January 4/99
Japan's Justice Minister blasts U.S. economic practices
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's outspoken justice minister today accused the
United States of relying on
military threats to protect its economic market, Kyodo news agency
reported.
``America's free-market economy, is not free,'' Justice Minister
Shozaburo Nakamura was quoted
as saying in a New Year's greeting to ministry officials and
prosecutors.
``It is the kind of freedom that can let loose atomic bombs and
missiles when another country looks
to be winning.''
Ministry officials were not available for comment late today.
Nakamura, 64, also criticized the United States for
``threatening'' countries with trade laws that
allow Washington to impose sanctions on trading partners whose
practices it deems unfair.
Tokyo has long been under pressure from Washington to open up its
markets and trim its trade
surplus with the United States.
For October 1998, the U.S. trade deficit with Japan shot up by
17.8 percent to $6 billion, the
biggest gap since March 1995.
Nakamura is a former businessman who has been elected seven times
to Japan's lower house. He
has been a member of Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet since
July.
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