Posted on 06/25/2006 7:12:41 PM PDT by snowsislander
Junichiro Koizumi has presided over Japan’s worst relations with China since ties were normalised in 1972, but the Japanese prime minister will seek this week to underline just how much he has done to cement the US-Japan alliance.
Mr Koizumi heads off on Monday for Ottawa, Washington and Graceland, where President George W. Bush will escort Japan’s most famous Elvis fan around the singer’s former home.
The trip starts in Ottawa, where on Wednesday Mr Koizumi will meet Stephen Harper, Canada’s recently elected prime minister, for the first time.
Canadian officials are delighted there is to be no “Canada-passing”. This has not stopped the Canadian press from joking that although they are used to being an afterthought on global leaders’ US itineraries, this is the first time Ottawa will be the warm-up act for a prime ministerial rock ’n’ roll tour.
Yet there will be substantive matters to discuss. Japan wants to sound out Mr Harper’s Asian policy, particularly since Tokyo considered previous Canadian administrations a little too embracing of China.
Tokyo will suggest Canada becomes a more active participant in the east Asia summit, part of Japan’s strategy to widen the pan-Asian forum to countries with “shared values” – shorthand for the likes of Australia and India as opposed to communist China.
Mr Koizumi will also continue his dialogue with Canada on peacekeeping. During his five years in office, Japan has become more active in global problem zones despite the constraints of its pacifist constitution.
Even as Mr Koizumi sets off, preparations are under way to pull 550 Japanese ground troops from Iraq, marking a successful conclusion to Japan’s biggest post-war peacekeeping operation.
Canada is seen as a good model for a Japan that wants to be more active with no pretension of becoming a full-scale military power.
Japan’s global role will also form part of talks in Washington. Mr Bush and Mr Koizumi will celebrate the successful conclusion, after years of wrangling, of the realignment of US troops in Japan.
Although the US is cutting its presence by 8,000 from 50,000, changes point to a strengthening of the military alliance, as some command functions move to Japan and troops from both countries work in a more integrated fashion.
Gerald Curtis, Burgess professor of political science at Columbia University, says: “Japan is now a more important anchor for US forces in the region than it was at any time during the cold war.”
The two sides announced on Friday expansion of their joint missile defence programme. Other pending issues were also completed before this week, ensuring that Mr Koizumi’s last US visit before he steps down in September will be a back-slapping occasion.
Japan has agreed to restart imports of US beef, stopped because of concern over “mad cow” disease. Tokyo has also moved closer in recent days to Washington’s line on possible sanctions against Iran, where Japan has significant energy and financial interests.
The only blot on what is likely to be a genuinely warm and problem-free summit is the aborted attempt to have Mr Koizumi make a speech to a joint session of Congress.
Officials on both sides insist Mr Koizumi was always more interested in Graceland. But any chance of addressing Congress was scuppered when Henry Hyde, chairman of the House of Representatives international relations committee, raised objections to Mr Koizumi’s likely August pilgrimage to Yasukuni shrine.
Mr Koizumi makes annual visits to Yasukuni, where millions of Japanese war dead, including a handful of convicted war criminals, are honoured. That has enraged China and South Korea.
The US has remained silent, but has made clear it would like Japanese leaders to act in a way that might defuse tension with Beijing.
Thomas Schieffer, US ambassador to Tokyo, says: “The Japanese are trying to find a way to honour their war dead without embracing the cause in which they died. That is not an easy thing to do.”
The prospect of Mr Koizumi visiting Arlington National Cemetery and then returning to Tokyo to pray at Yasukuni might yet provoke protests from US veterans, though Japanese officials say they have not been warned to expect any.
At least there should be no objections about the visit to Graceland. Unless of course, Mr Bush and Mr Koizumi sing a duet.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
I will go along with you part way and say he is one of the two best prime ministers...he and Yasu Nakasone.
How does one honor the war dead who are buried in the same shrine where war criminals are buried without it looking like he is also honoring the criminals?
Very touchy and sensitive area.
Having the Japanese on your side is far better than having them against you. Koisumi is an honorable man.
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