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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 002682 
 
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 11/20/09 
 
INDEX: 
 
1) Top headlines 
2) Editorials 
3) Prime Minister's daily schedule (Nikkei) 
 
Futenma endgame: 
4) Hatoyama: "I will formulate a plan" for Futenma relocation 
(Nikkei) 
5) Foreign Minister Okada says existing plan also acceptable 
(Yomiuri) 
6) GOJ rapidly moving toward decision to approve existing Futenma 
relocation plan within this year  (Yomiuri) 
7) Defense Ministry proposes mitigating local base-hosting burden 
over Futenma relocation (Asahi) 
8) Futenma working group to document agreement under four ministers' 
names (Mainichi) 
 
Politics: 
9) Kamei sounds out Hiranuma about forming new party  (Yomiuri) 
10) Lower House passes bill enabling small- and medium-sized 
enterprises to defer loan payments to financial institutions 
(Asahi) 
11) GOJ drafts anti-trafficking action plan  (Nikkei) 
12) LDP to field young former ASDF member for Upper House 
proportional representation section  (Yomiuri) 
 
Defense & security: 
13) PM reveals President Obama replied "I trust you."  (Asahi) 
14) U.S. soldier hints at  involvement in hit-and-run accident; 
would like to apologize  (Akahata) 
15) Japanese and Chinese defense chiefs to meet on 27th  (Nikkei) 
16) Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano: SDF dispatch to Iraq did not 
violate Constitution  (Nikkei) 
17) PM says Okinawa police have asked U.S. to comply with request to 
question hit-and-run suspect  (Nikkei) 
18) Council for Science and Technology Policy says budget cuts will 
hobble scientific development in Japan  (Yomiuri) 
 
Business: 
19) American Airlines VP: Delta tie-up with JAL might violate 
antitrust law  (Nikkei) 
20) Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers make no progress in 
negotiations on cooperation for development of gas fields  (Asahi) 
 
Articles: 
 
1) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: 
Forced passage of loan moratorium bill at Lower House plenary 
session before dawn amid LDP, New Komeito boycott 
 
Mainichi: 
Government Revitalization Unit to put redundant projects on chopping 
block 
 
Yomiuri: 
Loan moratorium bill passes Lower House plenary session amid LDP, 
New Komeito boycott 
 
Nikkei: 
 
TOKYO 00002682  002 OF 010 
 
 
Prices drop for 60 PERCENT  of food, daily necessities; deflationary 
trend emerging, canceling out higher cost of raw materials 
 
Sankei: 
Ruling parties force loan moratorium bill through Lower House; banks 
distressed by responsibility for implementation 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
Tough hurdles in recruitment of officials of independent 
administrative agencies; eight positions receive no applicants 
 
Akahata: 
Unaccounted-for spending of Cabinet secret funds: 250 million yen by 
LDP-New Komeito administration two days after general election; 120 
million yen by Hatoyama administration so far 
 
2) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
(1) Forced passage of bills: What happened to "Diet in a new era"? 
(2) Sharp decline in job offer rate: Do not create another lost 
generation 
 
Mainichi: 
(1) Obama Asian tour: North Korea's nuclear issue is the litmus 
test 
(2) New National Personnel Authority commissioner: Have the 
determination not to evade drastic reforms 
 
Yomiuri: 
(1) Deferring of party leaders' debate: Prime Minister should make 
decision to hold debate 
(2) Board of Audit report should be used in government project 
screening 
 
Nikkei: 
(1) Stock prices dive caused by rush of new stock issuance and 
absence of policy 
(2) Compete (with Amazon Kindle) by online sale of books 
 
Sankei: 
(1) Government project screening: Fairness also needed in weeding 
out waste 
(2) Amakudari: Applying double standards? 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
(1) U.S.-DPRK dialogue: Opportunity to move from confrontation to 
cooperation 
(2) JR West information leakage: Restoration of trust becomes more 
remote 
 
Akahata: 
(1) Aid for the unemployed: Do not throw them on the streets in the 
cold winter 
 
3) Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) 
 
Prime Minister's schedule 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
 
TOKYO 00002682  003 OF 010 
 
 
November 19 
 
09:25 Handed a letter of appointment to Erikawa as president of the 
National Personnel Authority at the Prime Minister's Official 
Residence (Kantei). Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano and Deputy Chief 
Cabinet Secretaries Matsuno and Matsui were also present. Hirano 
stayed behind. 
10:26 Met Advisor Nakayama. 
11:11 Met Matsui, followed by former Economist editor-in-chief Bill 
Emmott. 
13:31 Met Environment Minister Ozawa and Matsuno. 
13:59 Met Cabinet Office Senior Vice-Minister Furukawa and 
Government Revitalization Unit Secretary General Hideki Kato. 
14:31 Met Foreign Minister Okada and Defense Minister Kitazawa. 
16:05 Met Nippon Professional Baseball Commissioner Ryozo Kato, All 
Japan University Baseball Federation Vice President Akira Nanbara, 
and Secretary General Masayuki Naito. 
17:3 Met UN High Commissioner for Refugees Guterres. 
18:01 Attended a Government Revitalization Unit meeting. 
19:06 Met National Strategy Minister Kan. 
21:18 Attended a Lower House plenary session. 
23:43 Met DPJ Secretary General Ozawa, Lower House Rules and 
Administration Committee Chairman Matsumoto, and others in the Diet 
building. 
 
November 20 
 
0:12 Attended the Lower House plenary session. 
 
4) Prime Minister Hatoyama: "I will formulate a plan" for Futenma 
relocation 
 
NIKKEI (Page 20) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met on Nov. 19 with Foreign Minister 
Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa at the Prime 
Minister's Official Residence (the Kantei). Referring to the issue 
of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa 
Prefecture, the prime minister during the meeting once again 
indicated his intention to make a final decision, saying, "I will 
formulate a plan." 
 
5) Foreign Minister Okada implies possible acceptance of existing 
Futenma relocation plan 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada discussed the relocation of the 
U.S.forces' Futenma Air Station (in Ginowan City, Okinawa) at the 
House of Councillors Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense on 
Nov. 19. He said: "Theoretically, all options are possible," 
indicating for the first time his possible acceptance of the current 
plan to relocate Futenma to the coastal area of Camp Schwab (in Nago 
City). Okada had so far limited himself to hinting at such a 
possibility, saying that the existing plan "will be acceptable if a 
reexamination (of the policymaking process) shows that it is 
reasonable," since he has been looking at the option of merging 
Futenma with Kadena Air Base (located in the towns of Kadena and 
Chatan and Okinawa City). 
 
 
TOKYO 00002682  004 OF 010 
 
 
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama discussed proposals to 
revise the existing plan, including new measures to reduce the 
burden on Okinawa, with Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa 
at the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei) on Nov. 19. 
Hatoyama said: "I will formulate a plan," stressing that he will be 
the one to make the final decision. 
 
He also told reporters at the Kantei on the early evening of the 
same day: "We are in the process of examining various options. There 
is also the Japan-U.S. agreement," indicating that the existing plan 
is not being ruled out as an option. 
 
6) Current plan for Futenma relocation moving forward quickly in the 
government; PM Hatoyama still cautious 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
Moves in the government to work for settling the question of the 
relocation of the U.S. forces' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa under 
the current plan to relocate the base to the coastal area of Camp 
Schwab have accelerated. However, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama 
still maintains a cautious attitude. 
 
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa went to the Prime Minister's 
Official Residence (Kantei) with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on 
Nov. 19 to brief Hatoyama on the proposals of the Ministry of 
Defense (MOD), including measures to reduce the burden on Okinawa, 
premised on the existing relocation plan. These proposals include 
frontloading the relocation of 8,000 U.S. Marines to Guam, the 
return of some U.S. military facilities south of Kadena Air Base 
(KAB) ahead of schedule, and moving more exercises on the KAB 
elsewhere. A senior MOD official says: "While there are no 
surprises, these proposals demonstrate good faith." 
 
U.S. budget allocations for the relocation of the Marines to Guam 
will be finalized in mid-December, while Japan's FY2010 budget bills 
will also be formulated in mid-December. If a conclusion is deferred 
to next year, it will not be possible to obtain the related funding 
in both countries, which will make it difficult to implement the 
existing plan. Moreover, a mayoral election is taking place in Nago 
City - the proposed Futenma relocation site - in January. It is 
believed that the closer it gets to the mayoral race, in which 
Futenma relocation is bound to be the main issue, the more difficult 
it will become for the government to reach a conclusion. Therefore, 
it is generally thought in the government that the time limit for 
settling this issue under the existing plan is "before the end of 
the year." 
 
However, Hatoyama's real intent remains unclear. 
 
At his meeting with Kitazawa and Okada, Hatoyama praised the MOD 
proposals, saying: "You have drawn up good proposals." A visit to 
Okinawa by Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano is also being 
planned. The Hatoyama cabinet's e-mail magazine on Nov. 19 relates 
that at the recent Japan-U.S. summit meeting with President Barack 
Obama, Hatoyama told the President: "Please trust me" and the 
President responded with: "Absolutely, I trust you," thus playing up 
the relationship of trust between the two leaders. However, the 
Prime Minister's aides claim that this exchange "did not amount to 
any promise." In this e-mail magazine, Hatoyama merely talks about a 
"good result for both sides." 
 
TOKYO 00002682  005 OF 010 
 
 
 
7) Defense Ministry proposes mitigating local base-hosting burden 
over Futenma relocation 
 
ASAHI (Page 12) (Full) 
Eve., November 19, 2009 
 
The Defense Ministry has modified the current plan to relocate the 
U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa 
Prefecture, to the Henoko area of the island prefecture's northern 
coastal city of Nago and submitted the modified plan to the prime 
minister's office and the Foreign Ministry. The modified plan 
incorporates measures to mitigate Okinawa's base-hosting burden, 
including those for reducing the noise of aircraft deployed to the 
U.S. Kadena Air Base. This plan, if approved by Prime Minister Yukio 
Hatoyama and Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, will be presented to 
U.S. officials in a meeting of the Japanese and U.S. governments' 
working group. 
 
The modified plan is aimed at obtaining Okinawa's understanding by 
drawing further burden-lessening concessions from the U.S. 
government and softening Okinawa Prefecture's local opposition to 
the planned relocation of Futenma airfield to Henoko. 
 
The new plan features relocating Kadena-based aircraft's training 
outside Okinawa Prefecture or reducing such training and lessening 
aircraft noise by constraining night flights. The Defense Ministry 
will also propose stipulating environment-oriented measures that 
allow local officials to enter U.S. military bases for on-site 
inspections if and when environmental contamination occurs there and 
that requires the U.S. military to restore the contaminated sites of 
bases to their original state. In addition, the new plan also 
proposes requesting the U.S. government to move up a portion of the 
current "roadmap" for the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. 
Specifically, the ministry plans to press the U.S. government to 
return the sites of U.S. military bases located south of the Kadena 
base. 
 
8) Futenma working group to document agreement under four ministers' 
names 
 
MAINICHI (Page 1) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
A ministerial-level working group of the Japanese and U.S. 
governments over the pending issue of relocating the U.S. Marine 
Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, has 
confirmed that the two governments will conclude an agreement in 
writing by the end of the year under the names of the foreign and 
defense ministers and the U.S. state and defense secretaries, 
sources said yesterday. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama clarified 
yesterday that he will submit to the working group his own idea on 
behalf of the Japanese government. The working group's conclusion is 
expected to constitute a new de facto intergovernmental agreement 
between Japan and the United States. 
 
Hatoyama has already expressed his intention of accepting the 
working group's conclusion as "a decision with the most weight." 
Meanwhile, the U.S. government has called for the Japanese 
government to carry out the current plan to relocate Futenma 
airfield to a coastal area of Camp Schwab in the Henoko area of 
Okinawa Prefecture's northern coastal city of Nago, and he has 
 
TOKYO 00002682  006 OF 010 
 
 
rejected Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada's advocacy of integrating 
the heliport functions of Futenma airfield into the U.S. Kadena Air 
Base. 
 
The documentation of agreement is therefore expected to incorporate 
the working group's approval of the current plan for Futenma 
relocation to Henoko and to reject Futenma's merger with Kadena. 
"Logically, the agreement between Japan and the United States (on 
the current plan) is also an option," Hatoyama told reporters at his 
office. "I'm now looking into the various options," he added. In 
this connection, Hatoyama met yesterday at his office with Okada and 
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa. In this meeting, Kitazawa 
explained his ministry's plan to mitigate Okinawa Prefecture's 
base-hosting burden, based on the current plan. Hatoyama clarified 
there he will work out his idea on the government's behalf. "I will 
make a plan," he told them. 
 
9) Hiranuma remains cautious about Kamei's call to launch a new 
party 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
People's New Party (PNP) Representative Shizuka Kamei, who is also 
minister for financial affairs, held talks with former Economy, 
Trade, and Industry Minister Takeo Hiranuma, an independent, in the 
Diet building yesterday. In the session, Kamei sounded out Hiranuma 
on the idea of launching a new party by the PNP, the New Party 
Nippon, and the Hiranuma group. Kamei said to Hiranuma, "Let's work 
together again." In response, Hiranuma expressed his desire to 
discuss the matter in his group, saying, "I can't give you an answer 
right now." 
 
10) Ruling parties ram business debt bill through Diet 
 
ASAHI (Top Play) (Lead paragraph) 
November 20, 2009 
 
In a House of Representatives plenary session before dawn today, a 
bill to encourage lenders to freeze debt repayments for small and 
mid-size companies was approved by a majority from the Democratic 
Party of Japan, the Social Democratic Party, the People's New Party, 
and the Japanese Communist Party. The bill was sent on to the House 
of Councillors. The Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito 
boycotted the vote on the bill taken at the plenary session. The 
ruling parties are poised to take votes on all the remaining 
cabinet-submitted bills in a Lower House session today. Backlash 
from the opposition camp is expected to further intensify. 
 
11) Government to crackdown on vicious cases of forcing foreign 
trainees to work under bad conditions 
 
NIKKEI (Page 38) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
The government yesterday drafted a new action plan to prevent and 
eradicate human trafficking - the trade in people with the aim of 
coercing them into prostitution or labor. The draft categorizes 
vicious cases in which brokers force foreigners who came to Japan 
under training programs to work under bad conditions as human 
tracking. It includes measures to tighten regulations to crackdown 
on such cases. 
 
TOKYO 00002682  007 OF 010 
 
 
 
The draft also calls for strengthened cooperation between the 
police, immigration offices, and labor standards inspection offices. 
Officials will crackdown on and prosecute brokers who are forcing 
foreign trainees to work under harsh conditions at low wages after 
confiscating their passports. Officials will conduct on-the-spot 
inspections. 
 
The current action plan on human trafficking, worked out in 2004, 
was intended to protect foreign women who are forced to engage in 
prostitution. Consultation offices for women have provided 
protection and support for victims. In discussing measures to 
tighten regulations on illegal workers, the government will also map 
out measures to protect male victims. 
 
The draft action plan will be posted on the Cabinet Secretariat's 
website. The government will solicit public opinion until Dec. 3 and 
then finalize the plan in a meeting of the ministerial-level crime 
countermeasures conference to be held next month. 
 
12) LDP to field young former ASDF member for Upper House 
proportional representation section 
 
YOMIURI (Page 4) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) decided yesterday to field 
Takashi Uto, 35, a former Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) member, for 
the proportional representation section of the House of Councillors 
election next summer. Uto will be the second former SDF officer to 
be fielded by the LDP following Masahisa Sato, a former Ground 
Self-Defense Force col., who won a Diet seat in the 2007 Upper House 
election. Uto has entered the Matsushita Institute of Government and 
Management after serving at the ASDF for nine years. It is rare for 
the LDP to field an unknown young person connected with the Defense 
Ministry/SDF. The party plans to officially endorse him as part of 
the second round, along with one member each from the Nursing 
Federation and the National Land Improvement Political Federation. 
 
13) Obama said, "I trust you," during Japan-U.S. summit, according 
to Prime Minister 
 
ASAHI (Page 12) (Full) 
Evening, November 19, 2009 
 
The Asahi Shimbun has reported that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama 
had told U.S. President Barack Obama, "Trust me," during the recent 
Japan-U.S. summit. The Prime Minister said on Nov. 19: "That is a 
fact." 
 
The Prime Minister also revealed that in response, President Obama 
said, "I trust you." The Prime Minister made the above comment in 
response to a question from the press corps in front of his official 
residential quarters. 
 
He also explained his talks with Obama this way: "In Okinawa, there 
are such strong feelings (calling for relocating the U.S. Marine 
Corps' Futenma Air Station outside the prefecture). Under such 
circumstances, we want to reach a conclusion as soon as possible. So 
I said, 'Trust me,' and the President replied, 'I trust you.' I 
think we have a relationship of trust. This is not about specific 
details (such as where the air station should be relocated." 
 
TOKYO 00002682  008 OF 010 
 
 
 
14) U.S. service member under questioning hints at his involvement 
in Okinawa hit-and-run incident, saying, "I want to apologize" 
 
AKAHATA (Page 15) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
It became clear on Nov. 19 that the 27-year-old staff sergeant, who 
has been questioned by the prefectural police on a voluntary basis 
in connection with the hit-and-run incident in Yomitan Village, 
Okinawa Prefecture, that killed Masakazu Hokama, 66, has hinted at 
his involvement in the incident. He said to a person involved in the 
investigation: "I might have run him over. I want to apologize to 
his family." 
 
According to his lawyer, the staff sergeant drove near the scene 
around 4 a.m. on Nov. 7 and hit something. He initially said that he 
thought he had hit a tree because he got off the vehicle and checked 
the area but could not find anything on the road. But he has changed 
his thinking after learning during questioning by the prefectural 
police that blood and hair adhering to the vehicle seem to be Mr. 
Hokama's, according to the lawyer. 
 
The U.S. service member has been detained in the U.S. Army's Torii 
Communications Station in the village. He responded to questioning 
by the prefectural police on a voluntary basis for three days from 
Nov. 11 but has been refusing to do so since Nov. 14, saying, "I 
will not cooperate." Strongly regarding the U.S. service member as 
the suspect, the prefectural police have continued requesting his 
appearance for questioning. 
 
15) Japan-China defense ministerial talks set for Nov. 27 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
The Defense Ministry announced yesterday that Chinese National 
Defense Minister Liang Guanglie will visit Japan on Nov. 26. Liang 
is expected to hold talks with Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa to 
exchange views on the defense policies of the two countries. 
 
16) Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirano: SDF dispatch to Iraq not 
unconstitutional 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
When asked by New Komeito member Kanae Yamamoto about the 
government's view on the dispatch of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) 
to Iraq at a House of Councillors Cabinet Committee session 
yesterday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano responded by 
saying: "The current government's position is that (the SDF dispatch 
to Iraq) is not unconstitutional." 
 
17) Prime Minister Hatoyama requests cooperation on hit-and-run 
incident 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
With regard to the fact that a U.S. service member suspected of 
involvement in a fatal hit-and-run incident in the town of Yomitan, 
 
TOKYO 00002682  009 OF 010 
 
 
Okinawa Prefecture, has been refusing to appear for police 
questioning, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said yesterday, "I have 
called on (U.S. military authorities) through the Okinawa 
prefectural police to deal with the incident properly," revealing 
that he was requesting through the prefectural police that the 
suspect appear for questioning. Hatoyama made this comment in 
response to questions from reporters at the Prime Minister's 
Official Residence. 
 
18) Researchers' organizations oppose budget-request screening; 
substantial cuts will impair Japan's scientific development 
 
YOMIURI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
The Government Revitalization Unit (GRU) has screened budgetary 
requests to identify wasteful spending. As a result, it has decided 
to abolish or substantively reduce the size of many projects in the 
science and technology field as well. In response to this, expert 
members of the government's Council for Science and Technology 
Policy on Nov. 19 released an emergency proposal, noting that a call 
for short-term cost-effectiveness does not sit well with science and 
technology, which should be advanced from the long-term viewpoint." 
The Council has eight expert members, including Takashi Shiraishi, 
vice president of the National Graduate Institute for Policy 
Studies. 
 
Many other academic societies and researchers' organizations also 
called on the government to take a second look at its policy of 
screening budget requests. The development of the next-generation 
supercomputer is now likely to be suspended or subject to a measure 
close to suspension. Three organizations of scientists who conduct 
computational research, such as the Consortium for Computational 
Fundamental Science, on the same day called for the continuation of 
the project. Nine societies of biologists on the same day also 
sought a revision of the GRU decision to cut the budget for 
financing assistance for junior researchers, noting that the 
spending cut is an improper decision that will significantly impair 
the development of Japan's science and technology. 
 
19) American Airlines vice president warns against Delta's capital 
assistance to JAL, noting, "The act infringes on the U.S. 
Anti-Monopoly Act." 
 
NIKKEI (Page 9) (Full) 
November 20, 2009 
 
Theo Panagiotoulias, American Airlines vice president for Asia and 
the Pacific, on Nov. 19 held a press conference in Tokyo and warned 
against Delta Air Line's plan to offer capital assistance to Japan 
Air Lines (JAL). He noted that in the event that JAL teams up with 
Delta Air Lines, their share of the Pacific route would account for 
over 60 percent, which could disqualify the company from obtaining 
antitrust immunity (ATI). JAL, which is now applying for financial 
assistance from the Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corporation of 
Japan (ETIC), intends to choose its business partner, involving a 
capital tie-up, as early as before the end of the year. The 
tug-of-war between the two U.S. airlines is now heating up. 
 
Panagiotoulias pointed out, "Being a member of the Oneworld alliance 
generates the effect of providing 500 million dollars or 
approximately 45 billion yen in annual revenues to JAL." He then 
 
TOKYO 00002682  010 OF 010 
 
 
added that if the governments of Japan and the U.S. sign an open 
skies agreement, another 100 million dollars or approximately 9 
billion yen will be added to that amount. He thus stressed that if 
the cost of switching the alliances is taken into account, JAL would 
be able to obtain greater benefits from a tie-up if it teams up with 
American Airlines. 
 
Referring to Delta Air Lines' capital assistance offer totaling 1.2 
billion dollars to JAL, he said, "American Airlines is ready to 
extend a massive amount of capital assistance." 
 
American Airlines is proposing capital assistance worth between 
100-130 billion yen, teaming up with TPG, a U.S. investment fund. 
 
20) In Japan-China foreign ministerial, no progress made on issue of 
gas fields but ministers agree on cooperation toward resuming 
Six-Party Talks 
 
ASAHI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged) 
November 20, 2009 
 
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada held a meeting with visiting Chinese 
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo last 
night. Focusing on U.S. Special Representative for North Korea 
Policy Stephen Bosworth's planned visit to North Korea next month to 
hold U.S.-North Korea talks, they affirmed that they will cooperate 
in an effort to resume the Six-Party Talks and promote the 
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. 
 
On the issue of developing gas fields in the East China Sea, the 
governments of Japan and China agreed in June of last year to 
jointly develop the fields. But the Chinese government has begun to 
take a cautious stance in response to public opinion. Under this 
situation, working-level talks to turn the agreement into a treaty 
have yet to start. Okada urged his counterpart to swiftly launch 
talks, but Yang just said: "We are quickly looking into the specific 
timeframe." 
 
The two foreign ministers also exchanged views on the 15th session 
of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on 
Climate Change (COP15) to be held in Copenhagen in December. Okada 
stated: "The U.S. and China, which are the largest emitters of 
greenhouse gases, have major roles to play. I expect (China) will 
come up with an amazingly ambitious target." Yang replied: "I hope 
industrialized countries will make specific promises on their own 
initiative. China would like to extend cooperation while taking 
responsibility that is common with but slightly different (from that 
of the industrialized countries)." 
 
The Japanese and Chinese foreign ministers exchanged their lists of 
new members of the New Japan-China Friendship Committee for the 21st 
Century designed for Japanese and Chinese experts to give advice to 
their governments on political, economic, culture and other issues. 
 
Prior to the foreign ministerial talks, Yang called on House of 
Councillors President Satsuki Eda and revealed that the Chinese 
government is making arrangements for Chinese Vice President Xi 
Jinping, who is viewed as the most likely candidate to become the 
next president, to visit Japan in mid-December. 
 
ROOS