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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 TOKYO 003541 
 
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 12/31/08 
 
INDEX: 
(1) Yomiuri-Waseda joint opinion poll: LDP seen as strong on 
economic and foreign policies, while DPJ has the edge on social 
security issues (Yomiuri) 
 
(2) China to start building aircraft carriers as symbol of being a 
major power (Asahi) 
 
(3) Shaky alliance-5 years on the battlefield (Part 3): Court rules 
hard task unconstitutional, shocks SDF members, families (Yomiuri) 
 
(4) TOP HEADLINES 
 
(5) EDITORIALS 
 
(6) Prime Minister's schedule, December 30, 2008 (Nikkei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Yomiuri-Waseda joint opinion poll: LDP seen as strong on 
economic and foreign policies, while DPJ has the edge on social 
security issues 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 25, 2008 
 
According to a joint opinion survey (face-to-face interviews, Dec. 
6-7) carried out by the Yomiuri Shimbun and Waseda University that 
focused on whether the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) or Democratic 
Party of Japan (DPJ) was preferred in the next Lower House election, 
voters took the view that in the economic and foreign affairs areas, 
an LDP administration would be better able to implement policy, 
while the DPJ would do better at carrying out policy in the 
social-security area. Especially in the foreign diplomacy area, the 
gap between the LDP and the DPJ was great. The public has great 
anxiety about the DPJ in that area. 
 
Regarding economic, foreign, and social welfare policies, the 
question was asked which party, the LDP or the DPJ would be able to 
bring about better policies. On economics, the LDP received a 41 
PERCENT  approval rating, while the DPJ picked up 31 PERCENT . On 
foreign affairs, the LDP was favored by 55 PERCENT  of the 
electorate, compared to an 18 PERCENT  approval rating for the DPJ. 
On social security issues, such as pensions -- seen as 
disadvantageous to the government and ruling camp -- the DPJ picked 
up 42 PERCENT  approval to the LDP's 29 PERCENT . 
 
 In the survey, if we look only at the 50 PERCENT  who answered, 
"The DPJ has the capability of being in charge of the government," 
those who answered that the DPJ was better at implementing foreign 
policy only reached 29 PERCENT , far less than the 45 PERCENT  who 
thought the LDP better in this area. The respondents seemed to be 
saying that in order for the DPJ to be evaluated higher in its 
potential to be the party in power, it would first have to shift to 
a more pragmatic foreign policy. 
 
On the question - "Which administration would be better politically 
in reflecting the will of the people?" - the DPJ garnered 43 PERCENT 
, outpacing the LDP with its 26 PERCENT  rating. Even on the 
question, "Which administration would be able to properly implement 
its pledges to the public?", the DPJ was favored by 30 PERCENT , 
while the LDP took 25 PERCENT  of the tally. The evaluation of the 
 
TOKYO 00003541  002 OF 005 
 
 
DPJ has increased in terms of its stance of directly communicating 
with the public. 
 
The poll was carried out jointly with Professor Aiji Tanaka of the 
Political and Economic Department of Waseda University. Targeted 
were 3,000 eligible voters nationwide, of which 1,747 responded 
(Response rate of 58.2 PERCENT ). 
 
(2) China to start building aircraft carriers as symbol of being a 
major power 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged) 
December 31, 2008 
 
(Beijing, Kenji Minemura) 
 
China will soon start building an aircraft carrier, a desire the 
nation has cherished for 20 years. Huge expenses and high-level 
technology are needed for building a carrier, but China has decided 
to launch the project. Behind the decision is its growing awareness 
of being a major power, reflecting its strengthened economic 
presence and the success of the Beijing Olympics. Meanwhile, the 
nation is trying to dispel concerns among its neighbors about its 
being a threat. 
 
A specialized Chinese newspaper that is close to the military 
recently carried an article expressing a strong desire for acquiring 
aircraft carriers. The article said: "In the face of such imminent 
issues as disputes over the East China Sea, the Senkaku Islands 
(called the Diaoyutai Islands), and the South China Sea, it is 
absolutely necessary for our nation to build aircraft carriers. 
Foreigners will no longer despise us if we protect the lives of 
overseas Chinese on our own." 
 
Aircraft carriers are taken as a symbol of being a major power, as 
Colonel Lee of the Navy's research institute said in a TV program in 
the spring 2007: "Aircraft carriers are a reflection of a nation's 
overall strength." China began earnestly tackling the construction 
plan just after the Beijing Olympics in August, based on this 
judgment: "We now find it easier to obtain support from the people, 
because they have been animated by a spirit of patriotism and have 
became more confident through the Olympics," said a researcher at a 
military think-tank. 
 
Many believe that aircraft carriers are indispensable for China to 
secure energy. About 70 PERCENT  of the oil that China imports from 
the Middle East and Africa go through the Indian Ocean, which falls 
under the influence of the U.S. Navy. In the Chinese military, there 
is fear that the U.S. military might block the sea lanes in the 
event of a military conflict in Taiwan." 
 
China has been at odds with Southeast Asian countries over the 
Spratly Islands. In this conflict, China has the problem of its 
fighters' insufficient cruising distance, but this problem will be 
settled once China acquires aircraft carriers. Some observers 
speculate that China might be aiming to carry forward negotiations 
to its advantage. 
 
The recent moves of China will inevitably cause the "China as a 
threat" argument to grow stronger. Northern Command Adm. Commander 
Keating said in December: "If China seeks to develop an aircraft 
carrier, we will carefully keep watch on its moves." 
 
TOKYO 00003541  003 OF 005 
 
 
 
China is trying to show "consideration to the U.S.," according to a 
military source, by deploying aircraft carriers not at the squadron 
responsible for waters around Taiwan but at the one in charge of the 
South China Sea if the nation acquires carriers. 
 
There are still unresolved issues in building aircraft carriers. 
High-level technology is needed. In addition, huge costs are needed. 
A diplomatic source in Beijing said: "The U.S. might be encouraging 
China to possess aircraft carriers with the aim of having China 
wastefully spend money on its military." Some in the military also 
say that submarines are more effective." A Chinese national defense 
professor commented: "Traditional aircraft carriers are no longer 
mainstream equipment in an age of information war." As it stands, 
many are still negative about the idea of China building aircraft 
carriers 
 
(3) Shaky alliance-5 years on the battlefield (Part 3): Court rules 
hard task unconstitutional, shocks SDF members, families 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full) 
December 21, 2008 
 
The Self-Defense Forces was put to the test in Iraq. In July 2006, 
the Ground Self-Defense Force pulled out of Samawah. At the time, 
the United States asked the Air Self-Defense Force to extend its 
airlift activities in Iraq to Baghdad and other areas for 
multinational forces. 
 
"We thought to ourselves that we would be able to help the Iraqi 
people with reconstruction through the Ground Self-Defense Force's 
activities. However, our new task was totally different." With this, 
Col. Atsushi Nishino recalled his Iraqi days when he was commanding 
a Kuwait-based ASDF detachment tasked with airlift activities in 
Iraq. The primary purpose of the SDF's activities in Iraq was to 
provide humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to the Iraqi 
people. This purpose was going to be changed to the role of backing 
up the multinational forces. Young ASDF members sent there were 
upset. "For what are we going to run the risk? This question came 
from among them. 
 
Lt. Gen. Kunio Orita, who heads the Air Support Command, a unit in 
charge of commanding ASDF activities in Iraq, hurried to Kuwait, 
where he was pressed by ASDF members there. "That's not what we've 
heard," one of them said to Orita. 
 
Orita thought there that he had to show something convincing to them 
who were "suddenly ordered to fly to Baghdad." He said: 
 
"Japan cannot defend the nation by itself alone. We need to have a 
firm grasp on the United States. We should back up the United States 
when it is in need. That's the way the alliance should be. Without 
this sense of solidarity, the alliance is just a piece of paper. You 
guys work so hard to defend the Senkaku islands and the Sea of 
Japan." 
 
Right before that time, North Korea, pushing for its nuclear 
development, launched seven ballistic missiles. In November 2004, a 
Chinese nuclear-powered submarine violated Japan's territorial 
waters. Japan was surrounded with the serious threats. Orita 
justified the new task for a closer alliance with the United 
States. 
 
TOKYO 00003541  004 OF 005 
 
 
 
It was convincing enough to many of the ASDF members there, Orita 
says. The government, however, told the ASDF not to disclose how 
many U.S. military and multinational force soldiers the ASDF carried 
on its C-130 cargo planes. That was partly because the government 
did not want the ASDF to spill the beans about military operations 
conducted by the U.S.-led multinational forces. In point of fact, 
however, the government probably did not want to be criticized as 
"blindly following" the United States. 
 
The ASDF has only one C-130 unit. That is the 1st Tactical Airlift 
Division, which is assigned to the ASDF's Komaki base in Aichi 
Prefecture. The task in Iraq was on a four-month rotating basis. 
However, pilots and maintenance service crewmen are specialist 
personnel. Many of them were therefore sent on the Iraq mission as 
often as four or five times. There are also 16 ASDF members who 
could not be by their parents' bedside when they died. 
 
All the more for the foregoing reason, ASDF members on the Iraq 
mission and their families at home were shocked at the Nagoya High 
Court's ruling this spring that the ASDF airlift activities in Iraq 
are unconstitutional. There was another shock to them. The leading 
opposition Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) presented a bill 
seeking to repeal a law under which the ASDF was tasked with the 
airlift activities in Iraq. There were a number of demonstrations 
near the Komaki base against the Iraq mission. "What I'm doing might 
be wrong." So saying, one ASDF pilot left the service. 
 
Last month, there was a message from U.S. Secretary of Defense 
Gates. In the delivered message, the Pentagon chief expressed his 
gratitude to the families of ASDF members sent on the Iraq mission 
for their devoted support of those ASDF members. "I was thankful," a 
senior Defense Ministry official recalls. However, Japan is split 
over the alliance and its importance. Japan's international 
cooperation-which depends solely on the SDF personnel's sense of 
mission-could go under sooner or later. 
 
(4) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Violent global changes: There is no escape from chain of crisis 
 
Mainichi, Nikkei, Sankei & Tokyo Shimbun 
Tokyo stocks suffer record loss of 42 PERCENT  in 2008 
 
Yomiuri: 
Nishimatsu Construction suspected of offering illegal donations to 
politicians, including Ozawa, Mori 
 
Akahata: 
Labor unions' battle producing great achievements 
 
(5) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Reform public corporations to strengthen civilian power 
(2) Tibet issue: Now is good time for dialogue 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Review of 2008: Cracks appearing in national systems 
 
Yomiuri: 
 
TOKYO 00003541  005 OF 005 
 
 
(1) Promote Futenma relocation plan as agreed on between Japan, 
U.S. 
(2) Chinese economic slowdown causing social unrest 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Make use of record low stock prices as step to redesign life 
plan 
(2) Proposal by seven LDP, DPJ members on pension system 
significant 
 
Sankei: 
(1) China's 2008 Charter calling for end of JCP regime: Political 
reform unavoidable 
(2) Thorough debate needed on status of limitations, with rescission 
in mind 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Take financial crisis as turning point 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Strengthen solidarity and support in the new year 
 
(6) Prime Minister's schedule, December 30, 2008 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
December 31, 2009 
 
09:30 
Took a walk around his private residence in Kamiyama-cho. 
 
12:00 
Met with New Komeito Vice President Junji Higashi at a Chinese 
restaurant in the Hotel Okura. 
 
14:06 
Arrived at his private office in Nagata-cho. 
 
18:00 
Arrived at his private residence. 
 
18:31 
Met friends from the time of his studying in the U.S., with his wife 
at a Chinese restaurant in Minami-Aoyama. 
 
21:48 
Returned to his private residence. 
 
ZUMWALT