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Viewing cable 06TOKYO560, DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 02/01/06
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| Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06TOKYO560 | 2006-02-01 08:17 | 2011-08-25 00:00 | UNCLASSIFIED | Embassy Tokyo |
VZCZCXRO8354
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #0560/01 0320817
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 010817Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 8082
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEAWJA/USDOJ WASHDC PRIORITY
RULSDMK/USDOT WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC//J5//
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMHBA/COMPACFLT PEARL HARBOR HI
RHMFIUU/HQ PACAF HICKAM AFB HI//CC/PA//
RHMFIUU/COMUSJAPAN YOKOTA AB JA//J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/COMPATWING ONE KAMI SEYA JA
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 6977
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 4321
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 7382
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 4423
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 5533
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0309
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 6496
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 8624
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 08 TOKYO 000560
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 02/01/06
INDEX:
(1) Battle over DFAA-caused bid-rigging scandal: Minshuto
(Democratic Party of Japan) gaining momentum with error by
"opponent" -- government, ruling parties
(2) Call for review of memorandum on questions emerging in
government, ruling camp
(3) Koizumi diplomacy-Its light and shadow: Japan, US, China
locked with instability (Part 3): Japan bent on alliance with US;
Washington tough, soft in its strategy toward Beijing
(4) Editorial: Process of making decision on resumption of US
beef imports cannot be seen
(5) Editorial: The job-offers-to-job-seekers ratio has improved
to 1
(6) Editorial: Time to get back to original point of recycling
law
ARTICLES:
(1) Battle over DFAA-caused bid-rigging scandal: Minshuto
(Democratic Party of Japan) gaining momentum with error by
"opponent" -- government, ruling parties
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Almost full)
February 1, 2006
A bid-rigging scandal involving the Defense Facilities
Administration Agency (DFAA) has added fuel to the ongoing battle
between the ruling and opposition parties. The largest opposition
party Minshuto confirmed at its executives meeting yesterday a
policy line to grill the government and the ruling coalition on
what it calls a set of four issues: US beef imports shipped
without regard to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE)
contamination, the Livedoor stock scam, earthquake-resistance
data fabrication, and bureaucrat-initiated bid-rigging at DFAA.
It will relentlessly pursue the government and the ruling
coalition, taking advantage of frequent "errors on the part of
its opponent --the government and the ruling camp." Alarmed by
this move, the ruling coalition suddenly decided to review during
the current session of the Diet the law for the prevention of
bureaucrat-initiated bid-rigging practices. In this review
process, a new set of penalties will be established and its
coverage will be expanded. The ruling camp is desperate indeed to
dodge public criticism.
"In the recent question-and-answer session in the Diet, I
mentioned the light and shadow of the Koizumi reforms. In
addition to light and shadow, there is darkness, too." Speaking
in this way, Minshuto head Seiji Maehara lost no time in touching
on the bid-rigging scandal involving the DFAA at a press briefing
yesterday.
Maehara stated, "Industries and bureaucrats sing the joys of this
world, while the public at large makes a fool of themselves. This
pattern of the society represents the darkness of the Koizumi
administration." Speaking of the Livedoor scandal, he firmly
noted: "Depending on how it will evolve in the days to come, a
new phase of darkness could emerge."
TOKYO 00000560 002 OF 008
Similarities between Minshuto proposal and ruling coalition
proposal
The ruling parties are desperate to minimize the impact of the
bid-rigging scandal. The working team to discuss the law for the
prevention of bureaucrat-initiated bid-rigging, chaired by former
Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, assembled its first meeting
and agreed to submit a bill to revise that law to the current
Diet session, aiming to get the bill enacted. Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi also stressed the need for a quick response
before reporters: "We must take even more strict measures to
prevent a recurrence."
Revising the law would be a step for the ruling coalition to
resist Minshuto's pursuit. What the Liberal Democratic Party
(LDP) cited in the working team meeting as items for discussion
include: 1) establishing a rule to punish public servants having
a hand in bid-rigging; 2) expanding the scope of activities
regarded as being involved in bid-rigging; and 3) expanding the
requirements for demanding money as compensation from public
servants from gross negligence to negligence. There are many
items overlapping with Minshuto's bill, which was submitted to
last year's special Diet session but was killed.
The New Komeito decided at a general meeting of its Policy
Research Council to defer its approval of the bill to revise the
Defense Agency (JDA) Establishment Law. The bill has nothing to
do with the DFAA-involved bid-rigging case, but the party judged
it necessary to receive a full account of the case. A certain
lawmaker in the LDP who has distanced himself from the prime
minister said: "The tide has changed."
Minshuto's pursuit less effective
Minshuto has yet to find an effective way of pursuit. Yoshihiko
Noda, chair of Its Diet Affairs Committee, proudly stated at a
meeting of Diet members: "We have succeeded in delaying for three
days the start of deliberations on the budget bill for the next
fiscal year." But there would be no serious impact of the three-
day delay, given the rumor that the term of the current Diet
session will be extended widely.
"Minshuto has no punch. If it feels uneasy about its being called
the forces of resistance, it could not grow into a party tough
enough to take the reins of government," People's New Party
President Tamisuke Watanuki said outspokenly in a speech at a
meeting of Minshuto's Hatoyama group.
(2) Call for review of memorandum on questions emerging in
government, ruling camp
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
February 1, 2006
In response to the opposition parties' criticism of the
government for the discrepancy between the written government
reply and the government response to the US beef imports, some in
the government and the ruling parties are beginning to call for
the review of the memorandum-based questioning system, under
which Diet members can question the government about its
position. Bureaucrats who form written government replies,
however, have been irritated by the opposition parties' offensive
TOKYO 00000560 003 OF 008
by using this memorandum-based questioning system. Give this, the
move to throttle questions is likely to spread.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe yesterday instructed Deputy
Chief Cabinet Secretary Masahiro Futahashi to form a written
government reply in close cooperation with relevant ministries
and agencies, as well as by scrutinizing the contents. It is a
general rule that the government will answer to the memorandum on
questions in seven days. This rule, however, meets this criticism
that the written reply tends to be affected by sectionalism.
In the LDP, Tadamori Oshima, chair of the Lower House Budget
Committee, asked Lower House Steering Committee Chairperson
Genichiro Sata to "discuss rules to be applied to a case where
the situation changed from when the written reply had been
created." LDP Upper House Caucus Secretary General Toranosuke
Katayama told reporters, "Some rule is necessary," noting that
some lawmakers in the opposition bloc are too prolific.
The largest opposition party Minshuto's (Democratic Party of
Japan) President Seiji Maehara criticized the government: "An
attempt to limit (the submission) of memorandum on questions is
tantamount to suppressing the seat of politics.
The number of the submitted memorandums on questions in 2004
totaled 439, three times or more the number five years ago. Last
year the number dropped to 266 as a result that at a board of
directors meeting under the Lower House Steering Committee, the
ruling and opposition parties agreed to use the system in
accordance with the purpose of the system.
(3) Koizumi diplomacy-Its light and shadow: Japan, US, China
locked with instability (Part 3): Japan bent on alliance with US;
Washington tough, soft in its strategy toward Beijing
MAINICHI (Page 2) (Full)
February 1, 2006
On Jan. 10, a total of four research institutions from Japan, the
United States, and China held a closed-door security seminar in
the historical east-coast city of Philadelphia, where the
Declaration of Independence was drawn up.
Seminar participants there exchanged views over lunch. In that
session, a Chinese researcher on Japan from the Shanghai
Institute for International Studies (SIIS) raised a question: "In
California, the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) and the US
Marine Corps (USMC) started joint training exercises. Is that
training not intended to land on the Senkaku islands?"
On the West Coast, with the North American Continent in between,
Japan and the United States conducted their first bilateral joint
training at a USMC base in California from Jan. 9, the day before
the seminar, to Jan. 27, with a scenario to defend a remote
island. China was nervous about the realignment of US forces,
with which Japan and the United States are integrating US Forces
Japan (USFJ) and Japan's Self-Defense Forces (SDF). SIIS was seen
as one with the Chinese government, not as a pro-Beijing think
tank.
In February last year, Tokyo and Washington set "common strategic
objectives" when embarking on their talks about USFJ realignment.
Their joint press release at the time incorporated a passage that
TOKYO 00000560 004 OF 008
urges the peaceful settlement of problems over the Taiwan Strait
through dialogue. China reacted negatively. Beijing took it that
Japan and the United States threatened to defend Taiwan in the
event of an armed conflict between China and Taiwan.
Dan Blumenthal, former senior director for China at the US
Department of Defense and currently a fellow at the American
Enterprise Institute (AEI), reads China's aim: "China has been
criticizing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni
Shrine. That's no more than a tactic. The biggest obstacle to
China's regional ambition is a strengthened alliance between
Japan and the United States."
US policy toward China is complex. In short, the US Department of
State's stance differs from the Pentagon's. Foggy Bottom wants to
establish a "strategic partnership" with Beijing against the
backdrop of increasingly interdependent US-China economic ties.
The Pentagon, however, is alert to China's military expansion as
a "future threat."
Late last year, Thomas Donnely, an AEI fellow and a
neoconservative controversialist with clout on the Bush
administration's security policy, came up with a paper, in which
he advocated a "quartet alliance" of the United States, Britain,
Japan, and India. Today, India, a one-time friend of the former
Soviet Union, is the world's largest democracy with a population
of nearly 1.1 billion. Washington is trying to win over India as
a strategic partner that will bolster up the international order
of freedom, Donnely said in his paper.
Containment was the basis of US strategy toward the Soviet Union
in the East-West Cold War era. In the US government, no one
openly says the United States will apply it to China now. In
March, however, President Bush will visit India for the first
time. Prime Minister Koizumi visited India in April last year,
and Foreign Minister Aso also visited that country in January
this year. Donnely sees the four-nation alliance as a reality.
On the diplomatic front, the United States has been working on
China to become a responsible member of the international
community. In the military arena, however, the United States is
exploring containment. That could be US strategy toward China.
Against that move, China is seeking rapprochement with the United
States while trying to alienate Japan and the United States.
Japan, standing between the United States and China, is saddled
with the Yasukuni problem, which stands in the way of Japan's
diplomatic approach to China. Japan has now chosen to strengthen
its bilateral alliance with the United States and to back up the
United States' military strategy.
In the process of strengthening the alliance, the SDF's role will
expand and its new equipment will increase. In November last
year, a group of defense-related lawmakers with the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party visited the United States. They were
invited to major munitions companies, such as Lockheed Martin
Corp. and the Boeing Co., where they were exposed to their sales
promotion of advanced satellite-based missile defense systems and
a new fighter jets.
"Japan has been urged to buy so many weapons from America," one
LDP executive said. "In the end," he added, "Japan might be
treated as a burden to America that may have been getting along
with China."
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(4) Editorial: Process of making decision on resumption of US
beef imports cannot be seen
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 5) (Full)
February 1, 2006
The public wants to know as to whether there was some kind of
political consideration in the process of making a decision to
resume imports of US beef. The government is responsible to make
clear that point.
At a Budget Committee session of the House of Representative,
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shoichi Nakagawa's
statements swayed back and forth.
The farm minister was unable to give an affirmative answer to the
question of whether the government's decision to lift a ban on US
beef imports violated the Cabinet decision. He then apologized,
noting, "The government did not give sufficient explanation to
the Lower House. I feel responsible for that."
It is only natural for Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) to
pursue the government for its fuzzy answers.
The government promised in a formal document submitted to the
Diet on Nov. 18 to dispatch officials to the United States to
check US meatpackers before allowing the resumption of beef
imports, but it did not keep that promise.
The government decided on Dec. 12 to lift the ban on US beef
imports. On Dec. 13, a joint inspection team made up of the
Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and the Ministry
of Health, Labor and Welfare launched inspections for the first
time on US beef processors. The first US beef shipment arrived on
Dec. 16 before the inspections were wrapped up.
The government explained the reason for failing the
implementation of the Cabinet decision that because it had
learned after the Cabinet decision was made that effective
inspections were impossible before resuming beef imports. We
wonder if the government's explanation is true.
When thinking of debates on the issue of whether to resume US
beef imports at the Food Safety Commission and talks between
Japan and the United States, we dare say that there was a tacit
understanding that inspections of US meat processing facilities
should be conducted after resuming beef imports. It seems to
imply that the wording "before resuming imports" was inserted in
the informal document in process of making the Cabinet decision.
We would like to know why that wording was ignored.
The US government formulated an export control program and it
gave prior explanations to meatpackers wishing the resumption of
beef exports. To that end, the US prepared a stamp for Japan-
bound beef, and some US meat processors held road shows last
year. The government might have thought that it would be possible
to check at least these US meatpackers before lifting the ban on
beef imports, if it had to open the market before the end of
ΒΆ2005.
The Japan-US summit was held last Nov. 16 in Kyoto. The question
unavoidably arises that the government hastened the resumption of
TOKYO 00000560 006 OF 008
beef imports as a present to President Bush and in doing so,
broke its promise to send an inspection mission to the US.
The government should provide a detailed explanation about the
background of its decision to remove the ban on imports of US
beef and it should answer questions sincerely.
The government recently appears to be putting an end to the
earthquake-proof data falsification scam and Livedoor scandal by
answering from the sidelines. It should not downplay the issue
involved in food safety. Consumers are unlikely to be convinced
by that.
(5) Editorial: The job-offers-to-job-seekers ratio has improved
to 1
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 2) (Full)
February 1, 2006
The seasonally adjusted ratio of job offers to jobseekers for
December 2005 increased 0.01 from the previous month to 1,
according to a report released by the Health, Labor and Welfare
Ministry. The ratio has reached 1 for the first time in 13 years
and 3 months since September 1992. The Internal Affairs and
Communications Ministry also announced that the unemployment rate
for December fell 0.2 to 4.4% and that the rate for the year 2005
also dropped 0.3 to 4.4%.
The statistics clearly confirmed the improved job market on the
back of the economic recovery. The job-offers-to-jobseekers ratio
fell below 1 following the burst of the economic bubble. The
ratio plunged to 0.46 in May and June 1999 due to widespread
employment adjustment.
The ratio began taking a steady upturn in later half of 2003, and
it kept soaring, averaging 0.83 in 2004 and 0.95 in 2005. The
ratio exceeded 1 from the mid-1960s through the early 1970s and
between June 1988 and September 1992 - the bubble period and its
aftermath. In view of such records, the figure 1 recorded in
December 2005 is quite good.
Exports and consumption are back on a recovery path. The output
of generally all industries, from automobile to home appliances
to steel, is also increasing. With the return of manufacturing
industries to Japan, capital investment has also been active.
Growing businesses resulting from strong performance and the
imminent retirement of baby-boomers have prompted corporations at
last to hire more employees. Although the employment structure
has significantly changed and the environment surrounding
employment has improved from a macro-economic perspective, a
variety of disparities have emerged. Customized measures are
necessary.
Disparities between local areas are particularly evident. For
instance, Aichi Prefecture, where the automobile industry has
been robust, marked 1.61 in December 2005, the highest in all 47
prefectures. Mie Prefecture, which has many liquid crystal
plants, recorded 1.50, far greater than the national average.
Tokyo also marked 1.54 owing to the new information-related
services industry.
In contrast, Okinawa's ratio was 0.41, the lowest in the nation.
TOKYO 00000560 007 OF 008
Many prefectures in Hokkaido and the Tohoku and Kyushu regions
also fell below 1 possibly because they lagged behind in
promoting new industries in place of downsized public works
projects.
Those low figures are also ascribable to corporate efforts to
hire more part-time workers and temporary staffers to reduce
costs. The rate for fulltime workers was 0.6, markedly lower than
part-timers' 1.41. The issue of NEET (young people not in
education, employment or training) remains serious, as well.
The central and local governments and corporations need to work
more closely in taking comprehensive steps for, for instance,
helping people find jobs, improving vocational training, and
giving equal treatment to fulltime and part-time workers.
(6) Editorial: Time to get back to original point of recycling
law
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 5) (Full)
January 31, 2006
The government's council in its final draft on revising the
Containers and Packaging Recycling Law sidestepped a proposed
measure to make it obligatory to charge for plastic shopping
bags. Taking this occasion, we should get back to the original
point of the law and step up efforts to cement new bonds between
regions eager to have Japan become a recycling-oriented society.
Although the council gave up imposing legal requirements, the
direction is now set to obligate retailers to charge for shopping
bags, in effect. The final draft specified: "We will take some
legal steps to restrict retailers from distributing bags free of
charge.
Specifically, the central government will give guidelines on
reducing the distribution of plastic or paper bags and let
retailers report on the state of implementation of the measure.
For those who do not fully follow the guidelines, the government
plans to take such measures as issuing recommendation or an
order, as well as making announcement.
It appears that the issue of correcting the differentials in
recycling-cost burdens between local governments and retailers
has now involved consumers.
The draft urges consumers to completely separate the burnable
containers and packaging from non-burnable ones and remove stains
from such in a thorough way. The government panel proposes that
the use of recyclable containers as "resources" or "materials"
will bring down costs.
The draft suggests that local governments and retailers should
equally share the money saved through such rationalization
efforts.
We would like to expect local governments and residents to
voluntarily make efforts to reduce plastic shopping bags while
charging is made mandatory in effect. The final draft appears to
be sending the message of "getting back to the original point of
the law."
The original point is "role-sharing" among residents,
TOKYO 00000560 008 OF 008
corporations, and local governments. Its aim is to reduce
container and packaging garbage, which account for 60% of all
garbage produced across the nation. The legislation and recycling
moves are only part of such efforts.
It is imperative to apply the brakes to the consumption and
abandonment of large volumes of plastic shopping bags, setting
aside the issue of who bears bag costs; otherwise, the three
parties will be pressed to pay for it in the future.
In order to avoid paying the price, we now need to be aware of
the necessity for the three parties in cooperation to create
valuable resources by using garbage, the initial goal of the law.
The three parties should properly share the roles and strengthen
their ties by utilizing the law.
A ban on manufacturing, selling and distributing without charge
of shopping bags under law is expected to produce some effect in
the short run and in volume terms. But only this measure is not
enough to create a recycling society. It is also imperative for
residents, companies, and local governments who are aware of the
importance of not to produce and buy goods that will end up in
the garbage to voluntarily join hands with each other.
We expect the revised law will present the principle and
mechanism of containing garbage more clearly than future options
for cost burden sharing.
SCHIEFFER