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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 11 TOKYO 005350 
 
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: JAPANESE MORNING PRESS HIGHLIGHTS 11/28/07 
 
 
Index: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
 
3) Government to strengthen Japan Coast Guard authority to crack 
down on WMD shipments by sea (Yomiuri) 
 
Diet in turmoil: 
4) Oft delayed Upper House debate on new antiterrorism bill to 
finally start today (Mainichi) 
5) Ruling camp to kill Democratic Party of Japan's bill that would 
scrap the Iraq assistance law and bring back the ASDF from Kuwait 
(Yomiuri) 
6) Prime Minister Fukuda sees no need for an early Diet dissolution, 
despite the turmoil (Nikkei) 
 
7) Fukushima elected to a third term as head of the Social 
Democratic Party (Mainichi) 
 
Defense scandals: 
8) Former Vice Defense Minister Moriya expected to be arrested today 
on charges of accepting bribes from defense contractor (Nikkei) 
 
9) Upper House to call former defense chief Nukaga to testify on 
Dec. 3 on alleged attendance at party of defense contractor, now 
under arrest (Sankei) 
10) DPJ discloses telephone conversation with Moriya who insists 
Nukaga sat in front of him at dinner party hosted by shady defense 
contractor (Tokyo Shimbun) 
11) DPJ releases the details of questioning Moriya, who testified 
"Nukaga's presence" (Sankei) 
 
North Korea problem: 
12) Assistant Secretary Hill may travel to Pyongyang next month for 
prior coordination of North Korea's report of its nuclear programs 
(Asahi) 
13) US, North Korea searching for the right formula that would allow 
removal of DPRK from terror-sponsoring list (Asahi) 
 
14) Fukuda says the Japan-China relationship has entered its spring 
season (Yomiuri) 
 
15) Talks on regulatory reform fail to reach common understanding 
(Sankei) 
 
16) Eleven independent public corporations ready to be axed or 
merged (Asahi) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi, Mainichi: 
Brother-in-law confesses to killing woman, 2 girls in Kagawa 
 
Yomiuri: 
Moriya took 4 million yen in cash from Miyazaki; Moriya may be 
arrested today for taking bribes 
 
Nikkei: 
Government eyeing FY2009 start for net taxation of capital gains, 
 
TOKYO 00005350  002 OF 011 
 
 
dividends 
 
Sankei: 
Japan must return supply ship to Indian Ocean: Yukio Okamoto 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office to launch criminal investigation 
into Moriya today; 2 million yen in his wife's bank account 
 
Akahata: 
Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee adopts bill to 
rescind Iraq Special Measures Law 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) South Korean presidential race: Change to the course of the last 
10 years? 
(2) We welcome resumed Middle East peace conference 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Prime Minister Fukuda must review road construction plan 
(2) Prime minister's eagerness the key to success of 
decentralization 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Law on financial aid for terrorism victims a must 
(2) Why did it take so long to find the man who killed woman and two 
girls in Kagawa? 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Attract foreign tourists for revitalizing regional economies 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Watch carefully Chinese military vessel's first call at Japanese 
port 
(2) Keeping nationwide mail delivery services essential 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Chinese military vessel's port call: Delay in defense exchanges 
must be overcome 
(2) Warning signal flashing for economy 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Cooperation with survivors essential in recognizing those 
suffering from A-bomb diseases 
 
3) JCG inspections to be stepped up against WMDs 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Abridged) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The government decided yesterday to create a new law intended to 
crack down on shipborne materials related to nuclear weapons and 
other weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Japan currently has no law 
to punish anyone shipping WMD-related materials, so there is a limit 
to its controls. The scope of the Japan Coast Guard's executable 
police authority will be expanded to control relevant shipping as 
crime. The new legislation is aimed at increasing the effectiveness 
of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) promoted by the 
United States and other countries. 
 
 
TOKYO 00005350  003 OF 011 
 
 
The newly planned law is intended to control and crack down on 
WMD-related materials at sea. Under this law, the JCG will be 
allowed to inspect ships that are suspected of carrying WMD-related 
materials. In addition, the JCG will also be allowed to confiscate 
WMD-related materials upon discovery. The government will also 
consider incorporating penalties. 
 
Those WMD-related materials subject to controls include nuclear 
weapons and other nuclear explosive devices, as well as biological 
and chemical weaponry. 
 
New law to plug in current legal void 
 
The government is going to create a new law for controlling 
WMD-related materials at sea. Japan has no law to control suspicious 
materials at sea under normal circumstances, so the government 
intends to plug this hole in Japan's legal systems. 
 
The government has developed legal systems in order for the Maritime 
Self-Defense Force to control ships in Japan's territorial waters 
and international waters. These legal systems include a law to 
inspect ships in the event of regional contingencies and a law to 
control foreign military supplies at sea. Meanwhile, Japan has 
fallen behind in dealing with seafaring materials at ordinary 
times. 
 
The JCG ordinarily exercises its police authority in order to 
prevent crimes and arrest criminals at sea. In addition, the JCG 
will also be tasked with cracking down on WMDs at sea. 
 
4) New antiterror bill to be discussed from today in upper chamber 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The House of Councillors in its plenary sitting today will hear an 
explanation of the government's newly introduced special antiterror 
legislative measure and hold interpellations to start deliberations. 
The Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) and other opposition 
parties are calling for securing 40 hours or so just as in the House 
of Representatives in order to fully deliberate on the new 
antiterror bill. That would make it impossible for the bill to get 
through the Diet before the current session ends on Dec. 15. The 
ruling coalition will reextend the Diet session, aiming to pass the 
bill again through a concurring vote of two-thirds or more in the 
House of Representatives even after the bill is voted down in the 
opposition-controlled House of Councillors. The Diet will now 
continue a tense debate on the legislation until the end of the 
current session. 
 
The bill cleared the House of Representatives on Nov. 13, when it 
was sent to the House of Councillors. The ruling coalition aimed to 
have the House of Councilors start its deliberations on the bill in 
its plenary sitting on Nov. 14. However, the opposition parties 
insisted that the Diet should first investigate suspicions over the 
Defense Ministry's scandals involving former Administrative Vice 
Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya and Finance Minister Fukushiro 
Nukaga. The opposition bench called for fast-tracking a bill to 
repeal the Iraq Reconstruction Special Measures Law, so Diet 
deliberations on the new antiterror bill have substantially fallen 
behind schedule. 
 
 
TOKYO 00005350  004 OF 011 
 
 
5) Upper House approves bill to withdraw SDF from Iraq; Ruling camp 
set to reject it 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
A bill to terminate the special measures law on assistance 
reconstruction to support Iraq was approved in a meeting yesterday 
of the committee on foreign affairs and defense of the 
opposition-controlled House of Councillors. The Democratic Party of 
Japan (DPJ) submitted the bill that would withdraw the Air 
Self-Defense Force (ASDF) from Iraq. The DPJ intends to urge the 
ruling camp to approve the bill in the House of Representatives, 
against the backdrop of changes in the international environment. In 
Australia, the Labor Party, which has advocated the partial pullout 
of its troops in Iraq, won a great victory in the recent House of 
Representatives election. The government and the ruling coalition is 
set to vote down and scrap the bill in the Lower House in order to 
continue the ongoing airlift activities by the ASDF in Iraq, as 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura said: "Efforts to stabilize and 
reconstruct Iraq are only half done." 
 
In the meeting yesterday, DPJ member Hiroe Makiyama said: "In the 
United States presidential election campaign, the Democratic Party, 
which has called for withdrawing troops from Iraq, is taking the 
lead. In the election in Australia, the candidate of the Labor 
Union, which set forth the pullout of its troops from Iraq, also won 
a sweeping victory. Recent public opinion is shown in these 
results." 
 
Defense Minister Ishiba refuted: "The United Nations has made a 
request, and our nation's C-130 transport aircraft can meet the 
request in terms of security and stability." 
 
A senior Foreign Ministry official stressed that Japan should 
continue ASDF assistance activities in Iraq now that it pulled 
Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) troops out of the Indian Ocean. 
The official said: "Now is the most important time since peace and 
public order in Iraq are being restored. If Japan suspends its 
contributions in Iraq, following the MSDF's refueling mission in the 
Indian Ocean, Japan might find itself isolated in the international 
community." 
 
6) Prime Minister Fukuda: I don't think early cabinet reshuffle is 
necessary 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
When asked by the press corps about the possibility of an early 
cabinet reshuffle, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda yesterday said: "If I 
say I will shuffle the cabinet, it will create an uproar. I don't 
feel that a cabinet shuffle is necessary." Although some in the 
ruling camp believe that the cabinet will be shuffled before the end 
of the year after the current Diet session, which will run until 
Oct. 15, Fukuda revealed his intention not to shuffle his cabinet. 
 
There is a view in the ruling coalition that as the Fukuda 
government has such scandals involving Finance Minister Fukushiro 
Nukaga and the Defense Ministry, the prime minister should shuffle 
his cabinet, not extend the ongoing Diet session. If Fukuda's 
remarks are taken at face value, he might have indicated that he 
 
TOKYO 00005350  005 OF 011 
 
 
would re-extend the current session until January in order to 
prioritize enacting the new refueling bill. 
 
Fukuda stressed: "I am doing my best to hold discussions with the 
opposition camp by using various ways" to enact the bill to resume 
the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling activities in the Indian 
Ocean. Since there are no prospects for the bill to clear the Diet, 
he intends to step up his approach to the opposition bloc. 
 
As to how to manage Diet affairs, he noted: "I think it would be a 
good idea to form sub-committees as need arises, for example." He 
indicated that the setting up of sub-committees to flexibly carry 
out debate would become a theme up for consideration. 
 
7) SDP head Fukushima secures third term without a vote 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Excerpts) 
November 28, 2007 
 
Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima secured her third 
term as head of the party without going through a vote as she was 
the only candidate in the presidential campaign that started on Nov. 
¶26. The deadline for the ballot was 3:00 p.m. yesterday. Fukushima 
indicated in a press conference yesterday she would do her best to 
rebuild the party's strength. She stated: "We are now in a severe 
situation. We need to expand the party's strength and rebuild 
cooperation with citizens." 
 
In the House of Representatives election in 2005 when she became the 
party head, the SDP garnered seven seats, increasing its strength by 
two seats, but the party obtained only two seats, down one seat from 
the seats up for re-election, in the proportional representation 
segment of this summer's House of Councillors election. Party 
members have decreased and they are aging. The number of SDP 
candidates for Lower House elections has been on the decline -- 76 
candidates for the 2000 race, 65 in 2003, and 45 in 2005. 
 
8) Former Vice Defense Minister Moriya to be arrested today for 
suspected bribery 
 
NIKKEI (Page 1) (Excerpts) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The special investigation squad of the Tokyo district Public 
Prosecutors Office seems to have decided to arrest former 
Administrative Vice Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya, 63, today on 
suspicion of taking such bribes as golf outings worth more than 4.5 
million yen over five years from Motonobu Miyazaki, 63, a former 
executive of defense equipment trading house Yamada Corp., who is 
now under arrest for suspected embezzlement, in exchange for such 
favorable business treatment as procurement of defense equipment. 
The unusual collusive ties between the former influential vice 
minister and the arrested defense equipment firm executive, who 
played golf together more than 300 times, are expected to develop 
into a major corruption scandal. 
 
The special investigative task force believes that Moriya gave 
special favors to Yamada Corp. and trading house Nihon Mirise 
founded by Miyazaki in procuring General Electric Co.-made engines 
for the Air Self-Defense Force's next generation CX transport jet. 
The prosecutors will likely aim at investigating the illicit 
dealings in connection with vested interests over the Defense 
 
TOKYO 00005350  006 OF 011 
 
 
Ministry. 
 
It has been revealed that Miyazaki played golf with Moriya more than 
300 times in eight years from April 1998 through June 2006 and the 
total amount of green fees Miyazaki covered for Moriya and 
accompanying players exceeded 15 million yen. 
 
9) Nukaga to give Diet testimony on Dec. 3; LDP plans to boycott it, 
dismissing allegations 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The House of Councillors Financial Affairs Committee, chaired by 
Naoki Minezaki of the Democratic Party of Japan, approved a plan 
last night to summon Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga and former 
Vice-Defense Minister Takemasa Moriya for Diet testimony on the 
afternoon of Dec. 3 regarding allegations that Nukaga was present at 
a dinner party along with Moriya and others. The plan was adopted in 
the absence of the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition 
partner New Komeito. LDP Upper House Diet Affairs Committee Chairman 
Seiji Suzuki indicated that his party would absent itself from the 
planned Diet testimony, saying, "We do not endorse their Diet 
testimony." 
 
Prior to the committee meeting, LDP Diet Affairs Committee Chairman 
Tadamori Oshima held a press conference, in which he announced the 
party's investigative results that it was impossible for Nukaga to 
have attended the dinner party in question, producing transcripts of 
a study session Nukaga had attended and photographs of him and his 
family members during a dinner that day. According to the LDP's 
investigation, Nukaga had a dinner with his family and friends at a 
hotel in Tokyo's Ginza from 6:00 p.m. December 4, 2006, the day the 
DPJ says Nukaga attended the dinner party in question, and then 
attended a defense affairs study session at the Japan-US Center for 
Peace and Cultural Exchange office for about an hour and a half from 
shortly after 8:00 p.m. 
 
Oshima explained that the dinner party in question started at 6:30 
p.m. at the Japanese restaurant Hamadaya in Tokyo attended by eight 
persons, including Moriya and former US Defense Department Japan 
desk director James Auer, and that Nukaga was not there according to 
Auer's account. Oshima said: "After the family dinner, Mr. Nukaga 
did not have the time to drop by at Hamadaya." 
 
10) DPJ releases telephone interview with Moriya, who said: "There 
was no mistake that Mr. Nukaga was present" 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The following is a gist of telephone conversations between the 
Democratic Party of Japan and former Administrative Vice-Defense 
Minister Takemasa Moriya, released by the DPJ yesterday. 
 
November 21 
 
DPJ: Did you attend the dinner party held at a Japanese restaurant 
at Tokyo's Nihonbashi-Ningyocho on December 4, 2006? 
 
Moriya: I certainly did. There are records taken by a Defense 
Ministry driver. 
 
TOKYO 00005350  007 OF 011 
 
 
 
DPJ: Was it held by the Association for Communication of 
Transcultural Study (ACT)? 
 
Moriya: Yes. It was held in the honor of former US Defense 
Department Japan desk director James Auer, who delivered a speech. 
 
DPJ: Who attended the dinner party? 
 
Moriya: Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga, the ACT chief director, 
Mr. Auer, former Yamada Corp. managing director Motonobu Miyazaki, 
and a number of private-sector individuals. 
 
DPJ: Was Mr. Nukaga there throughout the dinner? 
 
Moriya: He left the dinner halfway through, as he was told, "You are 
busy." 
 
DPJ: Did Mr. Nukaga talk with Mr. Auer? 
 
Moriya: They talked to each other over drinks. 
 
DPJ: Why was Miyazaki there? 
 
Moriya: I think he attended it because Mr. Auer was there. For 
business.... Otherwise, there was no reason for him to be there. 
 
November 22 
 
DPJ: Isn't there any objective fact to prove that (Nukaga) was 
present? 
 
Moriya: Mr. Nukaga came late and the person sitting next to Mr. Auer 
offered his seat. There is no mistake, because I was sitting across 
from the table. 
 
11) DPJ releases the details of questioning Moriya, who testified 
"Nukaga's presence" 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The major opposition Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) Diet Affairs 
Committee Chairman Kenji Yamaoka and other leaders met the press 
yesterday and released the details of direct questioning by the 
party's investigative team of former Administrative Vice Defense 
Minister Takemasa Moriya. Yamaoka and other leaders stressed the 
need to summon Finance Minister Fukushiro Nukaga as a witness to the 
Diet to make it clear whether Nukaga had joined a dinner party held 
at a restaurant in Tokyo on the night of Dec. 4, 2006, together with 
James Auer, (former director for Japan in the Department of Defense) 
and suspect Motonobu Miyazaki. 
 
During the press briefing yesterday, DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa 
noted: "(Mr. Nukaga) is responsible for compiling a budget bill and 
submitting it to the next ordinary Diet session. If his words and 
actions are contradictory to the facts, it would not only lead to a 
crisis for one cabinet member but also create a crisis for the 
Fukuda cabinet." 
 
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said that Nukaga would not 
have the time to attend the dinner party because he had dined with 
 
TOKYO 00005350  008 OF 011 
 
 
his family that night, but referring to this, Yamaoka rebutted: (The 
time of a digital photo taken of Nukaga and his family dining 
together is not reliable because the time could be inserted at 
anytime. It would be possible for (Nukaga) to leave in the middle of 
the meal with his family to attend the dinner party, given that the 
two places are as close as five to 10 minutes by car." Moreover, 
Yamaoka noted: "It is the legislators' responsibility and obligation 
to probe (whether Mr. Nukaga and Mr. Moriya) gave false statements 
or truth." 
 
The DPJ had not made clear until recently who had testified, but in 
order to counter the LDP's indication of Nukaga's alibi, the DPJ 
revealed that the witness was Moriya, and that the party questioned 
him at least four times on Nov. 21, 22, and 27. 
 
Moriya's testimony made to the DPJ was specific like Nukaga joined 
the dinner party belatedly and sat down next to Auer. A senior DPJ 
member said with confidence: "Our party obtained Mr. Moriya's 
approval about what our party revealed during today's press 
conference." Late yesterday, DPJ Deputy President Naoto Kan said at 
a gathering of the DPJ Lower House members: "This may topple the 
Fukuda cabinet." 
 
12) Hill hints at a revisit to DPRK next month, perhaps for prior 
coordination on declaration of nuclear programs 
 
ASAHI (Page 6) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
Yoshihiro Makino, Kei Ukai, Nobuyoshi Sakajiri 
 
US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, the US chief 
representative to the six-party talks to discuss North Korea's 
nuclear issue, is considering revisiting North Korea in early 
December, a source revealed. On Nov. 27, government officials from 
Japan, the United States, South Korea, China, and Russia arrived in 
Pyongyang to inspect the ongoing process of disabling North Korea's 
nuclear facilities. Meanwhile, the chief negotiators in the 
six-party talks are expected to meet shortly in Beijing. 
 
According to a US State Department official, Hill plans to visit 
Japan, South Korea, China from Nov. 27. China is sounding out the 
possibility of holding a meeting of the six-party chief negotiators 
on Dec. 6-8. If this plan is realized, Hill will join the meeting 
while visiting China. However, North Korea has not responded yet to 
this plan, the official said. 
 
On Nov. 27, Hill strongly suggested the possibility of revisiting 
North Korea at an airport in a suburb of Washington, telling 
reporters: "There may be an announcement shortly indicating a visit 
to another place." If his revisit to North Korea is realized, Hill 
is likely to visit the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. Speaking of 
America's undertaking of the nuclear issue, including whether to 
delist the North as a state sponsor of terrorism, Hill noted that 
"I'd like to have an opportunity to explain" that  to North Korea. 
 
According to an official involved, Hill is considering revisiting 
the North after South Korea. The planned meeting of the chief 
representatives is expected to focus on North Korea's declaration of 
all its nuclear programs as agreed on in the six-party talks. A 
source connected with the six-party talks commented: "(Hill) may 
plan to make prior coordination so that North Korea can respond to a 
 
TOKYO 00005350  009 OF 011 
 
 
full declaration of its nuclear programs." 
 
Meanwhile, according to China's Xinhua News Agency, a group of 
government officials and nuclear experts from five countries of the 
six-party talks excluding North Korea arrived in that country on 
Nov. 27 in order to see how far the disablement process, which is 
going on in line with the six-party agreement, is advancing. On Nov. 
28, the group will visit Yongbyon, where nuclear facilities are 
concentrated, and return to Beijing on Nov. 29. 
 
Joining the group from Japan is Tomiko Ichikawa, director of the 
Foreign Ministry's Non-Proliferation, Science and Nuclear Energy 
Division. She will be the first Japanese government official to 
visit the nuclear facilities in Yongbyon. As part of economic 
sanctions against North Korea, Japan has suspended dispatching 
government officials to the North, but on Nov. 26, Foreign Minister 
Koumura released a statement, in which he said: "I decided to 
dispatch her to the North so that Japan will be actively engaged in 
the disablement process." 
 
13) US, DPRK probing each other's intentions, with US requesting, "A 
declaration of nuclear programs should be made first," and DPRK 
arguing, "Delisting should come first" 
 
ASAHI (Page 6) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
Kei Ukai, Washington 
 
When asked by the Asahi Shimbun on Nov. 26 about a declaration of 
all the nuclear programs as agreed on in the six-party talks, one 
North Korean official said, "We are watching whether the United 
States is meeting its commitments," revealing that the North is 
looking for the right timing for it to submit a declaration, while 
watching the US government's move to delist the North as a state 
sponsoring terrorism. 
 
Horse-trading is continuing between Washington, which intends to 
remove the North from the list of state sponsors of terrorism after 
examining the contents of the North's declaration of all its nuclear 
programs, and Pyongyang. Tokyo has been opposed to delisting the 
North without any progress on the abduction issue. 
 
The six-party agreement says North Korea should declare all its 
nuclear programs by the end of the year. US Assistant Secretary of 
State Christopher Hill indicated an outlook in a US House public 
hearing on Oct. 25 that the first list of (nuclear programs) would 
come out within two weeks, but the first list has not been submitted 
yet. The US intends to check the first list against information 
given by other countries and then bring out a final declaration. If 
the submission of the list is delayed, a final declaration may not 
be made within the deadline. On Nov. 27, Hill told reporters: "The 
list will be submitted within a couple of days." He also indicated 
the possibility that the list would be shown to the group of 
government officials and nuclear experts from the five countries 
that arrived in North Korea on Nov. 27 in order to see progress on 
the disablement process. A high-level US State Department official 
noted: "The situation has not yet reached the point of delisting 
North Korea." 
 
14) Prime minister: Spring has already arrived in Japan-China 
relations 
 
TOKYO 00005350  010 OF 011 
 
 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 28, 2007 
 
Prime Minister Fukuda received a courtesy call by members of the 
Japan-China journalist exchange conference, composed of 
representatives of Japanese and Chinese news organizations, at his 
official residence yesterday. 
 
In response to a remark by a Chinese journalist: "We hope spring 
will come soon in Japan-China relations," Fukuda said: "I think 
spring has already arrived in Japan-China relations." He added: "I 
hope that the spring will last as long as possible. Because when 
summer comes, something that upsets us might occur." 
 
Prime Minister Fukuda was keeping in mind the anniversary of the end 
of the war on Aug. 15. In the Koizumi administration, the prime 
minister and cabinet ministers visited Yasukuni Shrine, making China 
nervous and eventually causing cracks to appear between the two 
countries. Former Prime Minister Abe did not reveal whether he would 
visit the shrine. 
 
Unlike these predecessors, Prime Minister Fukuda has clearly said he 
would not visit Yasukuni Shrine. The prime minister, treated 
cordially by China, is scheduled to visit China at the end of the 
year or early next year. 
 
15) No agreement reached in open debate on double-billing system 
 
SANKEI (Page 2) (Excerpts) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The government's Regulatory Reform Conference, chaired by Nippon 
Yusen K.K. Chairman Takao Kusakari, carried out an open debate with 
the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) yesterday on a 
double-billing system - part of care covered by medical insurance 
and part not covered. Taking advantage of the Tokyo District Court's 
ruling on Nov. 7 that it is illegal for insurance not to cover any 
medical fees in such a case, the reform panel called for completely 
removing restrictions, but a ministry official countered: "To 
maintain the current safe medical-care structure, certain rules are 
necessary," standing firm on the ministry's view that the current 
double-billing system should be maintained. 
 
At the outset of the debate, Chairman Kusakari implicitly criticized 
the MHLW for its stance of not approving in principle a hospital 
that provides both healthcare covered by insurance and private 
treatment even after the government's defeat in the recent lawsuit, 
saying: "We want the ministry to conduct discussion from the 
viewpoint of offering medical services for the sake of the people." 
 
In the debate, a representative from the reform panel said: "If the 
ruling by the Tokyo District Court is confirmed, it will prove that 
providing both healthcare covered by insurance and elective 
treatment itself is not banned." But a MHLW official argued: "Since 
medical treatment at the patient's own expense will become common, 
the patient's burden will become improperly heavier." Another 
official claimed: "Specific medical treatment without any scientific 
grounds will be promoted." Regarding the ruling by the Tokyo 
District Court, Health Insurance Bureau Director General Kunio 
Mizuta said: "The ruling is not to judge the propriety of the 
double-billing system (but to judge the plaintiff's individual 
 
TOKYO 00005350  011 OF 011 
 
 
treatment case)." 
 
Further, a panel member urged the ministry to present data of 
negative effects expected to appear as a result of lifting the ban, 
but there was no clear-cut reply from the ministry. 
 
16) Panel of experts proposes the scrapping or privatization on 11 
independent administrative corporations, including housing 
assistance organization 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpt) 
November 28, 2007 
 
The government's council of learned persons for reducing and making 
more efficient government administration (chaired by Kikkoman 
Chairman Yusaburo Shigeki) selected 11 out of a total of 101 
independent administrative corporations (dokuritsu gyousei houjin or 
doppou) for scrapping or privatizing, such as the Urban Revival 
Organization and the Housing Financial Assistance Organization. 
Chairman Shigeki then presented the panel's report to Prime Minister 
Fukuda. Upon receiving the proposals, the government will draw up a 
plan within the year to consolidate and rationalize the 
corporations, but the focus will be how effective will the 
leadership of the Prime Minister's office be, since until now there 
has been strong resistance from the ministry or agency having 
jurisdiction over the corporations. 
 
SCHIEFFER