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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 000337 
 
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 2/13/09 
 
Index: 
 
1) Top headlines 
 
2) Editorials 
 
3)Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
4) Becoming more unlikely that Secretary Clinton will meet DPJ 
President Ozawa, who says he has another commitment (Sankei) 
 
5) Secretary Clinton's letter, carried by special envoy to 
Pyongyang, seeks direct talks between U.S. and North Korea (Sankei) 
 
 
6) U.S., Japan alarmed by China's building of two nuclear-powered 
naval carriers for deployment to the open sea (Asahi) 
 
7) CSIS questionnaire of nine countries on Asia 10 years in the 
future finds strong tilt toward China becoming "mightiest power" 
(Asahi) 
 
8) Foreign Minister Nakasone in meeting with UN envoy pledges 
cooperation on turning junta-led Burma (Myanmar) into a civilian 
state  (Nikkei) 
 
9) Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura expresses concern that "Buy 
American" language is still in the U.S. stimulus bill that is ready 
for passage  (Mainichi) 
 
10) Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) launches team of 
experts who will track trade protectionist moves across the globe 
(Mainichi) 
 
11)  Former Prime Minister Koizumi creates huge political stir by 
criticizing PM Aso for anti-postal-privatization stance, hints 
cash-handout plan may not pass  (Yomiuri) 
 
12) Parallel debate on second supplementary budget and separate 
budget-related bills creating confusion in the government and ruling 
camp (Nikkei) 
 
13)  Meeting reporters, Prime Minister Aso blasts Ozawa for not 
showing up at important Diet deliberations; Ozawa had a previous 
commitment (Mainichi) 
 
14) Democratic Party of Japan remains bogged down in rewriting last 
year's campaign pledges (manifesto) due to internal policy 
differences  (Asahi) 
 
15) Tabloid weekly series in which former rightist hit man claims to 
have had U.S. embassy contract to kill Asahi reporter is rebutted as 
rubbish by Asahi, etc.  (Yomiuri) 
 
There will be no Morning Highlights on February 16 - an American 
holiday. 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
 
TOKYO 00000337  002 OF 010 
 
 
China to build two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers 
 
Mainichi, Yomiuri, and Sankei: 
Former Prime Minister Koizumi derides Aso's postal privatization 
comments as laughable, objects to cash handout program 
 
Nikkei: 
IMF, other international lenders to extend 54 trillion yen in 
emergency loans to developing countries in 2009 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Japan Post President Nishikawa to resign to take responsibility for 
Kanpo no Yu issue 
 
Akahata: 
Former Isuzu Fujisawa plant worker asks Kanagawa Labor Bureau to 
urge car maker to hire him as permanent employee 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Meeting between Kim Hyon Hui and Taguchi family called for 
(2) Okinawa dud explosion and government's responsibility 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) U.S. stimulus package not enough 
(2) Kanpo no Yu inns must be sold individually 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Space debris measures must be strengthened 
(2) Israel election: Will rightist bloc's leap block peace? 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Emission targets test a country's ideals and will 
(2) Significance of Ozawa-Clinton meeting 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Meeting between Kim Hyon Hui and Taguchi family: Japan, South 
Korea must work together on abduction issue 
(2) Israel election: Torch of peace must not be extinguished 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) Satellite collision: Space is not dumping ground 
(2) Rise of right wing in Israel raises concern 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Deep suspicions about Kanpo no Yado inns 
 
(09021302st) Back to Top 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule, February 12 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
07:32 
Took a walk around his official residence. 
 
10:01 
Met at Kantei with Special Ambassador to Vietnam Ryotaro Sugi, 
 
TOKYO 00000337  003 OF 010 
 
 
joined by Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura and LDP Deputy Secretary 
General Hayashi. 
 
12:08 
Met with BOJ Gov. Shirakawa and Vice Governors Yamaguchi and 
Nishimura, attended by Finance Minister Nakagawa, Economic and 
Fiscal Policy Minister Yosano and Kawamura. 
 
13:03 
Attended Lower House plenary session. 
 
16:29 
Returned to Kantei. 
 
17:13 
Attended Lower House plenary session. 
 
18:03 
Met at Kantei East Timor's National Parliament President Araujo. 
Attended informal meeting on global warming issues. 
 
19:42 
Dined with LDP Election Strategy Council Chairman Koga, former MITI 
Minister Hiranuma, former Foreign Minister Komura and former Defense 
Minister Kyuma. 
 
21:14 
Met with LDP General Council Chairman Sasagawa and prime minister's 
special advisor Shimamura at the bar Golden Lion in the Imperial 
Hotel. 
 
22:29 
Returned to his official residence. 
 
4) Ozawa unlikely to meet with visiting U.S. Secretary of State 
 
SANKEI (Page 5) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
A Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) source revealed yesterday, that 
President Ichiro Ozawa is unlikely to meet with U.S. Secretary of 
State Hillary Clinton during her visit to Japan starting on Feb. 16. 
The same party source said, "It is because he has another commitment 
on his schedule." The U.S. government had sounded out the party 
about a meeting while the Secretary was in Japan. 
 
5) U.S. delegation visiting Pyongyang carried letter from Secretary 
Clinton to North Korea seeking direct dialogue 
 
SANKEI (Page 1) (Excerpt) 
February 13, 2009 
 
It was learned on Feb. 12 that former Ambassador to South Korea 
Bosworth, who led a private-sector delegation to North Korea, 
staying in Pyongyang until the 7th of this month, handed over to the 
North Koreans a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Clinton seeking 
progress on the non-proliferation front. A source connected with the 
Six-Party Talks revealed this news. Reportedly, the North Korean 
side responded by saying, "We seek a direct dialogue between the 
U.S. and North Korea." 
 
6) China to build 2 nuclear flattops 
 
TOKYO 00000337  004 OF 010 
 
 
 
ASAHI (Top play) (Abridged) 
February 13, 2009 
 
Kenji Minemura, Beijing 
 
The Chinese military is planning to build two nuclear-powered 
aircraft carriers in 2020 or later as China's first nuclear 
flattops, military officials have revealed. China has already 
announced plans to build two conventional aircraft carriers from 
this year. However, a nuclear-powered carrier can move around for a 
long period of time without being refueled. The plan therefore can 
be noted as a full-blown ocean-going move. 
 
According to Chinese military sources, the Chinese military held an 
internal review meeting in Beijing on Dec. 30, 2008, where a 
military brass officer explained that China's naval forces would 
start on a full scale in 2009 to build aircraft carriers. The 
military officer revealed that China had already started 
manufacturing parts for electric control systems and that the 
Chinese navy would complete two conventional aircraft carriers 
around 2015. The two carriers will go operational by 2020, and the 
Chinese navy will go beyond the first line of defense connecting 
Okinawa, Taiwan, and the Philippines to break away from coastal 
defense. 
 
In addition, the Chinese navy is also going to build two 
nuclear-powered aircraft carriers-both of which are 60,000-ton 
midsized flattops. China is said to have already secured a blueprint 
of the Ulyanovsk, a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that the Soviet 
Union gave up building. China is believed to use it for its navy to 
develop its own nuclear flattops. 
 
The Chinese military's future goal is to secure naval supremacy in 
the western Pacific waters inside the second line of defense from 
the Japanese archipelago to Guam Island and Indonesia. After that, 
the Chinese military will vie with the U.S. naval forces in the 
Indian Ocean and in the entire Pacific region. A Chinese military 
official said: "The two conventional aircraft carriers we're going 
to build from this year are just preparatory steps. It will cost a 
great deal of money to build and operate a nuclear-powered aircraft 
carrier. But given the pace of our country's economic growth, that 
won't be a big obstacle, and we may build more." 
 
7) China expected to rise in regional power balance 
 
ASAHI (Page 1) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
Yoichi Kato, Washington 
 
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a 
U.S.-based influential think tank, conducted a joint questionnaire 
survey of opinion leaders in nine countries in cooperation with the 
Asahi Shimbun and other news organizations to depict what Asia will 
look like 10 years into the future. The survey revealed that the 
power balance in the region will tilt toward China, but it also 
showed wide support for the concept of an East Asia community. 
 
The survey was conducted from the fall through the end of last year 
in nine countries: Japan, the United States, China, South Korea, 
Australia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. Answers were 
 
TOKYO 00000337  005 OF 010 
 
 
obtained from 313 foreign-affairs experts. 
 
In the survey, respondents were asked which country they thought 
would be the "mightiest power" in the region after 10 years. China 
was ranked first by 65 PERCENT  of respondents. China also was 
ranked at the top by 59 PERCENT  of the experts as the most 
important country for their respective countries. Meanwhile, China 
was also seen as the biggest threat by 38 PERCENT . As seen from 
these figures, the survey showed feelings mixed, with some giving 
positive ratings and others expressing misgivings. 
 
When asked about the United States, many of the respondents presumed 
it would continue to play a major role in maintaining regional 
order. 
 
At the same time, 81 PERCENT  of the respondents supported the East 
Asia Community initiative to create a multilateral framework in the 
region. The figure shows that there is already a general 
concurrence. 
 
When it comes to specific roles, however, respondents were highly 
interested in comparatively moderate engagement and cooperation to 
"promote trust and mutual understanding." In handling actual issues, 
they have greater trust in global, international organizations. 
 
The United States voiced its concern when the East Asia Summit 
started in 2005 without it. However, the survey found that there was 
no strong atmosphere to exclude the United States. East Asian 
countries have yet to concur on how far to include the United 
States, Australia, India, Russia, and other countries outside the 
region. 
 
8) Japan, UN cooperate on Burma's democratization process 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone met yesterday with Ibrahim 
Gambari, special advisor of UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. 
Nakasone and Gambari confirmed that Japan and the United Nations 
would cooperate to urge the Burmese (Myanmar) military government to 
promote the democratization process. The two also shared the view 
that it was important for Burma to conduct a general election in 
2010 based on its new constitution so that the understanding of the 
international community can be attained. 
 
9) Chief cabinet secretary expresses concern over Buy American 
clause 
 
MAINICHI (Page 9) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
A Buy American clause obligating the procurement of U.S.-made goods 
for public works was left intact in the U.S. stimulus bill. 
Referring to this, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura during a 
press conference on February 12 noted, "At present stage, I cannot 
but have doubts that there might be protectionism at the base of 
that bill." 
 
10) METI team to monitor protectionist moves 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) 
 
TOKYO 00000337  006 OF 010 
 
 
February 13, 2009 
 
The Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) on February 12 
launched an in-house experts team for monitoring protectionist moves 
throughout the world. Concern about the rise of protectionism 
intended to protect domestic industry amid the worsening economic 
crisis is mounting. The monitoring team will collect information as 
well as to send reports to the World Trade Organization (WTO), as 
the need arises. 
 
Regarding protectionist moves, Russia, for instance, has raised 
tariffs on imported autos. The U.S. has also incorporated a Buy 
American clause in its stimulus bill. Some countries, including 
Japan, are indicating concern, noting that such a clause will 
accelerate protectionism. 
 
The experts team, led by the Multilateral Trade System Department, 
consists of officials in charge at various bureaus. It will collect 
information through the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) 
and overseas branches of Japanese companies. 
 
11) Koizumi takes clear anti-Aso stance, describing his postal 
privatization statements as laughable and raising objection to 
re-adoption of extra budget-related bills; Dark clouds may gather 
over cash handout plan 
 
YOMIURI (Top play) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi attended an executive 
meeting to promote postal privatization, held at Liberal Democratic 
Party (LDP) headquarters last evening. There, he harshly criticized 
Prime Minister Taro Aso for his series of (negative) comments on 
postal privatization and took a cautious stance about the House of 
Representatives readopting a set of bills connected with the fiscal 
2008 second supplementary budget that includes the prime minister's 
cash-handout plan. Now that Koizumi, who still has strong influence 
over the party, has made clear his opposition, Prime Minister Aso is 
likely to find it even more difficult to steer his administration. 
 
Before the Lower House Budget Committee on Feb. 5, Prime Minister 
Aso said: "I did not support the privatization of postal services." 
Taking up this comment, Koizumi in yesterday's meeting slammed Aso, 
saying: "I feel more like laughing than getting angry. I am just 
surprised." Koizumi also revealed that he had given Aso this advice 
when he talked to him on the phone on Feb. 10: "When junior members 
express critical views about the prime minister's policy, you say, 
'Don't shoot from the back.' But you are shooting people who are 
going to fight in the (next) Lower House election from the front. I 
told him to be careful when making comments." 
 
Koizumi also raised an objection to the government and ruling bloc's 
plan to readopt a set of bills connected with the fiscal 2008 second 
supplementary budget including the cash handout program, saying: "I 
don't think they are important enough to use a two-third (Lower 
House) override vote to pass. I would like to see an appropriate 
conclusion reached by coordinating views in the House of Councillors 
as well." 
 
If 16 ruling party members defy the re-adoption plan, the ruling 
coalition would not be able to use its two-third override vote. 
Discontent with the cash handout plan is simmering in the LDP. There 
 
TOKYO 00000337  007 OF 010 
 
 
is a possibility that more than 16 LDP lawmakers will oppose the 
cash benefit plan in reaction to Koizumi's view. 
 
Koizumi also noted: "A public mandate must be sought by September. 
Trust is most important for politics. Without trust in the prime 
minister's statements, an election cannot be fought." 
 
12) Ruling, opposition camps in turmoil due to simultaneous 
deliberations on bills related to second extra budget and 
budget-related bills 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
The ruling and opposition parties are now wavering back and forth in 
handling bills related to the second supplementary budget for fiscal 
2008 and bills related to a fiscal 2009 budget. The House of 
Representatives and House of Councillors are now simultaneously 
deliberating on the extra budget and the budget-related bills. This 
case is quite unusual. The ruling coalition is having a hard time 
arranging the schedule of Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who is 
in charge of all budget bills. 
 
Meanwhile, the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) 
exposed its lack of ability to coordinate views between its Upper 
and Lower Houses members and between it and other opposition 
parties. As it stands, it is uncertain whether the ruling and 
opposition blocs will be able to coordinate views. 
 
The Lower House launched yesterday deliberations in a plenary 
session in which the government explained the purposes of bills 
related to tax reform for fiscal 2009 and a question-and-answer 
session was held. As the DPJ, which had opposed the opening of the 
plenary session, posed questions again and again, claiming that 
cabinet ministers' replies were insufficient, the session ended more 
than 30 minutes later than originally scheduled. The Upper House 
Financial Affairs Committee, which is deliberating special bills to 
secure fiscal resources for the cash-handout program included in the 
second extra budget bill, put off deliberations slated for yesterday 
afternoon as there was no hope that Nakagawa would be able to make 
the session. 
 
The finance minister's participation in deliberations on the two 
separate budgets is absolutely necessary. Therefore, fighting over 
Nakagawa has begun between the Lower House, which is controlled by 
the ruling coalition, and Upper House, which is dominated by the 
opposition parties. 
 
The ruling camp wants Nakagawa to prioritize attending Lower House 
Financial Finance Committee sessions in order to push ahead with 
deliberations on the tax system reform bills so that the bills will 
clear the Lower House swiftly. However, the opposition bloc has 
called for putting deliberations on the bills related to the second 
extra budget in the Upper House ahead of deliberations in the Lower 
House. Therefore, negotiations between the two camps are 
deadlocked. 
 
In an informal meeting on Feb. 10 of the Upper House Financial 
Affairs Committee directors, the DPJ once approved the attendance of 
the senior finance minister or parliamentary secretary as Nakagawa's 
proxy, but the largest opposition party soon took back its approval 
meeting strong reaction from other opposition parties. 
 
TOKYO 00000337  008 OF 010 
 
 
 
The ruling coalition is expected to start on Feb. 16 deliberations 
on the tax system reform bills at the Lower House Finance Committee. 
The opposition camp has put off a vote on the bills related to the 
second supplementary budget next week or later. Given that 
situation, difficult coordination is underway for simultaneous 
deliberations on the related bills. 
 
13) Prime Minister Aso angry about DPJ 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
February 13, 2009 
 
When asked by reporters about the reason for his walking out during 
the Lower House plenary session yesterday, Prime Minister Taro Aso 
said: "Ichiro Ozawa (president of the Democratic Party of Japan) did 
not even attend the session. Why don't you write that?" 
 
After completing his replies to questions, Aso left the Lower House 
plenary hall. He appears to have bristled at interruptions of the 
question-and-answer session. He then told the press corps: "Do you 
know why the session was often discontinued? I really don't 
understand at all." He added: "It is unfair (that the media do not 
see Ozawa's absence as a problem). He, too, aims to become prime 
minister." 
 
Ozawa yesterday taped a radio program at the party's headquarters 
and visited offices of DPJ candidates who are expected to run for 
the next Lower House election in Tokyo. 
 
14) DPJ's effort to revise its campaign pledges at standstill 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Excerpts) 
February 13, 2009 
 
The Democratic Party of Japan's (DPJ) effort to take a second look 
at its political manifesto (campaign pledges) for the upcoming Lower 
House election has come to a standstill. That is because though the 
party drafted a provisional manifesto, assuming a general election 
last fall, it is now facing three new challenges: the worsening 
economy, the fiscal resources issue, and the need to write a new 
policy platform. As a change in government takes on an air of 
reality, an increasing number of party members are voicing their 
anxieties. 
 
Changing economy, problem in garnering fiscal resources challenging 
DPJ in drafting platform 
 
"The DPJ will find itself in a tough situation after it seizes 
power. Expectations of the DPJ are running high, because the Liberal 
Democratic Party (LDP) is so bad. However, things will not become 
rosy, even if the DPJ takes over government." So saying, one veteran 
senior DPJ member revealed his complex feelings at a time when the 
party is beginning to take a commanding lead in various opinion 
polls. 
 
The major pending issue is the economy, which is increasingly 
becoming serious. President Ozawa during a TV talk show on February 
10 said, "If the DPJ takes the reins of government at the earliest 
possible time this year, it must make sure that it turns the economy 
around by the end of next year." The DPJ in January put up an 
environment New Deal program and a New Deal program for peace of 
 
TOKYO 00000337  009 OF 010 
 
 
mind and safety as measures to create jobs locally. The pillars of 
those programs are subsidies for installing solar heat panels and 
making all elementary and middle schools and hospitals 
earthquake-resistant. 
 
The Green Growth Strategy Research Council joined by ministers of 
the party's "Next Cabinet" aims at finalizing those programs before 
the end of March. However, specifics have yet to be set. Assistance 
for the agriculture, forestry, and fisheries industry, science and 
technology will also likely be included. In addition, the party has 
already pledged to make highways toll-free and set up a child-care 
allowance. If all those proposals are incorporated into the New Deal 
programs, their feasibility might be brought into question. The same 
official said, "We must constrain budgetary funds for expenditures 
so as not to bring in pork barrel largesse." 
 
The situation surrounding fiscal resources has also changed. 
According to the fiscal resources roadmap compiled last fall, the 
DPJ intended to implement its policies right from the initial fiscal 
2009 budget. However, the precondition for this plan has collapsed. 
Referring to the submission of a supplementary budget after seizing 
power, Ozawa noted, "The amount of money earmarked now will suffice. 
We will add budgets to our policies in order of priority." 
 
However, the present administration has begun spending so-called 
hidden funds (maizokin) set aside in such accounts as the special 
account, on which the DPJ is relying to implement its own policies. 
According to the DPJ's roadmap, 56.9 trillion yen is to be secured 
in four years. Of that amount, 6.5 trillion yen is to be drawn 
annually from maizokin. Regarding the sales tax, the DPJ's plan is 
not raise the rate, while maintaining a goal of bringing the primary 
balance into the black. According to this plan, substantive revenue 
falls will be unavoidable. As such, the feasibility of this policy 
will also be brought into question. 
 
15) Notes written by "perpetrator" of 1987 murder of Asahi reporter 
carried serially in Shukan Shincho creating uproar 
 
YOMIURI (Page 34) (Excerpts) 
February 13, 2009 
 
In a series of articles that started in its Feb. 5 edition, the 
popular weekly Shukan Shincho has featured the notebook of a man who 
claims to have murdered in 1987 an Asahi Shimbun reporter  The 
series has created an uproar with the Asahi Shimbun unprecedentedly 
having twice rebutted the weekly's reports. The sudden "confession" 
of the individual more than five years after the statute of 
limitations on this case had expired has perplexed the bereaved 
family of the reporter. 
 
The weekly magazine has been running the notes of (rightist hit man) 
Masanori Shimamura under the title, "I attacked the Hanshin Branch 
of the Asahi Shimbun." 
 
Shimamura says in his narrative that he had committed four crimes, 
including attacks on Asahi Shimbun offices in January and May1987, 
and that the person who asked him to attack the offices was an 
employee of the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. He says that his aim was to 
receive huge amounts of money. 
 
The public relations department of the Asahi Shimbun's Osaka 
Headquarters issued a comment saying: "After the serial ends, we 
 
TOKYO 00000337  010 OF 010 
 
 
will carry an article looking into the contents of the notes in 
detail. If we find descriptions that bring disgrace on the victim or 
our employees, we will take strict measures." On the U.S. Embassy 
side, Spokesperson David Marks said: "This article is too ridiculous 
to make a serious comment." 
 
Shimamura was arrested in a fraud case in October 2004 and was given 
an unsuspended prison sentence. Although police authorities had seen 
Shimamura as a person with gangster associations at that time, there 
is no record of identifying him as a rightist. This is contradictory 
to what Shimamura wrote in the note, "I belonged to a rightist group 
around 1985." 
 
Nobukatsu Kojiri, the father of Tomohiro Kojiri, who was murdered in 
the 1987 case, commented: "I read the article, but I think that it 
is not true. It is very annoying and has confused me." 
 
Rikkyo University Professor Hattori pointed out: "If an account is 
reported as a confession of the actual criminal, what the criminal 
said must be examined in detail before it is publicized. Seeing the 
prompt reactions by the Asahi Shimbun, I have an impression that 
such an effort was not satisfactorily carried out." 
 
ZUMWALT