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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 001004 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR E, P, EB, EAP/J, EAP/P, EAP/PD, PA 
WHITE HOUSE/NSC/NEC; JUSTICE FOR STU CHEMTOB IN ANTI-TRUST 
DIVISION; TREASURY/OASIA/IMI/JAPAN; DEPT PASS USTR/PUBLIC AFFAIRS 
OFFICE; SECDEF FOR JCS-J-5/JAPAN, 
DASD/ISA/EAPR/JAPAN; DEPT PASS ELECTRONICALLY TO USDA 
FAS/ITP FOR SCHROETER; PACOM HONOLULU FOR PUBLIC DIPLOMACY 
ADVISOR; CINCPAC FLT/PA/ COMNAVFORJAPAN/PA. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OIIP KMDR KPAO PGOV PINR ECON ELAB JA
SUBJECT:  DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02/24/06 
 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Japan, China making its move, envisioning post-Koizumi era; 
Trade Minister Nikai meets Chinese leaders 
 
(2) WTO agricultural talks: US proposes substantive increase in 
rice imports, possibly taking into account beef issue 
 
(3) MSDF's call signs, cipher table, and other confidential 
information leaked to Internet via virus-infected personal 
computer 
 
(4) Three LDP factions -- ex-Horiuchi, Tanigaki, Kono -- to 
launch study group, signs of formation of a "great Kochi-kai," 
making group second largest force in LDP; Move may affect 
presidential race 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Japan, China making its move, envisioning post-Koizumi era; 
Trade Minister Nikai meets Chinese leaders 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged) 
February 23, 2006 
 
Shinya Minamishima, Takashi Kamiguri, Nobuyoshi Sakajiri, Beijing 
 
Envisioning a post-Koizumi era, Japan and China are beginning to 
move away from the current strained relationship of attributed to 
Prime Minister Koizumi's continued visits to Yasukuni Shrine. 
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, breaking his one year three months 
practice of not meeting with Japanese leaders, yesterday met with 
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nikai in Beijing. Senior 
members of the ruling parties, including Liberal Democratic Party 
(LDP) Policy Research Council Chairman Hidenao Nakagawa, dubbed 
as the "guardian" of Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe, also just held 
an in-depth dialogue with Chinese officials recently. But the 
thorny Yasukuni issue is left open. Both sides expressed 
enthusiasm to repair the icy bilateral ties, but will their 
efforts be able to bear fruits? 
 
Both nations showing signs of repairing strains: Japan wants 
China to "wait for six months" 
 
Wen welcomed Nikai with a smile. "Owing to the efforts by those 
people who have a correct perception of the history of the two 
countries like Mr. Nikai, China and Japan have been able to make 
progress while resolving many issues." 
 
Wen had not singly met with any Japanese cabinet members, 
including the prime minister, since he last saw Koizumi in 
November 2004. Last April, then Foreign Minister Machimura 
visited China, but Wen would not meet him - partly because China 
was in the midst of anti-Japanese demonstrations. 
 
Nikai has expressed enthusiasm to break the impasse in the 
strained relations between the two nations. A government official 
close to him revealed: "Small talk like what to do about trade 
relations is not the purpose of his China tour this time. He will 
discuss Japan-China relations from a broad perspective." 
 
Nikai, along with former LDP Secretary General Hiromu Nonaka and 
others, have a long deep friendship with the Chinese leadership. 
 
TOKYO 00001004  002 OF 007 
 
 
He once paved the way for the smooth issuance of visas for group 
tourists from China while he was transport minister. In May 2000, 
he headed an exchange mission composed of 5,000 people to China. 
He is indeed an "old friend" of China, said a source close to 
Japan-China relations. 
 
Wen released a set of three proposals last March and President Hu 
Jintao came out with a set of five views last April. Both leaders 
issued them out of their desire to rebuild a "win-win 
relationship" (between Japan and China) based on a future- 
oriented vision but they did not fail to point out the need to 
"learn the lessons of history." 
 
In the ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the Victory of 
the War of Resistance against Japan and the World's Anti-Fascist 
War last September, Hu also indicated his desire to mend 
relations with Japan: "It's not that we continue to bear a 
grudge, gripped by history." 
 
However, Chinese leaders are becoming increasingly irritated, 
thinking that these signals have not properly reached Japan, 
according to several informed sources. 
 
The Chinese government is drafting an important statement 
President Hu will release at a time when representatives of seven 
Japan-China friendship organizations visit China in March. 
 
China plans the statement as a message to the Japanese public. It 
is paying close attention to Japanese public opinion as something 
that will determine the post-Koizumi political climate, as 
evidenced by Tang Jiaxuan, a State Council member, who said: "We 
no longer expect anything" from Prime Minister Koizumi. 
 
On the other hand, the ruling coalition's delegation to China who 
included LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Nakagawa gave a 
signal pointing to the post-Koizumi era during talks with Chinese 
leaders. 
 
"We'd like you to wait for six months," New Komeito Policy 
Research Council Chairman Yoshihisa Inoue said to Wang Jiarui, 
minister of the International Department of the Chinese Communist 
Party at a meeting of the Japan-China Ruling Party Exchange 
Council. Reportedly, Wang gave a nod. 
 
Though forced to repeat his accounting of Koizumi's shrine 
visits, Nakagawa called for holding informal talks to break the 
impasse in bilateral ties, instead of formal ones where both 
nations have no other choice but to reiterate their respective 
principles. 
 
"Mr. Nakagawa seems to have been trying to signal this message to 
China: 'I'll somehow resolve the Yasukuni issue in the post- 
Koizumi era,'" a source accompanying the delegation said. 
 
Wall of Yasukuni has yet to be broken; China says, "We can't 
compromise" 
 
China is enthusiastic about mending fences with Japan, but, as 
one official said, "We cannot compromise at all on the Yasukuni 
issue." At the time of diplomatic normalization between Japan and 
China in 1972, the Chinese government explained to its people 
that war leaders were responsible for the aggression and that the 
Japanese public too were war victims. This explanation, however, 
 
TOKYO 00001004  003 OF 007 
 
 
could collapse with Prime Minister Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni 
Shrine, which honors Class-A war criminals. 
 
In this round of talks with members of the Ruling Party Exchange 
Council, too, Chinese officials did not budge from their 
opposition to visits to Yasukuni Shrine. Nikai was visiting China 
around the same time as that the delegation of the Ruling Party 
Exchange Council was visiting there. While Nikai was welcomed by 
Premier Wen Jiabao, Nakagawa and his delegation were unable to 
realize a much desired meeting with Vice President Zeng Qinghong 
and other leaders. This difference in China's treatment toward 
Japanese leaders comes from their stances toward Yasukuni Shrine, 
many observers pointed out. 
 
On Feb. 20, when he arrived in Beijing, Nakagawa defended 
Koizumi's shrine visits, telling China's Political Bureau 
Standing Committee member Li Zhangchun who ranked number eight in 
the Chinese Communist Party: "It's incorrect to think he visited 
the shrine to pay respect to Class-A war criminals." According to 
a diplomatic source, based on such a remark, Chinese officials 
who "had not known much about Mr. Nakagawa," might have decided 
then how to treat Nakagawa. 
 
"China is opinionated about the Yasukuni issue as expected," said 
a lawmaker traveling with Nakagawa, revealing his disappointment. 
 
The Yasukuni issue will remain a major yardstick for China to 
measure post-Koizumi candidates. China's First Vice Foreign 
Minister Dai Bingguo, who earlier visited Japan, met with Chief 
Cabinet Secretary Abe. Looking back on the meeting, a Chinese 
official concerned remarked: "Mr. Abe was cautious about 
speaking. It's good for him not to bring up the Yasukuni issue." 
 
Vice Minister of the International Department of the Chinese 
Communist Party Liu Hongcai in meeting with Nakagawa and other 
Japanese delegates said frankly: "We don't want to see future 
Japanese leaders visit Yasukuni Shrine." 
 
(2) WTO agricultural talks: US proposes substantive increase in 
rice imports, possibly taking into account beef issue 
 
ASAHI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 23, 2004 
 
The US has come up with a set of new proposals for mandating a 
substantive expansion of imports of key trade items in the 
agricultural area, including Japan's rice. Agricultural products 
are the focus of multilateral trade talks (Doha round) of the 
World Trade Organization. Chances are that the US might use the 
package as a weapon to confront Japan in pursuit of an early 
resumption of US beef imports. The Japanese government finds 
itself in a difficult situation. Agriculture Minister Nakagawa 
will visit France, starting today, with the aim of strengthening 
ties with the European Union, which is critical of the US 
proposal. 
 
The US made those proposals during WTO agricultural talks held 
Geneva last week. The package called for extensively expanding 
the minimum access, while allowing the rate of reductions of 
tariffs on key items, such as rice and sugar, to be no more than 
60% of that of general items. 
 
According to the US proposals, if a tariff reduction rate on 
 
TOKYO 00001004  004 OF 007 
 
 
general items is set at 50% in future WTO talks, a rice tariff 
reduction rate will be no more than 30%. It means that tariffs on 
general items would be lowered to 390% in one go, but a tariff of 
546% would be allowed for rice, if it is categorized as a key 
item. 
 
Under the US proposal, mandatory imports at low tariffs will 
expand in proportion to the margin of gaps with the reduction of 
tariffs on general items. In other words, if a tariff on rice is 
set at 546%, it will become mandatory to import 36% of domestic 
consumption with a lowered tariff rate. 
 
In the wake of the Uruguay, Japan is obligated to import 7.2% of 
domestic rice consumption or 7607,000 tons at a lowered tariff 
rate. If the US proposal is adopted, Japan will have to import 
more than 4 million tons, provided that it wants to constrain the 
margin of a reduction in its rice tariff rate to a small figure. 
 
Cabinet ministers of six main countries and territories, 
including the US, the EU and Japan, will meet in London in mid- 
March to discuss ways to promote WTO talks. Mike Johanns, 
secretary of the Department of Agriculture, which has 
 
SIPDIS 
jurisdiction over the beef industry, will take part in the 
ministerial. The beef issue with Japan is bound to top the agenda 
in talks with his counterpart Nakagawa. 
 
Points of new proposals made by the US 
 
The rate of a reduction in tariffs on key items should be 60% of 
such a rate applied to general items 
 
Mandatory imports at lowered tariff rates will be imposed on key 
items that are eligible for preferential tariff rates 
 
The volume of mandatory imports of key items at lowered tariff 
rates is to be calculated, by adding the figure (percent), worked 
out by multiplying the gap with the margin of a reduction in 
tariffs on general items by 0.2, to 4% of domestic consumption. 
If the figure worked that way is 100% lower than the margin of a 
reduction of tariffs on general items, imports of 24% of domestic 
consumption of key products at lowered tariff rates will be 
imposed. 
 
(3) MSDF's call signs, cipher table, and other confidential 
information leaked to Internet via virus-infected personal 
computer 
 
SANKEI (Page 3) (Abridged) 
February 24, 2006 
 
A large volume of military information possessed by the Maritime 
Self-Defense Force (MSDF) has leaked to the Internet via the 
Winny file-sharing program installed in the personal computer of 
a crewmember of the destroyer Asayuki based at the MSDF's Sasebo 
base in Nagasaki Prefecture, the Maritime Staff Office announced 
yesterday. Information classified as hi (confidential), such as 
call signs for identifying MSDF vessels, are also included in the 
leaked data. The MSDF has established a special investigative 
committee and an incident investigative committee in the Maritime 
Staff Office and the Sasebo Regional District Headquarters, 
respectively, to interview the person in question, get a clear 
picture of the incident, and find out what actually happened. 
 
 
TOKYO 00001004  005 OF 007 
 
 
According to the MSDF, Internet bulletin boards carried messages 
Feb. 16 saying that the MSDF's secret data had leaked. This led 
to an internal investigation by the MSDF's security unit that 
confirmed the leakage of the MSDF's operational data. 
 
The data stored in the virus-infected personal computer used by a 
41-year-old chief petty officer serving aboard the Asayuki was 
distributed on the Internet via the Winny file-sharing program, 
according to the internal investigation. 
 
Under the SDF Law, the Defense Agency classifies its defense 
secrets into three categories: kimitsu (top secret), gokuhi 
 
SIPDIS 
(secret), and hi (confidential). Although data classified as top 
secret and secret are not believed to have leaked, some confident 
 
SIPDIS 
documents, such as call signs for MSDF vessels and an encoding 
and decoding table of random numbers for results of live-fire 
exercises, have leaked out. 
 
A list of addresses and family members of a dozen or so Asayuki 
crewmembers also found its way to the Internet. The MSDF has 
changed its cipher system. 
 
The chief petty officer copied military secrets and personal data 
onto a CD-R and other materials and unloaded them to his personal 
computer without permission for his work at home. 
 
Learning of the leakage on the afternoon of Feb. 23, Prime 
Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Defense Agency Director General 
Fukushiro Nukaga ordered the Defense Agency to take strict 
measures to prevent any recurrence. 
 
Lax information management exposed 
 
The MSDF's data, including confidential information, have again 
leaked to the Internet via a virus-infected personal computer. 
The incident exposed the lax management of defense data by SDF 
personnel. Although the MSDF intends to control information more 
thoroughly, it is having a hard time dealing with personal 
computers. Many experts pointed out the loose information control 
in Japan. 
 
Over the last year, information held by public organizations, 
such as Japan Post, National Life Finance Corp., Kansai Electric 
Power Co., and NTT DoCoMo, has leaked to the Internet through 
personal computers. 
 
The culprits all unloaded the vital data that must be controlled 
strictly to their virus-infected computers to eventually 
distribute them on the Internet. 
 
The MSDF chief petty officer reportedly told investigators at 
Sasebo Regional District Headquarters, "I thought it was safe 
enough because anti-virus software is installed in my computer." 
 
Masao Horibe, a Chuo University professor specializing in 
information law, said: 
 
"The incident exposed the low level of awareness of computer 
users against pitfalls in Internet society. Each user must 
examine computer security." 
 
Toshiaki Kokado of the Information-technology Promotion Center 
took this view: 
 
TOKYO 00001004  006 OF 007 
 
 
 
"The leakage resulted from two problems. One, the anti-virus 
software was insufficient. Two, he unloaded business information 
to his personal computer." 
 
How do other countries control national defense secrets? Military 
analyst Tadasu Kumagai explained: 
 
"Data management is extremely strict in the United States. The 
ability of those handling vital information is tested beforehand. 
MSDF activity schedules and the contents of transport supplies 
are occasionally included in confidential information, the 
category leaked out. Leaked information might have an adverse 
effect on SDF personnel in action." 
 
The Defense Agency's security instruction prohibits taking 
secrets out of the agency. The administrative vice minister's 
 
SIPDIS 
notice bans taking unclassified information, such as personal 
data, out of the agency. 
 
June and December are also designated as information security 
awareness months to encourage SDF personnel to conduct 
information management more thoroughly. An additional instruction 
was issued following the leak last September of medical records 
via Winny installed in a personal computer owned by an SDF 
hospital doctor. 
 
It is said, however, that many SDF personnel have unloaded 
classified information and data to their personal computers and 
that some are even keeping top secrets in their computers. There 
is no other way but to leave information management to the common 
sense of the owner of personal computer. Experiencing the arrest 
last year of its member of possessing marijuana, a senior MSDF 
officer said, "We no longer take the view that humans are born 
good." 
 
The MSDF plans shortly to urge all personnel to delete SDF 
information stored in their personal computers and ultimately 
check their personal computers with their consent. Such may raise 
questions in connection with privacy, however. "Checking personal 
e-mails may cause some problems," Horibe noted. 
 
(4) Three LDP factions -- ex-Horiuchi, Tanigaki, Kono -- to 
launch study group, signs of formation of a "great Kochi-kai," 
making group second largest force in LDP; Move may affect 
presidential race 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Slightly abridged) 
February 23, 2006 
 
The secretaries general of the former Horiuchi faction, the 
Tanigaki faction, and the Kono faction got together last night at 
a restaurant in Tokyo. The three factions in the Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) are the successors to Miyazawa's faction, 
which was called Kochi-kai. The three secretaries general 
confirmed that they would meet periodically with an eye on the 
LDP presidential election in September. They also agreed to 
strengthen the solidarity of their factions. Other members of the 
three factions also met on Feb. 20 and confirmed the formation of 
a study group. Those moves indicate a possible realignment of the 
three factions. If they close ranks, they will become the second 
largest force (membership of 74) in the LDP. The moves may affect 
the presidential race, in which Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo 
 
TOKYO 00001004  007 OF 007 
 
 
Abe is regarded as the strongest contender. 
 
A total of nine lawmakers attended yesterday's meeting. The nine 
include Gen Nakatani of the Tanigaki faction, Tsuneo Suzuki of 
the Kono faction, and Yoshitaka Murata of the former Horiuchi 
faction. 
 
A dozen or so members, including House of Councillors member 
Yoshimasa Hayashi of the former Horiuchi faction and Ichiro 
Aisawa of the Tanigaki faction, agreed in the meeting on Feb. 20 
to launch next month a study group on Asia strategy. The three 
factions are apparently distancing themselves from Prime Minister 
Junichiro Koizumi with September's party presidential election in 
mind. 
 
Kochi-kai, a faction founded by former Prime Minister Hayato 
Ikeda, was regarded as conservative mainstream. Four members of 
the faction assumed the prime minister's post. In 1998, the 
faction split in two due to a power struggle and Yohei Kono and 
his followers left the faction. In 2000 when the faction headed 
by Koichi Kato, a former LDP secretary general, broke up again 
into two groups because of the so-called Kato rebellion, when 
Kato called on then Prime Minister Mori to step down. As a 
result, the faction lost influence in the party. 
 
Since then, the three factions have disputed as to which faction 
should take the lead. But the common understanding is now 
gradually growing among them that the breakup of Kochi-kai led to 
the rise of the Mori faction and allowed the Koizumi government 
to run away with the prize. 
 
At the first anniversary last year of former Prime Minister Zenko 
Suzuki's death, Shuichi Suzuki, the first son of Zenko, read out 
Zenko's last words: "I want to see the three factions unite." 
Given the situation, the meeting of the secretaries general of 
the three factions is seen as an extension of that. 
 
However, there is an icy view in each faction, with one senior ex- 
Horiuchi faction member saying, "It is impossible for a group, 
once split up, to then regroup." 
 
If the three factions want to field a single candidate for the 
presidential race, they will need coordination between two 
possible candidates - Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki of the 
Tanigaki faction, and Foreign Minister Taro Aso of the Kono 
faction. The coordination will be difficult. A former cabinet 
minister made an optimistic comment: "The three faction should 
conduct a primary election to filed an unified candidate." But 
there is no possibility that the three factions will hold a 
primary election. 
SCHIEFFER