Cablegate: Daily Summary of Japanese Press 10/25/07

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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 6594

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 07 TOKYO 004980

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 10/25/07

INDEX:

(1) Ozawa resumes nationwide stumping tour for next Lower House
election (Asahi)

(2) UN denies carbon emissions credit to Tepco, Mitsui and Co. for
first time (Nikkei)

(3) Japan's choices in the war on terrorism -- Discord evident
between US and European countries over Afghan reinforcements
(Mainichi)

(4) TOP HEADLINES

(5) EDITORIALS

(6) Prime Minister's schedule, October 24 (Nikkei)

(Corrected copy) Interviews with Yukio Okamoto and Kenji Isezaki on
MSDF refueling operation (Asahi)

ARTICLES:

(1) Ozawa resumes nationwide stumping tour for next Lower House
election

ASAHI (Page 4) (Slightly abridged)
October 24, 2007

Ichiro Ozawa, president of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ or
Minshuto), visited Sapporo City on Oct. 23 and began a nationwide
stumping tour for the next House of Representatives election.
Coordination on the selection of candidates for electoral districts
in which the party had have difficulties was left to Ozawa's
leadership to settle. He ventured out to demonstrate his campaigning
skills. His clear policy stance aims at taking the reins of
government through a strategy of putting energy into constituencies
where candidates on the DPJ ticket can win. The ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) also will gradually solidify its electoral
turf.

"We have now picked all candidates. There are strong supporters for
the DPJ in Hokkaido. I want you to do your best to win all races,"
said Ozawa in a Sapporo hotel on the evening of Oct. 23. The person
standing beside Ozawa was Lower House member Seiji Osaka, who has
been informally endorsed to run in the Hokkaido No. 8 constituency.

Ozawa's stumping tour became a strong driving force for the DPJ's
big win in the July House of Councillors election. During this
stumping tour, Ozawa and a candidate will meet with senior members
of the Japan Trade Unions Confederation's (Rengo) regional branches
and dine together. Today he will fly to Osaka to meet a candidate
for the Osaka mayoral election. He will then return to Tokyo later
in the day. He also plans to go to the Kyushu region later this
month.

For his stumping tour, the DPJ has made flyers written "Politics
will change or be changed. So, your choice is the DPJ."

The DPJ's goal is to win 150 seats (of the 300 seats) in the
electoral districts. In order to topple the LDP-New Komeito
coalition by the opposition force, the largest opposition party will

TOKYO 00004980 002 OF 007

mainly concentrate on constituencies in which its candidates can win
a seat.

In Hokkaido, however, Ozawa failed to arrange a meeting with Muneo
Suzuki, the representative of the New Party Daichi.

DPJ Election Champaign Committee Chair Hirotaka Akamatsu met on the
17th with Suzuki, however. Akamatsu suggested a plan that the DPJ
members and Rengo organizations would vote for the New Party Daichi
in the Tokyo area and the Daichi would support DPJ candidates in 12
single-seat constituencies.

In the 2005 Lower House election, the Daichi obtained about 430,000
votes in the Hokkaido proportional representation bloc, which was
larger than the number of votes obtained by the New Komeito, the
LDP's coalition partner. The DPJ cannot ignore Suzuki's influence in
Hokkaido. Suzuki, however, has not given his assent, saying, "The
DPJ must reflect on its conduct first." Suzuki is still unhappy with
the fact that his party's candidate was defeated in the last
election even though his party cooperated with the DPJ.

Ozawa sent out positive signals to Suzuki in a press conference on
the 23rd, saying: "We share the view that politics should be changed
by the next general election in union. I want to see him again as
early as possible."

(2) UN denies carbon emissions credit to Tepco, Mitsui and Co. for
first time

NIKKEI (Top Play) (Full)
October 25, 2007

The UN has begun toughening its screening standards of projects to
reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that companies of
industrialized countries are planning in order to obtain greenhouse
gas emissions credits. In this connection, it was learned yesterday
that applications for projects made by Tokyo Electric Power Co.,
known as Tepco, and Mitsui & Co. were rejected for the first time
among Japanese companies. The UN appears to have judged that the
contents of the projects were insufficient. The Japanese government
is attaching importance to obtaining emissions credits in order to
achieve its emissions goal, which it has pledged to the
international community. If similar cases continue, the government's
plan to attain the goal set under the Kyoto Protocol could be
derailed.

The UN has been toughening approval standards for granting emissions
credits under its clean development mechanism, under which companies
that have cut greenhouse emissions in projects in developing
countries can obtain emissions credits. If a mainstay company in
such a project applies for credits and the UN approves the
application, emissions credits would be formally granted to the
company, based on the Kyoto Protocol. The company then can sell such
credits to the government or other entities. The UN has thus far
rejected 46 such applications made by British and Indian companies,
of which the rejection of 36 applications occurred this year.

Tepco and Mitsui & Co. respectively planned greenhouse gas reduction
projects using sugar cane for power generation. Tepco applied for
emissions credits for one project. It had reportedly expected to
gain emissions credits worth approximately 33,000 tons a year in
terms of CO2 emissions. Mitsui & Co. applied for such credits for

TOKYO 00004980 003 OF 007

two projects. It had reportedly expected to gain emissions credits
worth approximately 75,000 tons a year in total.

Both companies submitted plans to the UN after obtaining approval
from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The UN held
a board meeting to determine the efficacy of the projects and
decided not to approve them.

Though the UN declined to give detailed reasons for the rejection,
it appears that it examined the technical aspect of the projects and
has judged that it is questionable whether their projects would
produce expected results. Regarding the UN rejection, Tepco said,
"We will make an application again, after modifying the contents of
the project." Mitsui & Co. released a comment that it intends to try
again, after taking further measures.

Tepco has cancelled an application for emissions credits for another
project to collect methane gas in Chile, because the UN has kept
putting on hold granting approval, judging that greenhouse gas
emissions reduction effects of the project are insufficient. The
company failed to obtain emissions credits worth approximately
150,000 tons, according to its original estimate. There is also fear
that it might not be able to collect funds it invested.

Japan is obligated to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 6 PERCENT on
average over five years between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2012 from the
1990 level. Industry and households are making efforts to cut
emissions. Tepco had expected to cut carbon emissions on the
strength of the suspension of the nuclear power plant due to the
Chuetsu Earthquake in Niigata Prefecture as well as carbon emissions
rights.

(3) Japan's choices in the war on terrorism -- Discord evident
between US and European countries over Afghan reinforcements

MAINICHI (Page 2) (Abridged slightly)
October 25, 2007

"Ready, aim, fire!"

An Afghan commander's order rang out across the plains in northern
Afghanistan. Three Soviet-made launchers were used by some 40 Afghan
troops. Throughout the rotational firing training, Kalashnikov-armed
troops stood on guard against attacks by militia groups.

Their moves were watched by three German International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF) troops. After four months' training, many
Afghan troops are sent to southern Afghanistan and other areas where
battles are still going on with forces under the control of the
former Taliban. "We appreciate the guidance we receive from the
German force," the commander said.

In Afghanistan, there are some 40,000 NATO-led ISAF troops,
including 15,000 from the United States, 7,700 from Britain and
3,000 from Germany. They are engaged in security operations and
civilian assistance in northern Afghanistan.

Being part of ISAF is NATO's first military operation outside
Europe. ISAF could make or break NATO's future plans. But there is
discord between the United States and Britain and other European
members over areas of deployment and troop enforcements.

TOKYO 00004980 004 OF 007

"Why can't the military alliance (NATO) with 2 million troops comply
with the calls for additional troops?"

This comment came from a frustrated US Secretary of Defense Robert
Gates in Ukraine's capital of Kiev on Oct. 22. His frustration was
directed at Germany, Italy, and other European countries that are
reluctant to increase combat troops and deploy forces to southern
Afghanistan.

There are serious shortages of transportation means, such as
helicopters, and personnel for training Afghan troops. Although
70,000 Afghanistan troops were scheduled to take over security
operations from NATO, less than 30,000 have been trained.

Fierce battles with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan have taken a
heavy toll on the United States and Britain. Although NATO
Secretary-General de Hoop Scheffer complained that some countries

SIPDIS
have not sent troops to combat zones, such countries as Germany have
turned deaf ears to his complaint.

Their reaction comes from low public support for ISAF participation.
In an opinion poll conducted by German newspaper Welt, 61 PERCENT
expressed opposition to continuing ISAF participation, while 29
PERCENT voiced support. Although the German parliament decided on
Oct. 12 to extend the ISAF mission by one year, some ruling
coalition members voted against it or abstained from the vote.

Taliban members have committed over 100 suicide bombings this year.
The security situation in northern Afghanistan, which had been
comparatively stable, has markedly deteriorated since last year. A
series of attacks by armed insurgents that claimed some lives of
German troops have increased calls for withdrawal.

At the NATO defense ministerial held in the Netherlands on Oct.
24-25, the United States is expected to press European countries for
Afghan reinforcements. According to Reuters, the Pentagon plans to
determine the size of troops (currently about 1,600) to be stationed
in the autonomous province of Kosovo in Serbia for next summer and
beyond, after watching how far the European nations will comply with
the calls for Afghanistan reinforcements.

With Albanian residents starting to move for independence, the
situation in Kosovo has become volatile. The United States has
presented the European nations with an ultimatum, saying if they
wanted the United States to stay in Kosovo, they would have to send
more troops to Afghanistan.

The United States has different expectations for Japan. A senior
American ISAF military officer said, "Japan has disbursed an
enormous amount of money for the reconstruction of Afghanistan; and
we appreciate it." There is a gap in intentions between NATO, whose
top concern is Japan's economic assistance, and Japan, which is
searching for ways to provide human contributions.

(4) TOP HEADLINES

Asahi, Yomiuri, Sankei, Tokyo Shimbun & Akahata:
School test shows students lack ability to apply skills

Mainichi:
Students answer correctly 70-80 PERCENT of basic problems

TOKYO 00004980 005 OF 007

Nikkei:
UN rejects CO2 reduction projects by Tokyo Electric, Mitsui

(5) EDITORIALS

Asahi:
(1) School tests costly but show no fresh results
(2) Let's look squarely at ugly truth of Kim Dae Jung incident in
1973

Mainichi:
(1) Japan, South Korea should try to resolve Kim Dae Jung incident
in fair manner
(2) For what purpose will education minister use achievement test
results?

Yomiuri:
(1) Effectively use achievement test results
(2) Huge price paid for betraying consumers by mislabeling

Nikkei:
(1) Government urged to step up efforts to recover trust in food
labeling
(2) Don't be swayed only by school test results

Sankei:
(1) Improve students' academic ability without restraining
competition
(2) We are fed up with illegal practices in food industry

Tokyo Shimbun:
(1) Effectively make use of achievement test results
(2) Political settlement of Kim Dae Jung abduction leaves roots of
problem

Akahata:
(1) Japan should make diplomatic efforts instead of supporting war

(6) Prime Minister's schedule, October 24

NIKKEI (Page 2) (Full)
October 25, 2007

08:36
Attended a nuclear disaster drill held at the Kantei.

10:29
Met Chief Cabinet Secretary Machimura.

12:00
Had an informal meeting with Kantei reporters.

14:15
Met Asia Peace Contribution Center Chief Director Haruo Nishihara,
followed by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Futahashi, and
Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters Research Council Chair
Sasaki.

14:30
Met LDP Reform Implementation Headquarters chief Takebe.

16:01

TOKYO 00004980 006 OF 007

Met Ambassador to Russia Saito, followed by Takasaki Mayor
Matsuura.

18:00
Attended a national secretaries general and policy research council
chairmen meeting held at the Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka.

19:00
Called German Chancellor Merkel from the Kantei.

19:56
Returned to his residence in Nozawa.

(Editor's note: A key phrase was inadvertently left out of the
translation below that changed the meaning to one unintended by Mr.
Okamoto. Our apologies to Mr. Okamoto and to our readers.)

(Corrected copy) Interviews with Yukio Okamoto and Kenji Isezaki on
MSDF refueling operation

ASAHI (Page 18) (Abridged slightly)
October 18, 2007

Foreign affairs commentator Yukio Okamoto -- Terrorism must be
prevented from spreading to Asia

-- When the government decided on the refueling operation in 2001,
you were serving as an adviser to the Cabinet Office.

Okamoto: Japan had several options back then, but Prime Minister
Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda chose the refueling
mission. I think it was a pragmatic decision.

Many countries are associated with Afghanistan in three areas:
Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), the International Security
Assistance Force (ISAF), and the Provincial Reconstruction Team
(PRT). Japan is refueling naval vessels of the countries engaged in
the maritime interdiction operations (MIO) as part of OEF. Although
the refueling operation is least dangerous and not so costly, it is
appreciated by other countries.

-- How would other countries be affected if Japan discontinued its
services?

Okamoto: US and British refuelers are operating in the same waters,
so they would be able to continue with MIO even without Japan.
Whether or not to drop out of the international effort of 40
countries that are engaged in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan is
a serious question for Japan.

-- Will the government be able to convince the general public about
the rationale behind the refueling operation?

Okamoto: Why doesn't it say that they are preventing terrorism from
spreading to Asia? Terrorism is moving east, engulfing the
Palestinian territories, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. They are
working hard so as not to allow terrorists take control of the sea.

-- Is there any option other than providing fuel for Japan?

Okamoto: Japan can cooperate in providing information, which is more
desirable. Two MSDF vessels -- a supply ship and a destroyer -- are

TOKYO 00004980 007 OF 007

now in the Indian Ocean. But because they are playing only a
supportive role, Japan is regarded as an associate MIO member. Japan
is not informed of the overall picture of the operation, either.
Japan would be able to become a full member if it reduces the two
vessels to one destroyer and provides information on suspicious
boats. Japan would not have to conduct ship inspections that require
use of weapons. It would just have to provide information on the
sea. Such would not constitute an exercise of the right to
collective self-defense.

-- Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa has proposed
participation in the ISAF.

Okamoto: Afghanistan has claimed 71 Canadian lives. The ISAF would
be more dangerous than the Ground Self-Defense Force's operations in
Samawah. Making such a wager is fine and laudable and I agree with
it, but I wonder if such would really be possible. Talk of replacing
the refueling mission with ISAF participation sounds like placing
the cart before the horse.

SCHIEFFER

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