile, five relevant cabinet ministers are scheduled to hold talks today. Efforts to coordinate views among the concerned parties on methods to revive the carrier are gaining momentum. 13) Poll: 20 governors disapprove of child allowance plan YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged) December 30, 2009 The Yomiuri Shimbun conducted a spot questionnaire survey of the nation's 47 governors over the government's budget for fiscal 2010. In the survey, a total of 20 governors gave negative answers when asked about the government's plan to provide child allowances. The government plans to have local public entities partially shoulder the burden of payouts for the child allowances. However, the survey reveals that there is deep-seated opposition to the plan among the governors, with the governor of Ibaraki Prefecture saying the plan is "finagling." Prime Minister Hatoyama had initially indicated that the government would fund the child allowance payout plan. Meanwhile, the nation's local governments are currently shouldering the burden of approximately 570 billion yen to make up for the state-budgeted slot for the current payout of childcare benefits. Eventually, the government decided to retain this budget slot and add to it for the newly planned payout of child allowances. The government's child allowance plan has incurred criticism from local governors. "It's a makeshift approach with no concept of role sharing between the central and local governments," said the TOKYO 00002944 007 OF 007 governor of Aichi Prefecture. There were also opinions voicing concerns about what will become of the child allowance scheme in the future. "The government unilaterally decided to impose the burden on us without accounting for the payout plan, and we will have more administrative work," said the governor of Gumma Prefecture. "It is completely unclear how the program will be funded in fiscal 2011 and beyond," the Tokyo governor said. In the meantime, there were affirmative answers from seven governors, with the governor of Niigata Prefecture saying the government has come up with a future course of action for child rearing in society and avoided setting an income limit. However, most governors called for the government to fund the child allowance payout plan in its entirety in and after fiscal 2011, with the governor of Shiga Prefecture insisting that the child allowance plan should be funded by state coffers. ROOS