VZCZCXRO3902
PP RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #1322 1351009
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141009Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUCNASE/ASEAN MEMBER COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 3331
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA PRIORITY 7792
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU PRIORITY 1373
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG PRIORITY 6518
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA PRIORITY 6124
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA PRIORITY 0178
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE PRIORITY 1472
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO PRIORITY 8383
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI PRIORITY 0412
RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 7034
RUEHRN/USMISSION UN ROME PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 3323
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 9811

UNCLAS TOKYO 001322 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS AID/OFDA ROB THAYER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID PREL PHUM CH JA
SUBJECT: JAPAN OFFERS ASSISTANCE TO CHINA 
 
¶1. Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda sent a message to Chinese 
President Hu Jintao offering disaster assistance following 
the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan.  Foreign Minister Masahiko 
Koumura sent a similar message to State Councilor Dai Bingguo 
and Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.  Chief Cabinet Secretary 
Nobutaka Machimura told the press Japan is ready to send 
rescue teams to China and stated the GOJ may dispatch its 
Self-Defense Forces, pending requests from Beijing. 
 
¶2. Japan has offered $5 million in disaster relief funding, 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Overseas Disaster 
Assistance Division Director Takashi Koizumi told AID 
Counselor May 14.  Of this funding, $600,000 is for in-kind 
assistance (blankets, tents, water containers), which will be 
delivered May 14 or 15 from Japan International Cooperation 
Agency (JICA) warehouses in Singapore.  The rest will be 
divided between cash assistance going directly to the 
provincial or central government or for funding other 
assistance through international organizations, depending on 
requests from Beijing, Koizumi said.  Two GOJ officials 
arrived May 14 in Sichuan province to assess what further 
help Japan can offer. 
 
¶3. The GOJ is also prepared to send a disaster relief team 
composed of 50-60 individuals, including disaster relief 
specialists, firemen, policemen, and members of the Japanese 
coast guard, Koizumi continued.   In addition, the GOJ has 
offered an emergency medical team of 20 doctors, nurses, and 
logisticians.  Beijing has yet to respond to these offers and 
Koizumi speculated the area's remoteness may be slowing a 
needs assessment. 
 
¶4. Foreign Ministry Overseas Disaster Assistance Division 
Deputy Director Hiroaki Sano stated approximately 300 
Japanese long-term residents are in Sichuan province, 250 of 
those are in Chengdu.  The Japanese consulate in Chengdu had 
contacted approximately 40% of them by May 13.  None have 
reported injuries, Sano said. 
 
¶5. Japanese businesses with ties to China also plan to 
provide aid relief.  Toyota Motor Corporation has offered 
vehicles and cash while others have pledged instant noodles 
and additional monetary contributions. 
 
¶6. Comment.  The GOJ has, in recent weeks, given $20 million 
in emergency food relief to Sudan, $10 million in assistance 
to Burma in response to Cyclone Nargis, and now $5 million 
for China.  This funding is being pulled from budgeted, but 
as yet unspent, assistance programming that may be 
replenished through the supplemental budget process at the 
end of Japan's fiscal year.  These unplanned contributions, 
however, may have an impact on Japan's ongoing assistance 
programming and its ability to provide additional funding for 
other assistance programs elsewhere.  End Comment. 
DONOVAN