Hatoyama Seeks ‘Yukio-Barack’ Rapport as He Plans to Woo China http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aMQHSVfm4asE
Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) -- When Yukio Hatoyama travels to the U.S. this month as Japan’s new prime minister, he’ll have a chance to tell President Barack Obama just what he envisages in calling for a “more equal alliance.” Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan won a landslide election two days ago, ousting a government that had held sway for half a century and signed an agreement in 1960 to host U.S. soldiers on Japanese soil to provide for the country’s security. The DPJ’s platform proposed revising an accord stipulating how the 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan are treated, and developing an “autonomous” foreign policy that is still rooted in the U.S. alliance. Hatoyama has called for closer ties in Asia, especially with China, as that country develops a military capability in line with its economic expansion. “The DPJ wants to have good relations with China and they want to have very good relations with the United States,” Gerald Curtis, a professor of Japanese politics at Columbia University in New York, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “The Hatoyama government will not do things that are going to provoke major controversy with the United States.” Hatoyama, 62, is set to be sworn in as prime minister in time to represent Japan at this month’s Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh and the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Obama, 48 will attend both meetings, giving him a chance to meet Hatoyama. DPJ officials say they would welcome the kind of first-name relationship former premier Junichiro Koizumi enjoyed with President George W. Bush. First Names “The issue for us now is whether Hatoyama can establish a ‘Yukio- Barack’ relationship,” DPJ upper-house legislator Kan Suzuki said in an Aug. 26 interview. “Our biggest policy challenge is diplomacy. As an opposition party, we had a complete lack of information.” As his party’s election landslide unfolded, Hatoyama praised Obama for having “steered U.S. diplomacy toward dialogue.” “We must create a country with the trust of the international community,” Hatoyama said at a press conference early yesterday morning. “There should be many roles that Japan can fulfill between the U.S. and a rising China.” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly described the U.S.- Japan partnership as “key to pursuing peace and stability in the Asia- Pacific region.” In an Aug. 30 statement, he said the U.S. “will work closely with the new Japanese government” on issues including curbing North Korea’s nuclear program, combating climate change and “bringing stability to Afghanistan and Pakistan.” U.S. Comment The U.S. isn’t concerned that Japan may seek stronger ties with China and other Asian powers, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday. “We believe that we’ve always had a strong relationship and that relationship will continue, regardless of what Japanese government is in power,” Gibbs said. While in opposition, Hatoyama’s party resisted Japan’s limited role in providing naval refueling services to support the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan. DPJ leaders are also seeking to reduce the estimated $10.3 billion cost of transferring 8,000 Marines from Japan’s southern island of Okinawa to Guam by 2014. Yesterday, Kelly praised Japan’s refueling role while telling reporters that “it’s up to each country to determine how they can best contribute” to stabilizing Afghanistan. He said the U.S. “has no intention” of renegotiating the Guam agreement. Marine Sentenced Japanese citizens, especially in Okinawa, favor changing the U.S.- Japan Status of Forces agreement that gives American servicemen protection from legal prosecution in Japan. A U.S. Marine was sentenced by a U.S. military court to four years in prison in May 2008 for sexual abuse of a 14-year-old Okinawan girl but cleared of rape charges in the latest of a series of such incidents. The DPJ seeks to revise the agreement, a legacy of the U.S. occupation of Japan after World War II, which by the time it ended was twice as long as the war between the two countries. “We want to move away from U.S. dependency to a more equal alliance,” Hatoyama said in a February interview, before he became head of the party. “We’ve followed the U.S. subserviently in the past.” Foreign Policy Foreign policy got little attention during the campaign, with Hatoyama barely mentioning issues such as North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests. Japan participates in stalled six- party talks designed to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program, a forum the communist regime has been trying to circumvent by seeking direct talks with the U.S. The Obama administration, anticipating an LDP defeat as Prime Minister Taro Aso’s approval ratings plummeted, requested a meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior DPJ officials, including Hatoyama, when she visited Tokyo in February. The new Japanese government may put foreign policy aside temporarily as it works to revive the economy, said Sheila Smith, a senior fellow for Japan Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. Still, the U.S. military should be paying attention to the DPJ’s desire to reduce U.S. forces in Okinawa and its pledge to end Afghan refueling missions, she said. “They have a tremendous agenda,” Smith said, citing promises on domestic economic stimulus plans. “It’s not quite clear to me where they’ll start.” On Aug 31, 2:31 am, xi <[email protected]> wrote: > link for this story:http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090831a1.html > > On Aug 31, 2:30 am, xi <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > My comment: I cannot say I am an expert on Japanese politic. But I > > know some social clues to understand this news. First of all, Japan is > > a hyper affluent and hyper conservative society in some sense, such as > > sutainability, what pushes it toward hyper progressive views in others > > such as climate change. > > Despite dismissing comments in Western media, the decade long crisis > > did not hurt most Japanese people because their interests are mostly > > abroad and which manpower is mostly migrant workers. Japan has been > > the first economy that approaches the zero-growth model and that > > proved that it can be very healthy. > > But two facts have threatened that sustainable model, and that fear is > > what produced this landslide. First of all, investments abroad are not > > safe any longer as proven in late 2008. Secondly, ethics or moral > > principles or a certain sense of harmony with oneself is important for > > Japanese as much as for any East Asian cuntry. The US alliance that > > was perceived as a choice of peace for elders, since the war in Iraq > > is now perceived as to take side for the warriors and for > > confrontation attitudes, not for the peacemakers, at least among > > youngsters. Of course, this is my perception and what I heard from > > Japanese aged 20 to 30. Japan knows that wars are a thread against > > sustainibility, so in East Asia peace is both a moral duty and a > > selfish attitude. > > > One year ago cooperation in Afghan war and six month ago collapse of > > global financial system decided this results. > > > What will happen in the future? In the social field DPJ is for free > > education, extended healthcare system, etc. in foreign affairs it > > promised to renegociate US alliance to pay more attention to what they > > say are the real Japanese interests, in economy they promised to > > reduce investments in infraestructures but also to reverse some > > privatizations. Let us wait and see what they really can do. > > > Peace and best wishes. > > > Xi > > > The Japan Times > > > Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 > > > ELECTION 2009 > > In landslide, DPJ wins over 300 seats > > LDP crushed; Hatoyama set to take power > > > The Democratic Party of Japan won the Lower House election by a > > landslide Sunday, grabbing more than 300 seats in the 480-seat > > chamber. > > > The victory by the main opposition party will end more than half a > > century of almost uninterrupted rule by the Liberal Democratic Party. > > It will also usher in DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama, 62, as the new > > prime minister by mid-September. > > > The DPJ-led opposition camp secured 340 seats against just 140 for the > > LDP-New Komeito ruling bloc. In the opposition camp, the DPJ alone had > > 308. > > > Flush with victory, DPJ executives started full-fledged preparations > > for launching a new administration in the evening, party sources said, > > adding that talks were also planned with its two allies — the Social > > Democratic Party and Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) — on forming > > a coalition government. > > > Meanwhile, Prime Minister Taro Aso said he will step down as LDP > > president to "take responsibility" for his party's defeat. An election > > to pick his successor as LDP chief will be held soon, he said. > > > LDP Secretary General Hiroyuki Hosoda also said on NHK the party's top > > three executives have all told Aso they plan to resign. > > > "We'd like to straightly face the severe results. We will search our > > souls and start preparing for the next election," Hosoda said, adding > > that the LDP will overhaul its policies to gain more support. > > > The LDP also lost some big names in single-seat races, including > > former Foreign Ministers Nobutaka Machimura and Taro Nakayama, as well > > as Finance Minister Kaoru Yosano and former Finance chief Shoichi > > Nakagawa. > > > However, Machimura and Yosano regained their seats in proportional > > representation. > > > Scenes from Election 2009 New Komeito suffered even worse, with party > > chief Akihiro Ota and heavyweights Kazuo Kitagawa and Tetsuzo > > Fuyushiba all defeated in their single-seat districts. They didn't > > "insure" themselves by putting their names on the party's list of > > proportional-representation candidates. > > > DPJ deputy chief Ichiro Ozawa declined comment before the poll results > > were complete but said "there is nothing (for voters) to worry" about > > concerning an impending change in government. > > > "We'd like to steadily implement what we have promised to the nation," > > Ozawa told NHK. > > > Pre-election media polls showed the DPJ leading the LDP thanks to > > strong populist tail winds propelled in part by frustration with years > > of stagnation and mismanagement under the LDP. > > > As many as 1,374 candidates, including a record 229 women, competed > > for seats in the 480-member chamber — 300 in single-seat districts and > > 180 in the 11 proportional representation blocks nationwide. > > > Due to strong voter interest, voter turnout was estimated to have > > reached 69.29 percent, exceeding the 67.51 percent in the previous > > general election in 2005. > > > A record 13.98 million people, or 13.4 percent of all eligible voters, > > cast early ballots. > > > Most of the nearly 51,000 polling stations opened at 7 a.m. and closed > > at 8 p.m. > > > The DPJ, which had just 115 seats before the election, secured 308. > > > The LDP, in contrast, captured as few as 119, a shocking decline from > > its 300 seats before the race. New Komeito won 21 seats, far short of > > the 31 seats it had before the election. > > > The LDP's fall from power was only its second since it was founded in > > 1955. It was out of power for about 11 months between 1993 and 1994. > > > After campaigning officially began Aug. 18, Aso made clear his > > priority was to stimulate the economy, saying the economy is only > > halfway through its recovery. > > > He argued against giving a popular mandate to the DPJ on the grounds > > that the opposition party tends to waver on national security matters, > > and that his LDP is the only party responsible enough to govern. > > > The DPJ's Hatoyama promised to up support to households, saying a DPJ- > > led government will "cut waste created in bureaucrat-reliant politics > > and reorganize the budget in such a way as to spend money on what's > > really important." > > > The change in the Lower House will clear the legislative deadlock in > > the Diet, which has plagued the LDP-New Komeito ruling bloc for the > > past two years, when the less-powerful Upper House came under control > > of the opposition. > > > Campaigning effectively began July 21, when Aso, 68, dissolved the > > Lower House. Since then, parties had pitched their policies to voters > > based on their campaign platforms. > > > In its platform, the DPJ pledges to cut wasteful spending, offer cash > > to households and keep the 5 percent consumption tax intact for the > > next four years, the duration of the term for new Lower House > > lawmakers. > > > But its big-budget policies, like the monthly child allowance to > > families, have been criticized as lacking specifics about sources of > > funding. > > > Aso was widely expected to call the poll soon after taking office last > > September after two of his immediate predecessors quit after about a > > year in office each. But as the recession deepened, he vowed to focus > > on reviving the economy and delayed dissolving the lower chamber. > > > In the general election of September 2005, the LDP captured a whopping > > 296 seats as then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi painted the race as > > a contest between those for his postal system privatization initiative > > and those against it.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "World-thread" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/world-thread?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
