TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - SECRETARY CLINTON'S

UNCLAS TOKYO 000417 SIPDIS STATE FOR I/RF, PA/PR/FPC/W, IIP/G/EA, EAP/PD, R/MR, EAP/J, EAP/P, PM; USTR FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE; TREASURY FOR OASIA/IMI; SECDEF FOR OASD/PA; CP BUTLER OKINAWA FOR AREA FIELD OFFICE; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY ADVISOR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO JA SUBJECT: TOKYO MEDIA REACTION - SECRETARY CLINTON'S TRIP TO ASIA ¶1. LEAD STORIES: Front-page items on Tuesday morning included an estimate revealed on Monday by the Health Ministry that the ratio of employees' pension benefits to the average after-tax salary payment is expected to fall from the current 62.3 percent to 50.1 percent in fiscal 2038. The ministry said the latest projection narrowly clears the 50 percent threshold it promised in ¶2004. ¶2. "New Era for U.S. Diplomacy toward China" The liberal Tokyo Shimbun editorialized (2/24): "Secretary of State Clinton visited Japan as the first stop of her tour of Asia and offered Prime Minister Aso a summit with President Obama. This removed concern in Japan that the U.S. will attach greater importance to China. During her visit to China, the Secretary agreed with her Chinese counterpart that the two nations will launch a strategic dialogue on political and security issues on top of their ministerial talks on economy, which were already held under the Bush administration. China had hoped to hold a security dialogue in a bilateral framework with the U.S. or in a trilateral setting with the U.S. and Japan. The new administration altered the Bush administration's approach to China." ¶3. "Reconciliation with Asia" The liberal Mainichi's Washington correspondent wrote (2/24): "Secretary Clinton gave the impression through her 'listening tour' of Asia that the U.S. is trying to reconstruct its relations with Asian nations that have been damaged under the Bush administration. The Secretary's tour of the region also indicated that her diplomacy toward Asia will be different from that of the Clinton administration... Her visit to the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta and her meeting with ASEAN Secretary-General Surin demonstrated the difference. Secretary Clinton has expressed the U.S. position of reviewing its policy toward Myanmar, which has been centered on sanctions, and stressed to Surin the U.S. policy of placing importance to cooperative diplomacy based on dialogue with ASEAN. Surin later said: 'The U.S. is trying to listen to us. The meeting with Secretary Clinton was significant.'" ZUMWALT