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P 222254Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2906
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 0801
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 3250
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RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 1721
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3056
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C O N F I D E N T I A L TOKYO 001771 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/J RWINSHIP,EAP/CM JYAMAMOTO, EB/IPE-EFELSING 
PLEASE PASS TO USTR JAPAN OFFICE-RMEYERS, CHINA 
OFFICE-AWINTER, AND OCG SMCCOY 
COMMERCE FOR NATIONAL COORDINATOR FOR IPR ENFORCEMENT 
CISRAEL, ITA-SSEAMAN, USPTO LBOLAND, EWU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/20/2012 
TAGS: KIPR ETRD ECON WTRO PGOV CH JP
SUBJECT: JAPAN TO JOIN CHINA/IPR WTO CASE AS THIRD PARTY 
 
Classified By: Ambassador J.Thomas Schieffer for reasons 1.4 (b,d) 
 
 ¶1.  (C)  SUMMARY:  Trade Minister Amari announced on April 
20 that Japan will join the U.S. as a third party in a WTO 
complaint against China on IPR prosecutions. The GOJ is 
worried about the Chinese reaction and will be monitoring it 
closely.  Chinese Customs and Copyright agency officials 
warned Japanese Trade Ministry officials visiting China the 
week of April 9-13 that there might be a severe reaction if 
Japan were to join the U.S. complaint. Japanese press 
commentary acknowledges that Japan must keep up the pressure 
on China to improve IPR protection, but urges the GOJ to be 
cautious and not upset the dialogue and cooperation it has 
been able to forge with Chinese officials.  Japan's decision 
to join the WTO complaint as a third party appears to be an 
attempt to demonstrate to both China and the U.S. that it is 
serious about the IPR problem in China, while hoping not to 
damage relations with either government. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (C)   According to GOJ contacts, the timing of the U.S. 
complaint at the WTO, coming a day before Chinese Premier Wen 
Jiabao arrived in Japan and at the same time that Japan's 
fifth annual Joint Mission to China on IPR was in Beijing, 
could not have been more sensitive for Japan.  The METI 
official who led the working level delegation for 
consultations with China's IPR officials, IPR Counsellor for 
Anti-counterfeiting Hiroki Matsubayashi, told Econoff on 
April 16 that many of the Chinese officials they talked to 
were "very angry" and "very emotional against the U.S." Some 
Chinese officials told them that "the U.S. has closed the 
door to dialogue." 
 
¶3.  (C)  A METI attorney who was also a member of the 
delegation, Yusuke Wakebe told Econoff on April 20 that 
reaction had been particularly severe among Chinese officials 
dealing directly with copyrights and customs. However, Wakebe 
emphasized that other Chinese officials they talked to (the 
delegation met with 14 Chinese agencies in four days of 
meetings) "accepted" the legal arguments of the WTO case and 
reacted calmly.  Wakebe said that the GOJ is worried that 
joining the WTO complaint will make it more difficult for 
Japan to deal with China and that they will be closely 
monitoring the Chinese reaction. 
 
¶4.  (C) Ryosuke Kuwana in MOFA's IPR Division noted that MOFA 
sent instructions to Japanese embassies in Washington and 
Beijing on April 19 to formally inform governments that Japan 
would be joining the complaint in Geneva on April 20. Kuwana 
explained that was a follow-on to an "informal notification" 
by Trade Minster Amari to USTR Schwab earlier in the week. 
 
¶5. (U)  Editorials on the WTO complaint in the Yomiuri and 
Asahi acknowledged that the IPR problem in China is severe, 
but urged the Japanese government to "tread carefully."  Both 
emphasized that Japan must press China to improve IPR 
protection while continuing dialogue and cooperation with 
China on the issues.  While both newspapers cited growing 
protectionist feeling in the U.S. as a factor in the WTO 
complaint, the Yomiuri Shinbun thought that the U.S. was 
showing restraint by taking the case to the WTO rather than 
"rushing to take a unilateral approach by imposing sanctions 
based on domestic law." 
SCHIEFFER