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Viewing cable 08TOKYO3233, DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE PRESS 11/25/08

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08TOKYO3233 2008-11-25 08:20 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Tokyo
VZCZCXRO8872
PP RUEHFK RUEHKSO RUEHNAG RUEHNH
DE RUEHKO #3233/01 3300820
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250820Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9011
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/USFJ //J5/JO21//
RUYNAAC/COMNAVFORJAPAN YOKOSUKA JA
RUAYJAA/CTF 72
RUEHNH/AMCONSUL NAHA 3486
RUEHFK/AMCONSUL FUKUOKA 1125
RUEHOK/AMCONSUL OSAKA KOBE 4915
RUEHNAG/AMCONSUL NAGOYA 9134
RUEHKSO/AMCONSUL SAPPORO 1696
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 6533
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 2528
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2663
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 10 TOKYO 003233 
 
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 11/25/08 
 
INDEX: 
 
(1) Aso administration's three distresses in two months (Mainichi) 
 
(2) Conflict may be sparked in ruling camp over policy debates on 
road revenues, postal services, public servant reform (Nikkei) 
 
(3) New Komeito in anguish over administration straying off course: 
Eager to build channels with shy premier (Tokyo Shimbun) 
 
(4) New York Federal Reserve Bank President Geithner picked as 
treasury secretary (Yomiuri) 
 
(5) We must not have overconfidence in MD system (Yomiuri) 
 
(6) ASDF chief of staff's firing and freedom of thought, creed 
(Sankei) 
 
(7) TOP HEADLINES 
 
(8) EDITORIALS 
 
(9) Prime Minister's schedule, November 23 & 24 (Nikkei) 
 
ARTICLES: 
 
(1) Aso administration's three distresses in two months 
 
MAINICHI (Page 5) (Full) 
November 25, 2008 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso marked his second month in office yesterday 
by winding up a visit to Lima, Peru, through which he had aimed to 
boost his administration's popularity. Aso is expected to lead his 
Liberal Democratic Party into the next general election for the 
House of Representatives. However, the divided Diet has made a fool 
of him, caused him trouble by the absence of a control tower, and 
exposed his tendency to make careless remarks. This 'triple 
distress' are the elements that weakened former governments. Some 
have contended that the Aso administration will gradually become 
administrations that failed before him. 
 
"When seeing the present government, I don't understand that why we 
(the cabinet of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda) had to resign," 
former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said many times to 
government officials in a recent meeting. Talks ended in failure 
between Aso and Ichiro Ozawa, president of the main opposition 
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), over a second supplementary for 
fiscal 2008. There is no change in the situation of the Diet being 
divided. The government has had difficulties in managing Diet 
affairs just as the previous government did. In his policy speech 
delivered on Sept. 29, Aso criticized the DPJ's tactics to control 
the Diet. He has yet to find the "consensus-building rule,' to which 
he referred in his policy speech. A senior LDP member said with a 
touch of self-derision: "In next year's regular Diet session, the 
ruling coalition will bulldoze votes or take second votes in the 
Lower House." 
 
Aso's policy of placing priority on policy rather than political 
motives has not yet realized. Aso has repeatedly changed his tune 
regarding a fixed cash payout plan. Many LDP members have criticized 
Aso's policy of distributing 1 trillion yen from road tax revenues 
 
TOKYO 00003233  002 OF 010 
 
 
to local governments. 
 
Aso, however, has taken a bullish attitude, saying: "I think it is a 
problem if no view is raised. But one senior ministry official 
lamented: "No policy measures have been implemented yet." 
 
All the more because Aso is the only box office star in his cabinet, 
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura has not been able to display 
his political presence. This situation is similar to the cabinet of 
former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who installed his aides in the 
posts of the Prime Minister's Official Residence (Kantei). A senior 
New Komeito member is now urging Aso to shuffle the Kantei staff, 
saying: "Persons like Diet Affairs Committee Chairman Tadamori 
Oshima should join the staff." 
 
Aso's making careless remarks is serious, however. His remark that 
doctors lack common sense was a terrible gaffe. Furthermore, his 
remark that there is a rule that the state-owned shares of Japan 
Post Holding Corporation have to be sold before the end of the year 
was criticized for being factually wrong. 
 
There are views backing Aso, such as his being tired, but if Aso 
does nothing, he might commit the same error as former Prime 
Minister Yoshiro Mori, who lost the support of the people. 
 
Aso administration's 'triple distress' and examples in former 
cabinets 
 
Divided Diet 
Prime Minister Aso delayed Lower House dissolution. His meeting with 
DPJ President Ozawa over second extra budget failed. Aso will put 
the new refueling bill to second vote in the Lower House by 
extending the current extra Diet session. 
Fukuda cabinet 
 
Meeting between Fukuda and Ozawa ended in failure. Three bills, 
including one extending the antiterrorism law, were put to second 
votes in the lower chamber. 
 
Absence of control tower 
Since Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura and Deputy Chief Cabinet 
Secretary Matsumoto failed to serve as coordinator, confusion was 
created regarding fixed benefit payments plan and 1 trillion yen 
distribution from the central government to local government. 
Abe cabinet 
 
Prime Minister Abe formed 'friend cabinet.' Although Abe gave five 
prime ministerial assistant posts to his aides, the 
Kantei-leadership was not realized. 
 
Careless remarks 
Aso repeatedly changed remarks on the fixed benefit payments and 
other issues. He apologized to medical association for saying 
doctors lacked common sense. He misread Chinese characters. 
Mori cabinet 
 
Mori made such gaffes as Japan being a divine nation; unaffiliated 
voters not going to vote being good. His qualifications as prime 
minister were questioned. 
 
(2) Conflict may be sparked in ruling camp over policy debates on 
road revenues, postal services, public servant reform 
 
TOKYO 00003233  003 OF 010 
 
 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 25, 2008 
 
Ahead of budget compilation for next fiscal year and fundamental tax 
system reform in December, the government and the ruling camp will 
soon start work to flesh out key policy measures. Views are split in 
the ruling camp, however, on such policy issues as road revenues, 
postal services, and the reform of the public-servant system. 
Depending on the contents of the decisions, there could be a serious 
impact on the administration of government. 
 
In an executive meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party's Tax System 
Research Commission on Nov. 20, former Finance Minister Koji Omi 
said: "The Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) plans to submit a bill 
calling for lowering the current provisional road-related tax rates 
next year. Do you think we will be able to win the next election if 
we vote down the bill? The voters may not understand our call for 
using tax revenues for other purposes than highway construction and 
maintenance and for keeping the current tax rates unchanged." Omi 
even added: "What the DPJ says is more rational." 
 
Coordination bogging down on tax rate 
 
Prime Minister Taro Aso has ordered: "More than 1.3 trillion yen in 
road-specific tax revenues should be distributed to local 
governments." If the government allocates some of the tax revenues 
to local governments for other purposes than highway maintenance and 
also lowers the road-specific tax rates, the highway-related budget 
may significantly shrink. The only option left for the LDP would be 
to move road tax revenues into the general budget and to keep the 
provisional tax rate untouched. Executive members of the LDP's 
policy research and tax research panels decided to continue the 
current automobile-related tax rates, including the provisional tax 
rates, for another three years or so. 
 
In the ruling camp, the New Komeito has been calling for cutting the 
automobile weight tax. With the focus of attention on what specific 
amount the prime minister has in mind in his 1.3-trillion-yen 
proposal, coordination on auto-related taxes is expected to run into 
a road block. 
 
Former Secretary General Hidenao Nakagawa noted on his website on 
Nov. 21: "If the government suspends postal reform, reformists like 
me will have no other choice but to take countermeasures, making a 
crucial decision." The attack is directed at the prime minister, who 
referred to a freeze on the planned sale of state-owned shares in 
companies under Japan Post Holdings Co., as well as at the LDP 
members aiming at changing the course of postal-service 
privatization. In the LDP Policy Research Council, a taskforce 
examining the privatization of postal services is now looking into 
making proposals going against the trend of privatization. In such a 
case, Nakagawa and junior advocates of postal reform will inevitably 
react fiercely. 
 
Rise in revolt against Kantei 
 
The proposed reform of the public servant system may also trigger 
conflict. Former Administrative Reform Minister Yoshimi Watanabe and 
other LDP members have criticized the government's reform plan as 
too slipshod. A plan to create a cabinet personnel bureau, the 
centerpiece of the government's reform plan, is now likely to be 
 
TOKYO 00003233  004 OF 010 
 
 
postponed. Watanabe, Yasuhisa Shiozaki, and other LDP members called 
on Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura on Nov. 21 to submit a 
second extra budget bill for fiscal 2008 to the current Diet 
session, rising revolt against the Prime Minister's Office 
(Kantei). 
 
Those critical of the government's public servant reform plan are 
also in favor of the government submitting a second extra budget 
bill during the current session. Nakagawa and Watanabe are in close 
contacted with each other, so Nakagawa had been notified of 
Watanabe's plan to call for a second budget bill beforehand. 
Anti-Aso moves can also be detected in their moves 
 
(3) New Komeito in anguish over administration straying off course: 
Eager to build channels with shy premier 
 
TOKYO SHIMBUN (Page 2) (Full) 
November 25, 2008 
 
The ruling parties and the New Komeito are in anguish over the 
erratically-struggling Aso administration. They cannot trust Prime 
Minister Aso because he keeps committing gaffes. The New Komeito 
cannot afford to secede from the administration as the party must 
survive the next Lower House election. They are searching for ways 
to build channels with the prime minister, by sealing off their 
discontent with the delayed dissolution of the Lower House. 
 
New Komeito head Akihiro Ota told the prime minister, who was seated 
across the table from him: "We have barely had opportunities to 
exchange candid opinions. However, I hope we can have a meeting like 
this on various occasions in the future." 
 
A dinner meeting of senior officials of the Liberal Democratic Party 
(LDP) and the New Komeito Party was held at the Prime Minister's 
Office (Kantei) on the evening of November 18. It was the first such 
an occasion since the administration was launched in late 
September. 
 
Ota, who had been eager to have a Lower House dissolution before 
year's end, was busy making preparations for a Diet dissolution in 
October, right after the launch of the Aso administration. He was so 
busy that he attended parties only three times. However, the prime 
minister inclined to delay the timing of dissolving the Lower House 
in response to a strong request from his aides, including Finance 
Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who were dubbed his "friends." 
 
Secretary General Kazuo Kitagawa, who served as New Komeito Policy 
Affairs Research Council chairman when Aso served in the same post 
in the LDP, was supposed to serve as a channel between the New 
Komeito and the prime minister. However, the prime minister's 
decision to delay a Lower House dissolution made the New Komeito 
acutely feel that it has no channel that will enable it to have 
"heart-to-heart communication with the prime minister." 
 
Ota admits that he had had few contacts with the prime minister. He 
told persons close to him: "It would be troublesome if we have no 
prospects for the timing of a Lower House dissolution. We must make 
contact with his friends.'" Ota visited the Kantei three times in 
November. He also made contact with Aso's "friends." 
 
However, the distance between Ota and the prime minister has hardly 
narrowed. That is because unlike former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, 
 
TOKYO 00003233  005 OF 010 
 
 
with whom Ota occasionally had talks on the management of the Diet, 
Aso is reluctant to build new ties, as one senior New Komeito 
official noted. 
 
Now that Lower House dissolution is most likely to be delayed until 
early in the new year or later, the New Komeito envisages a strategy 
of rolling into a Lower House dissolution at the outset of the 
regular Diet session to be convened in January next year with the 
fiscal 2008 second supplementary budget bill and the fiscal 2009 
budget bill as the campaign issues. However, if the government and 
the ruling parties suffer a more setback, their scenario would be 
derailed, forcing it to revise it. 
 
One senior New Komeito official said, "We are in such a desperate 
situation that we have no other choice but to tell the prime 
minister, 'If the situation remains as is, we cannot cooperate with 
the LDP on the election, because we are tied up.'" 
 
Their discontent, which was once sealed off, is beginning to emerge 
in the form of irritation at the administration's straying off 
course. 
 
(4) New York Federal Reserve Bank President Geithner picked as 
treasury secretary 
 
YOMIURI (Page 1) (Full) 
November 22, 2008 
 
The selection of President Timothy Geithner of the New York Federal 
Reserve Bank under the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) as treasury 
secretary has been firmed up. As the right-hand man of FRB Chairman 
Bernanke, he has been spearheading efforts to deal with the 
financial crisis, including the bailout or closing of major 
financial institutions, such as Bear Stearns. 
 
He was involved in capital injection into financial institutions led 
by Treasury Secretary Paulson, based on the Emergency Economic 
Stabilization Act. 
 
He served as undersecretary of treasury (responsible for 
international affair) between 1999 and 2001 during the Clinton 
administration. He was assigned to the American Embassy in Tokyo 
before serving in that post. He is well versed in the bad loan 
problem that Japan faced at the time. He has a good command of 
Japanese. Summers, who is likely to be appointed to be presidential 
assistant (responsible for economic affairs), served as treasury 
secretary during the Clinton administration. He is a well-known 
economist. 
 
(5) We must not have overconfidence in MD system 
 
YOMIURI (Page 11) (Full) 
November 22, 2008 
 
The Chokai, a Maritime Self-Defense Force Aegis-equipped destroyer, 
failed to intercept a ballistic missile in a missile intercept test 
conducted in waters off Hawaii. 
 
On Nov. 20, at 11:24 a.m. (Japan time), about three minuets after a 
mock ballistic missile was launched from Kauai, the Chokai launched 
an SM-3 intercept missile. The SM-3 is a three-stage intercept 
missile. The launched SM-3 interceptor was continuing its flight 
 
TOKYO 00003233  006 OF 010 
 
 
controlled by the Chokai's radar tracking the mock missile until its 
third stage was separated. However, the SM-3's third-stage warhead 
is designed to open its 'eyes' and home in on a heat source with 
infrared rays. The SM-3 interceptor lost sight of the target right 
before hitting the mock missile, according to the MSDF's account. 
 
The SM-3 missile's third-stage warhead flies for several seconds. On 
the screen of a monitoring room at the U.S. Navy's missile range was 
the SM-3 interceptor's separated third-stage projectile flying 
toward the mock ballistic missile. "The moment I thought it hit," an 
MSDF staff officer said. "it veered." 
 
The last intercept test, conducted in December last year, was a 
success. This time, however, the test was carried out with its 
difficulty level raised. Unlike in the previous test, the MSDF was 
not informed of what time the mock ballistic missile would be 
launched. The Chokai successfully picked and tracked the mock 
missile. The MSDF and the U.S. Navy are now looking into the cause 
of the intercept test's failure. However, an MSDF staff officer 
said: "Everything was normal up until the third stage's separation. 
It's highly likely that there was something wrong with the 
warhead." 
 
However, the failure this time had been anticipated. 
 
An MSDF officer confessed: "Even a missile developed with 
state-of-the-art technologies is a man-made tool. It's unavoidable 
that there will be something wrong with the machine at the rate of a 
certain percent." The U.S. military has also failed in three of 15 
tests. In the summer of this year, the U.S. Navy conducted a 
rim-of-the-Pacific exercise (RIMPAC), with the participation of the 
Aegis destroyer Kirishima from the MSDF. The Kirishima was to launch 
four SM-2 antiaircraft missiles. However, one of the four missiles 
misfired. 
 
The cost of the MSDF's participation in the test this time was 6.2 
billion yen. The government has invested a huge amount of money over 
30 billion yen for each Aegis ship's renovation to mount a missile 
defense (MD) system. The MSDF renovated four Aegis ships, and their 
renovation costs added up to 120 billion yen. The possibility of 
missile glitches is closely intertwined with cost efficiency. Japan 
and the United States are going to co-develop an advanced version of 
the SM-3 (Block 2A) with enhanced thrust and destructive power. Even 
this enhanced missile is not exceptional. 
 
Then, the question is what to do. 
 
The MD system, currently in place against ballistic missiles, is a 
two-tier intercept system, which is made of the SM-3, a sea-based 
missile mounted on Aegis ships, and the Patriot Advanced Capability 
(PAC-3), a ground-based missile that is to back up the SM-3 and 
shoot down missed projectiles. However, the PAC-3's defensive area 
is small. To defend Japan in its entirety, there will be no choice 
but to raise the SM-3's targeting accuracy. However, the SM-3 could 
have glitches. In addition, several missiles may be launched as 
North Korea test-fired seven ballistic missiles in 2006. In that 
case, the MD system is highly likely to miss them. 
 
In the present-day military technology, the MD system is the only 
way to shoot down intruding ballistic missiles. However, the 
government should explain that the MD system is not a perfect 
weapon. In its white paper for this year, the Defense Ministry says 
 
TOKYO 00003233  007 OF 010 
 
 
it will be possible for an Aegis ship to cover all over Japan in its 
future defense. However, we must not be overconfident. The MD system 
is still likely to miss ballistic missiles. Given this, the 
government should also review Japan's antimissile readiness. 
 
The MD system may intercept the first-launched ballistic missile. 
However, what if second and third ballistic missiles are launched at 
Japan? Will Japan wait to intercept them in the same way? 
 
Then, the question is whether Japan should acquire the capability of 
striking missile sites. Isn't it about time to seriously discuss 
this issue? Such a multilayered defense buildup will lead to 
deterrence. 
 
(6) ASDF chief of staff's firing and freedom of thought, creed 
 
SANKEI (Page 13) (Full) 
November 21, 2008 
 
Akira Momochi, professor at Nihon University 
 
This is what I was concerned about. Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF) 
Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami has been sacked, and the Defense 
Ministry has now begun an investigation of the essays that many ASDF 
officers submitted with Tamogami to an contest. The Sankei Shimbun 
carried an article about this defense inspection in its Nov. 15 
edition. According to the article, defense inspections are generally 
intended to investigate such misconducts as back-scratching with 
contractors. The article points out that the Defense Ministry's 
inspection of what someone wrote in an essay is an unusual case. It 
also says such an investigation has caused a strong backlash, with 
such comments as that this could lead to intruding into freedom of 
thought and belief. 
 
Indeed, In assessing the Tamogami problem, there may be room for 
criticism if an officer, in this case one who held the key post of 
ASDF chief of staff, submits a public essay that runs counter to the 
government's view (Murayama statement), even though it is within the 
bounds if it were a personal view. In other words, the freedom of 
expression of a public official or officer is unavoidably restricted 
to a certain extent. However, freedom of thought and creed is 
another story. 
 
After Tamogami's sacking, however, the tone of the press and 
politicians in the opposition parties turned critical about what he 
had written in the essay. Some blamed Tamogami, implying he was a 
dangerous person, while others tended to denounce his thought or his 
view of history itself. This is fraught with serious problems that 
cannot be overlooked under the Constitution. 
 
To look back on the series of developments, I have some questions. 
First, a top brass officer of the Self-Defense Forces made public a 
view that differs from the government's view, even though it was his 
own personal view. Was this a problem? Second, Tamogami publicized 
his essay without reporting it in written form to his supervisor, 
going against the Defense Ministry's internal regulations. Was this, 
too, a problem? And third, an SDF echelon officer has thoughts (or a 
view of history) that go against the Murayama statement. Was this a 
problem? Although these points were left ambiguous, action to 
dismiss him went ahead. The Defense Ministry even began a defense 
inspection. 
 
 
TOKYO 00003233  008 OF 010 
 
 
In that respect, the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Tokyo Shimbun said in 
their Nov. 2 editorials that each individual is free to have any 
kind of perception about history. However, the two dailies also said 
the problem is that the ASDF's top brass officer made public a view 
that is incompatible with the government's view. The Sankei Shimbun 
said in its Nov. 2 editorial that if anyone in the SDF is not 
allowed even to raise a question about the government's view, that 
is a problem. What the Sankei Shimbun asserted can be taken as 
reasonable. 
 
In the meantime, the Asahi Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun 
criticized Tamogami's view itself as "distorted thinking" or "a 
distorted view of history." Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) 
President Ichiro Ozawa also commented on a Nov. 3 NHK TV news 
program: "Although the government was aware that he held such 
opinions (or such a view of history), the government appointed him 
to the post of ASDF chief of staff. So the government is 
responsible." 
 
If so, Ozawa's assertion can be taken to mean that the government in 
its appointments or promotions to the SDF's chief of staff posts and 
all other government office posts must eliminate anyone whose 
thinking goes against the Murayama Statement. New Komeito Policy 
Research Council Chairman Natsuo Yamaguchi was also quoted by the 
Tokyo Shimbun in its Nov. 2 edition as saying: "If the SDF's top 
brass and all others in the SDF have a similar way of thinking, they 
must be reeducated." This also can be taken to mean that the SDF 
must propagandize its members. I wonder if they have forgotten that 
the Constitution's Article 19 guarantees freedom of thought and 
creed. 
 
Freedom of thought and creed (conscience) means that the people are 
absolutely free to take any view as long as such remains in their 
hearts. It also means that the state must not force or forbid any 
specific thought on the people, that the state must not discriminate 
against the people for their thought or creed, and that the state 
must not compel the people to express their thought (freedom of 
silence). The opposition parties and the media criticized Tamogami's 
thought itself as inappropriate for the ASDF chief of staff post, 
and the Defense Ministry conducted a 'thought investigation' of SDF 
members in the name of defense inspection. This smacks of violating 
the Constitution. 
 
The Murayama Statement, from the start, is no more than Prime 
Minister Murayama's personal view. He stated: "Our country followed 
a mistaken national policy at one time not distant in the past, and 
its colonial rule and aggression inflicted serious damage and pain 
on many countries." Accordingly, he also stated: "I express a strong 
feeling of remorse again and express a feeling of apology from the 
bottom of my heart." The Murayama cabinet went so far as to adopt 
this statement. It has therefore shackled the government and even 
cabinet ministers thereafter. 
 
However, each and every person is completely free to have any view 
of history. Some segments of the media take the Murayama Statement 
as absolute and never allow anyone to criticize it. Such a tendency 
is extremely dangerous. Nevertheless, they have reiterated a 
question asking each new prime minister if he will follow the 
'Murayama Statement." And this time around, they have denounced the 
sacked ASDF chief of staff, based on the Murayama statement. 
 
This has become the allegiance test today. I believe that we should 
 
TOKYO 00003233  009 OF 010 
 
 
break away from such an corrupt practice at once and retract the 
Murayama statement as early as possible. 
 
(7) TOP HEADLINES 
 
Asahi: Mainichi: Yomiuri: Sankei: Tokyo Shimbun 
Suspect in ex-bureaucrat assaults plotted to kill 10 more people 
 
Nikkei: 
 
Bailout of Citigroup: Government to guarantee its assets worth 29 
trillion yen: Additional injection of 1.9 trillion yen 
 
Akahata: 
 
Exchange meeting of Association of Article 9 
 
(8) EDITORIALS 
 
Asahi: 
 
(1) Business slump and global warming: Time to boost domestic demand 
for greenery 
 
Mainichi: 
 
(1) Substantial dip in tax revenues: Starting point for fiscal 
reconstruction 
 
(2) New strains of flu: Government's crisis control system to be 
tested 
 
Yomiuri: 
 
(1) APEC statement: Abide by agreement reached in WTO talks 
 
(2) College contribution to regional areas: Challenges is to build 
networks 
 
Nikkei: 
 
(1) U.S. financial crisis moves into new phase 
 
(2) Efficacy of agreement reached at APEC questioned 
 
Sankei: 
 
(1) APEC: More efforts needed to overcome crisis 
 
(2) Midterm account settlement 
 
Tokyo Shimbun: 
 
(1) Major mergers in Heisei period: Time to verify merits and 
demerits 
 
(2) Promotion of food education: Clue to self-reliance of regions 
 
Akahata: 
 
(1) Government should negotiate with U.S. government for return of 
Okinawa ocean area designated for U.S. military drill 
 
TOKYO 00003233  010 OF 010 
 
 
 
(9) Prime Minister's schedule, November 23 & 24 
 
NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full) 
November 25, 2008 
 
Nov. 23 
 
Noon Posed for a group photo at the Peruvian Army General 
Headquarters. Issued an APEC statement. 
 
Afternoon Attended a luncheon meeting with other state leaders at 
the President's Official Residence. Held a press conference with 
Japanese and foreign correspondents at the Japan-Peru Cultural 
Center in Lima City. 
 
Night Met the chairman of the Association of Japanese Peruvians and 
others. Left Lima International Airport by government plane. 
 
Nov. 24 
 
Early morning Arrived in Los Angeles for refueling. 
 
SCHIEFFER