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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 005707 
 
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/29/2016 
TAGS: MARR PGOV PREL PTER CH KN IZ AF AS JA
SUBJECT: PDUSD RYAN HENRY,S SEPTEMBER 25 MEETING WITH 
DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER NISHIDA 
 
Classified By: Charge d' Affaires, a.i. Joe Donovan.  Reasons 1.4 (b, d 
). 
 
 ¶1. (C)  Summary: In a September 25 meeting, Deputy Foreign 
Minister Nishida told Principal Deputy Under Secretary of 
Defense for Policy Henry that U.S. involvement on China and 
North Korea is critical to maintaining stability in the 
region.  Henry agreed that managing our relationship with 
China is very important and suggested possible reasons for 
China's lack of transparency.  Nishida and Henry discussed 
Japan's contribution to the war on terror, Japanese 
humanitarian activities in Iraq, and the need to improve 
military cooperation.  Henry requested Japanese assistance on 
the Afghanistan Ring Road project to which Nishida provided 
Japan's way ahead. End summary. 
 
¶2. (C)  Principal Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Policy 
Ryan Henry met with Deputy Foreign Minister Nishida on 
September 25, 2006 to discuss bilateral relations, North 
Korea, China, and Japan's contribution to the war on terror. 
Prime Minister Koizumi has an excellent relationship with 
President Bush, Nishida noted.  Under the Koizumi 
administration, Japan sent troops to Iraq, participated in 
Operation Enduring Freedom, and provided airlift assistance 
in the Middle East.  He thanked Henry for close U.S. 
cooperation with all of these missions. Japan is particularly 
grateful for assistance during the July North Korean missile 
launches, especially on intelligence cooperation and the UNSC 
resolution. 
 
¶3. (C)  U.S. involvement on China and North Korea will 
continue to be very important to maintaining stability in the 
region, said Nishida.  He had participated in the first 
Japan-China security talks in a long time this past July in 
Beijing, he said, adding that similar talks need to be held 
regularly in the future.  Henry agreed that Japan and the 
United States need to work together to resolve transnational 
threats.  Adaptability will be key to responding to global 
challenges, he stressed, including pandemics. 
 
¶4. (C) Managing our relationship with China is important to 
Secretary Rumsfeld, said Henry.  China's lack of transparency 
 
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is a problem, he remarked.  One reason China is so reluctant 
to disclose information on its military may be China's lack 
of combat readiness coupled with its inability to improvise 
and respond to changing environments.  A key concern is that 
China might believe its military is stronger than it actually 
is.  China might be underestimating the U.S. military and the 
strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance.  We need to show China 
there is nothing to fear by being open, he said. 
 
¶5. (C) Nishida confided that a worst-case scenario for Japan 
would be a Chinese economic crisis.  Using the sinking of the 
Titanic as an analogy, he said if the Chinese economy sinks, 
it will not go down alone but will take a lot of others with 
it.  Turning to North Korea, Nishida noted that September 19 
marked the anniversary of the Six-Party Talks joint statement 
and lamented the lack of progress.  Henry agreed Japan and 
the United States must continue to work together on this 
issue. 
 
¶6. (C) The U.S.- Japanese-Australian trilateral strategic 
dialogue has been a beneficial experience for Japan, stated 
Nishida.  Moreover, Japan's Self-Defense Forces are better 
prepared following their mission in Iraq.  Japan appreciates 
the close coordination between Canberra and Washington in 
support of Japan's humanitarian activities there. 
 
¶7. (C) Japan and the United States need to increase efforts 
to create "cores of excellence" and interdependent and 
complementary military forces to reduce redundancy and better 
utilize scarce financial resources, explained Henry.  Henry 
told Nishida the United States greatly appreciates Japan's 
contribution to fighting the war on terror and is grateful 
for Japan's C-130 support in Iraq and refueling operations as 
part of Operation Enduring Freedom.  In Afghanistan, however, 
the United States is fighting a war we cannot win via 
 
TOKYO 00005707  002 OF 002 
 
 
military force alone.  Nishida agreed that a flourishing 
civil society and viable market economy are indicators of 
success in Afghanistan. 
 
¶8. (C) Responding to PDUSD Henry's appeal that Japan 
accelerate work on the Kandahar-Herat segment of the 
Afghanistan Ring Road project, Nishida explained that 
security is still a huge obstacle.  Prime Minister Koizumi 
recently visited Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and Tokyo is 
paying more attention to the Central Asia region, in general, 
he noted.  The Ring Road is a very important project, he 
acknowledged, and Japan has contributed a large amount of 
official development assistance to aid the project.  The 
security situation, however, prohibits Japan from moving 
forward.  Japan will continue to try to finalize a contract 
this month with an Indian construction company that has 
experience in Afghanistan.  If this fails, Tokyo will ask the 
U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan for assistance in locating an 
alternative company.  He emphasized that he will keep 
Washington informed, noting that, for success, collaboration 
will be necessary not only from Washington, but also from the 
U.S. Embassy in Kabul.  Henry said that given the right 
amount of commitment there was a high probability of success 
and thanked Japan for its contribution. 
DONOVAN