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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 000413 
 
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 02/15/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) McCain and his view of Japan (Sankei) 
 
(2) What is Fukuda administration's environmental diplomacy? (Part 
2): Emergence from global warming; Need to think how to share costs 
(Asahi) 
 
(3) Appointment of Ito as special advisor to the prime minister 
creating stir in ruling camp (Nikkei) 
 
(4) Discussion between Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki on North Korea 
policy and political realignment (Mainichi) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) McCain and his view of Japan 
 
SANKEI (Page 7) (Full) 
February 9, 2008 
 
Yoshihisa Komori, Washington 
 
It now looks like Senator John McCain is the de facto nominee of the 
Republican Party in the U.S. presidential race. 
 
McCain brings to mind the time when he told me enthusiastically 
about Vietnam. It was around the fall of 1989, shortly after my 
arrival in Washington for my second assignment as a correspondent. 
 
Two years before that, McCain had just become a Senator. However, he 
was a captive for five and a half years during the Vietnam War. He 
did not cave in to North Vietnam's cruel torture, and he returned as 
a "war hero." 
 
I myself spent nearly four years in Vietnam, so I proposed an 
interview to McCain to hear his views of Vietnam. He readily 
responded. To my surprise, he spared me a lot of time and talked 
about the "just cause" of the Vietnam War. After that, he responded 
to a number of interviews. After a while, I found that McCain was 
strongly interested in Japan and the Japan-U.S. alliance. 
 
In my interviews, McCain talked about Japan and the Japan-U.S. 
alliance. Judging from his views in those days, his standpoint 
toward Japan in his foreign policy paper, which was issued for the 
presidential election, seems only natural. Former Prime Minister 
Shinzo Abe, when in office, pushed for "values-oriented diplomacy" 
and an "arc of freedom and prosperity." McCain agreed with these 
initiatives. In addition, Abe pushed a policy of strengthening the 
Japan-U.S. alliance. This also seems to be in the same category as 
McCain's standpoint. 
 
In those days, McCain, working as a member of the Senate Armed 
Services Committee, voted against all the trade-related bills that 
were presented to the U.S. Congress against Japan when Japan and the 
United States were in the midst of intensifying trade disputes. 
Moreover, on the issue of the FSX (follow-on mainstay fighter 
support plane) selection for the Air Self-Defense Force, McCain 
bitterly blamed the "Japan bashing" moves of congressional 
hardliners toward Japan. That was obviously because he gave thought 
to the importance of Japan for the United States in the security 
area. 
 
TOKYO 00000413  002 OF 008 
 
 
 
In June 1990, when the Soviet Union's communist regime was about to 
collapse, some in Japan presumed that the United States would no 
longer need the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty if the military threat 
from the Soviet Union disappeared. I asked McCain about this in my 
interview. He answered as follows: 
 
"Even if the Soviet threat diminishes or disappears, the U.S. 
administration-irrespective of the Republican Party or the 
Democratic Party-would think that the United States should 
absolutely maintain its basic framework of bilateral security with 
Japan in the two countries' common interests. Even the congressional 
hardliners toward Japan over trade issues do not think at all that 
there is no need for bilateral security arrangements with Japan." 
 
"In addition to the Soviet threat, there are many other factors in 
Asia like uncertainties and changes that need our bilateral defense 
cooperation. These factors include changes in the Middle East and 
the Persian Gulf, a crisis on the Korean Peninsula, and China's 
moves." 
 
That is why McCain strongly asked Japan to build up its defenses and 
increase its burden as a step to strengthen the bilateral alliance. 
Around that time, McCain submitted a bill to Congress, calling for 
Japan to shoulder the entire burden of costs for stationing U.S. 
forces in Japan. When the U.S.-led Gulf War broke out against the 
Iraqi military's occupation of Kuwait under the Hussein regime, 
McCain called for Japan to specific contributions. He criticized 
Japan harshly for taking no action. 
 
"We needed to stop Hussein's act of aggression. In that respect, our 
European allies, the Soviet Union, and Arab countries recognized the 
necessity of doing so, and they clarified their support for the 
action taken by the United States. However, Japan is the only 
country remaining uncommitted. The Japanese government's pro forma 
clarification of support is nothing but subject to the world's 
contempt and the United States' hostility." 
 
"If Japan wants to remain a friend of the United States, and if 
Japan wants to continue its economic interdependence with the rest 
of the world, Japan will then have to take a stance that is 
appropriate for an international state. Japan can no longer hide 
behind the world's most flexible constitution or remain uncommitted 
to any action on the pretext of an objection from a few 
stevedores." 
 
In this way, McCain expressed his expectations for Japan. People 
call him moderate, but when it comes to these remarks, it does not 
seem that they are right. 
 
In those days as well, however, some people in Japan and the United 
States were crying out against Japan's action for its defense 
buildup and its overseas dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces as a 
revival of militarism. I asked McCain about this point. He answered 
as follows: 
 
"Such arguments in Japan about military power and a revival of 
militarism are groundless. Instead, I think Japan's passive pacifism 
is a problem." 
 
At that time, this expression clashed with arguments among those who 
are distrustful and wary of Japan, like the New York Times' 
 
TOKYO 00000413  003 OF 008 
 
 
criticism of Japan in an editorial. Even now, that is still so. 
McCain probably wanted Japan to take even more specific action to 
strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance, consolidate its national 
security as an "ordinary country," and contribute to international 
security. 
 
Should Japan fail to answer such expectations, McCain would set 
forth even more cutting criticism. His words would presumably be 
quite a far cry from his moderate image. 
 
(2) What is Fukuda administration's environmental diplomacy? (Part 
2): Emergence from global warming; Need to think how to share costs 
 
ASAHI (Page 17) (Slightly abridged) 
February 7, 2008 
 
(From the fifth panel discussion of the Asahi Shimbun's Council to 
Discuss Asahi Shimbun's News Reports.) 
 
Sanae Ariga, member of the Asahi Shimbun's Council to Discuss Asahi 
Shimbun's News Reports: The Asahi Shimbun reported on a national 
budget bill for fiscal 2008 created by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) 
in an article dated Dec. 21 in the way to liken the budget bill to 
an average citizen's household economy. This was a good approach to 
make it easy for people to understand a budget bill. But it is 
regrettable that the article was void of anything related to 
diplomacy and international relations. 
 
In an editorial dated Dec. 23, the Asahi dealt with a drop in 
Japan's official development assistance (ODA) budget, writing that 
Japan ranked as the number one among the ODA donors in the world at 
one point in the past but that it will slide down to the sixth place 
in three years. I feel something incompatible with Japan's efforts 
to continue to be respected internationally by scattering money 
across the world, but I think it is a good thing to retain a say as 
a country contributing to the wellbeing of the world. 
 
Kenichi Miyata, deputy editor in chief: In that editorial, we made 
an issue of the decline in Japan's ODA budget, but when climate 
change further advances in the future, measures for developing 
countries that will be hit hard by high tides and droughts will 
become far more costly than the past official development 
assistance. Japan needs to think about another fund-raising system 
to deal with that. 
 
Kunio Kojima, member of the council: It is a good thing to bring up 
the environmental issue with the start of the year. The 
environmental issue is a very serious question. It is no easy matter 
to establish greenhouse gas emission reduction targets by the time 
of the (COP15) United Nations Climate Change Conference slated for 
late 2009. A considerable amount of diplomatic efforts will be 
required. 
 
In an editorial dated Jan. 3 titled "Resolve to emerge from global 
warming," the daily emphasized the need for change by means of 
technological capabilities. Indeed, Japan is excellent in its 
technological power and has accumulated efforts for energy-saving. 
But if every region and every industry in Japan is to shift to a 
society that can overcome global warming, a large cost will be 
required. Who will pay for it? I hope this problem will be taken up 
next time. 
 
 
TOKYO 00000413  004 OF 008 
 
 
Takumi Sato, member of the council: The series "Eco wars" is worth 
reading and educational. It was very good. As Council member Kumaoka 
pointed out earlier, we have a fixed image about Africa. Likewise, 
we have a preconceived idea about India. With the advancement of 
information technology (IT), Japan and India are supposed to have 
closer ties in the areas of politics and employment. I think more 
space should be continuously given to reports on India than Africa. 
 
Ichikawa, editor: India is a major political power and has a large 
market. On the other hand, its relations with the United States are 
not stable. It is difficult to ascertain in which direction that 
country will move in terms of the economy, politics, and the 
environment. We plan to intensively deal with that country together 
with China. 
 
Masahiko Yokoi, head of the Tokyo Head Office Editorial Bureau: l 
think the problem of global environment is a challenge for Japan in 
terms of its way of doing things being tested in the areas of 
international politics, the economy, and technology. In our series 
"The first year of the environmental era," which began with the 
start of the year, we plan to deal with urban, energy, and food 
problems. In another series "Changing earth," which has continued 
since last year into this year, we will focus on areas suffering 
from environmental problems. Writing reports in both respects as 
well as reports on such diplomatic events as the G8 Toyako Summit, 
we want to tell the readership that the environmental problems have 
given us an opportunity to change our society overall. 
 
-- Some papermaking companies were found to have tampered with their 
blend ratios of recycled paper. What is your view about that? 
 
Sato: When we separate paper scraps in our laboratory before 
throwing them away, the volume of newspapers exceed others'. In an 
article in the Asahi's morning edition dated Jan. 25, "Much time 
required before restoration of the image of recycled paper," the 
Asahi answered this question, "How much is the newspaper company 
using recycled paper for their newspapers?" Indeed, the article 
referred to that question but in a plain manner and simply said that 
the Asahi's blend of recycled paper was "70 PERCENT  on average." 
The article failed to make clear whether the Asahi aims to achieve 
100 PERCENT  use of recycled paper in the future. If the daily 
wanted to deal with the blend ratio issue from the environmental 
point of view, it should have done so by revealing its stance as a 
large user of recycled paper. 
 
Sanae Ariga: professor at Hokkaido University Graduate School of 
Agriculture; born in 1957 
 
Kunio Kojima: vice chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate 
Executives (Keizai Doyukai); born in 1937 
 
Takumi Sato: assistant professor at Kyoto University Graduate 
School; born in 1960; specializes in media history and information 
culture. 
 
(3) Appointment of Ito as special advisor to the prime minister 
creating stir in ruling camp 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 15, 2008 
 
Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's appointment of former Financial 
 
TOKYO 00000413  005 OF 008 
 
 
Services Minister Tatsuya Ito as his special advisor on social 
security issues is now creating a controversy in Nagata-cho and 
Kasumigaseki. Lawmakers with vested interests in health and welfare 
affairs in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are already 
fiercely opposing the appointment of Ito, who has asserted that 
social security expenses should be cut in order to avoid tax hikes. 
The appointment will likely affect the political dynamics between 
lawmakers placing priority on economic growth and others calling for 
fiscal reconstruction, including a consumption tax hike. 
 
It is said that the reason for Fukuda having created the new post in 
charge of social security issues is to lighten the burden carried by 
Health, Labor and Welfare Minister Yoichi Masuzoe, who has been too 
busy with the China-made tainted gyoza dumplings scare to deal with 
the pension-records mess. 
 
Former LDP Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa strongly recommended 
Ito as special advisor to the prime minister on social security 
issues. Ito supported Nakagawa as assistant secretary general. He 
dealt with the pension-records fiasco and took part in drafting a 
bill to dismantle the Social Insurance Agency. In cooperation with 
Heizo Takenaka, who served as minister of internal affairs and 
communications and financial services minister, Ito formulated a 
financial revitalization plan urging major banks to strictly dispose 
of nonperforming loans. He revealed that he had received a telephone 
from Takenaka, saying, "Good luck!" 
 
The National Council on Social Security, which Ito will also manage, 
is expected to discuss the question of whether the consumption tax 
should be raised with an eye on a possible increase by fiscal 2009 
in the government's share of expenditures for the basic pension. Ito 
underscored again his view of not taking a position of tax hikes 
coming first. He said: "In order to realize further economic growth, 
I will continue my effort for spending reform." 
 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura took precautions against 
the role of Ito at a press conference yesterday, saying twice: "He 
will not engage in economic and fiscal policy." However, a senior 
New Komeito member said: "Hidenao Nakagawa, who favors an economic 
growth policy, has tried to reverse direction." Many in the ruling 
coalition are now taking this view. 
 
In a meeting on Feb. 13 of former heath, labor and welfare 
ministers, including Yuya Niwa, Hidehisa Otsuji of the LDP and 
Chikara Sakaguchi of the New Komeito, objections were raised: One 
participant said: "The appointment of a special advisor is 
outrageous." Another: "I can't understand the prime minister's 
decision." 
 
They are concerned that if a view calling for reducing expenditures 
strengthens, social welfare funds would be cut. Taking advantage of 
the divided Diet, under which enacting government-sponsored bills is 
difficult, there appears a move countering the government's policy 
of constraining social security spending by ruling coalition members 
representing vested interests in health and welfare affairs by 
involving opposition parties. 
 
A total of 109 legislators from all the parliamentary groups formed 
a group to aim at a breakthrough in the crisis facing hospitals. The 
group was launched on Feb. 12. Upper House LDP Caucus Chairman 
Otsuji heads the group. The DPJ's Sengoku also joins as deputy head. 
One senior member said: "The group's real aim is to lift the limit 
 
TOKYO 00000413  006 OF 008 
 
 
(220 billion yen) on social security costs." 
 
(4) Discussion between Koichi Kato and Taku Yamasaki on North Korea 
policy and political realignment 
 
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly) 
Evening, February 14, 2008 
 
Amid vigorous nonpartisan activities on the back of the divided 
Diet, a group of lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party, New 
Komeito, Democratic Party of Japan, and Social Democratic Party 
visited South Korea on Feb. 10-11. What is their plan to guide the 
country's North Korea policy and make moves toward another round of 
political realignment? Former LDP Secretary General Koichi Kato and 
former LDP Vice President Taku Yamasaki, who headed the delegation 
to South Korea, discussed those factors, moderated by Mainichi 
senior writer Takakazu Matsuda. 
 
-- What did the delegation achieve? 
 
Kato: Japan-ROK relations chilled under the former Koizumi and Abe 
administrations. The situation has changed significantly since Prime 
Minister Yasuo Fukuda took office, resulting in a mood for talks. We 
had direct talks with president-elect Lee Myung Bak, and as a 
result, we were able to confirm that bilateral relations are likely 
headed for a better direction. That was the greatest achievement. 
 
Yamasaki: The visit to South Korea by the nonpartisan delegation 
prior to the start of the new administration allowed us to show that 
Japan's views are unified when it comes to foreign and security 
policies. 
 
-- Do you think it will favorably affect the six-party talks on the 
North Korean nuclear issue? 
 
Yamasaki: It will naturally affect them. Mr. Lee, too, pointed to 
the need for Japan, the United States, and South Korea to work more 
closely in order for the six-party talks to move forward. 
 
Kato: It might be difficult to see good developments immediately. 
Nuclear data allegedly provided by North Korea to Syria is a hot 
topic in the U.S. Congress. North Korea always takes a wait-and-see 
attitude after South Korea installs new president. Mr. Lee has 
pledged to raise the North's per capita income to 3,000 dollars 
within a decade if it denuclearizes fully and opens its society. I 
think that is beneficial for North Korea in the long run. 
 
Yamasaki: In order to raise the North's per capita income to 3,000 
dollars in a decade, the Korean Peninsula must be denuclearized 
within this year. The Bush administration wants to make achievements 
on the foreign and security fronts this year, its final year. It is 
also desirable for the Fukuda administration to define the 
normalization of relations with North Korea as a top diplomatic 
issue and march toward it until the fall, especially in view of a 
possible Lower House dissolution. We urged Mr. Lee to go on the 
offensive this year because the conditions are ripe. In response, he 
expressed hope that Japan will play a more active role in the 
six-party talks. Under the six-party "second-phase" agreement (on 
North Korea's full nuclear declaration and disablement), the member 
countries are required to provide North Korea with energy aid 
equivalent to 1 million tons of heavy fuel. Japan has not joined it. 
Mr. Lee raised a question about it. 
 
TOKYO 00000413  007 OF 008 
 
 
 
-- What should be done? 
 
Kato: Several hundred South Koreans have been adducted to North 
Korea. The South Korean government is trying to negotiate with the 
North, make North Korea nuclear-free, and drag it out to the 
international community. Japan, too, should simultaneously aim at 
resolving the abduction issue and the denuclearization of North 
Korea. It is important to make a shift from the Abe approach of not 
discussing anything until after the abduction issue is settled 
altogether to the Koizumi tactic of voluntarily visiting North Korea 
to pursue a policy line of dialogue with that country. 
 
-- Does Prime Minister Fukuda have that wish? 
 
Yamasaki: Of course. Bringing the abduction issue to a complete 
settlement is extremely difficult, and the definition of a 
settlement is not clear, either. The prime minister should aim at 
incremental progress for the time being. If Pyongyang presents an 
abduction issue progress plan at a Japan-North Korea normalization 
working group meeting under the six-party talks, Japan would assess 
it and make efforts. It is important to embark on energy aid, as was 
suggested by Mr. Lee. Depending on the kind of progress, Japan 
should partially lift its economic sanctions on the North. 
 
-- At this stage where there is no diplomatic relationship, isn't 
parliamentarian diplomacy necessary, like Japan did in dealing with 
China and the Soviet Union before? 
 
Kato: It is necessary. Many years ago, major roles were played by 
"LT trade" based on a semi-governmental agreement and a visit to 
China by then Komeito Chairman Yoshikatsu Takeiri carrying the prime 
minister's letter. (In 1990), then Deputy Prime Minister Shin 
Kanemaru of the LDP and Japanese Socialist Party Vice Chairman 
Makoto Tanabe jointly led a bipartisan delegation to North Korea. 
That helped reduce tensions between the two countries. Now that the 
Fukuda administration has been installed, I would like to make 
efforts to realize a visit to North Korea by a nonpartisan 
delegation in the near future, if not immediately. 
 
-- Mr. Yamasaki, you could visit North Korea before that, possibly 
later this month. 
 
Yamasaki: That is unlikely. The expectation is that the first chance 
would be when America delists North Korea as a state sponsor of 
terrorism in exchange for the implementation of the second-phase 
agreement by Pyongyang. Another would be April 13 when Japan's 
economic sanctions expire. Progress on the abduction issue is 
necessary for Japan to lift its sanctions, even partially. Although 
"progress" must be agreed upon by the Japan-DPRK normalization 
working group under the six-party framework, the spadework must be 
done by lawmakers. That is why my role in the process is being 
mentioned. 
 
-- If you were to visit North Korea, that means you have Prime 
Minister Fukuda's approval, correct? 
 
Yamasaki: This time, I cannot visit that country independently. 
Without the prime minister's approval, I won't have any negotiation 
power. 
 
-- By the way, there is an observation that the members in the 
 
TOKYO 00000413  008 OF 008 
 
 
delegation to South Korea have their eyes on the next round of 
political realignment. 
 
Yamasaki: It was part of our efforts to build channels of 
communication capable of making policy coordination. 
 
-- Although both of you pin high hopes on the Fukuda administration, 
its support rate is plummeting. What should be done to raise it? 
 
Kato: Public support does not rise if plans are not put into action. 
The prime minister cannot implement plans because of the divided 
Diet. As a solution, he first opted for forming a grand coalition, 
followed by a stopgap bill, and tried to ram it through the Diet 
with numerical superiority. None of them worked. Our delegation to 
the ROK was called a bibimbap (Korean rice mixed with seasoned 
vegetables) group. Nonpartisan groups coming into the world and 
working closely with each other is good. 
 
-- The delegation included Yoshito Sengoku and Yukio Edano, both 
former DPJ Policy Research Committee chairmen. 
 
Kato: The delegation included a wide range of DPJ members. The two 
major anti-Ozawa members were there. It was an interesting group, in 
that respect. 
 
-- Mr. Kato, you have been a liberal from long before. Mr. Yamasaki, 
you have been regarded as a person of a conservative bent. When did 
you become a liberal? 
 
Yamasaki: I am clearly an advocate of constitutional revision. 
However, I have been of the view that Japan cannot exercise the 
right to collective self-defense unless the Constitution is revised. 
I am also opposed to paying homage at Yasukuni Shrine. My position 
has been consistent; the environment around me has shifted to the 
right. 
 
-- What do the liberals aim at in terms of domestic affairs? 
 
Yamasaki: They aim at correcting disparities and pursuing politics 
kind to the weak. This is the position of the former conservatives, 
though it is now hard to notice because of the "big government." 
 
Kato: I think the foreign affairs liberals agree with the domestic 
affairs liberals 70 PERCENT  to 80 PERCENT  of the time. 
 
-- Do you think political realignment will not occur until after the 
next general election? 
 
Kato: I think it will occur after the election. Whether it is 
political realignment or a grand coalition, lawmakers must join 
hands based on principles. 
 
Yamasaki: I agree. Political realignment is inevitable. 
 
SCHIEFFER