Fiasco over Foreign Minister reveals Koizumi Cabinet in awe of the U.S.

With recent Foreign Minister Tanaka Makiko's remarks as a signal, the U.S. missile defense system and the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty have become hot topics in TV shows or daily conversations.

The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party showed extraordinary reactions to her reported remarks that she is concerned about the U.S. missile defense plan and that she thinks it necessary for Japan to be self-reliant.

Successive LDP governments have regarded the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty as the axis around which Japan's foreign relations develop. The Koizumi Cabinet is no exception.

Some cabinet ministers and senior LDP members have criticized Tanaka and called for her dismissal.

In the end, the foreign minister said that the Japan-U.S. alliance is all important and showed herself to be integrated with the Koizumi Cabinet's policy of continuing Japan's subordination to the U.S.

The fiasco over Foreign Minister Tanaka reveals the true nature of LDP politics and the Koizumi Cabinet: that it would be disrespectful for Japan to contradict the U.S.

In her talks with the Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini, Tanaka reportedly questioned if missile defense is really necessary to counter missile threats, and said that Japan and Europe had better join together to advise the U.S. not to go too far.

Meeting with the German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, Tanaka reportedly said that Japan has been protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. She reportedly said that it was an easygoing approach.

Tanaka's remarks as far as reported do not sound to be radical pronouncements in themselves. In the U.S., opinions are divided over U.S. missile defense.

Tanaka's calling into question Japan staying under the U.S. nuclear umbrella sounds reasonable for those who ask the question, "Is it good for Japan to continue taking U.S. orders?"

The government and the LDP reacted to these remarks differently from the general public, because they are afraid that these remarks may damage Japan's relationship with the U.S. Chief Cabinet Secretary Fukuda Yasuo told Tanaka to be careful about future remarks. LDP Policy Research Council Chair Aso Taro, a senior LDP official, criticized Tanaka for lacking clear recognition of Japan as a U.S. ally. LDP General Council Chair Horiuchi Mitsuo said that nothing must shake Japan-U.S. relations, the principal axis of Japan's diplomacy.

In her talks with Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro and Defense Minister Nakatani Gen on June 8, Tanaka confirmed the government "understanding" of the U.S. study of the MD system. Then she modified her position to stressing the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance.

What is the U.S. view of these developments?

A person close to the LDP who has recently returned from Washington said, "Outwardly, the U.S. government maintains a calm, partly because it dislikes to be taken as intervening in Japan's political strife. The main reason is that the U.S. is confident that the matter will be settled by the U.S. president in direct talks with Prime Minister Koizumi, who sets importance to the Japan-U.S. alliance, during the Japan-U.S. summit talks."

It is fifty years since the first Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was concluded. Japan's foreign relations lack independence and are marked by subordination to the U.S. This has made Japan isolated in Asia and the rest of the world. The situation has given rise to doubts about the Japan-U.S. relations as they are.

In spite of the change of climate, the Koizumi Cabinet proclaimed its position of maintaining the Japan-U.S. alliance as the axis of Japan's foreign relations. It amounts to rejecting any rethinking of its complete dependence on the U.S. in foreign relations.

The Koizumi Cabinet is taking a further step in this dependence by accepting the U.S. demand for Japan to exercise its right of collective self-defense and revise Article 9 of Japan's Constitution. These steps are intended to enable the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to take part in war with the U.S. forces.

The crucial question before the Japanese people is whether they will allow Japan to continue to be bound by the military alliance with the U.S. in the 21st century. (end)