Japan, U.S. Work to Settle Disputes Before Bush Visit
10/26/2005
Bloomberg
Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese and U.S. negotiators may be closer to resolving two issues threatening to sour relations between the world's two biggest economies: beef trade and military bases.
President George W. Bush's arrival in Japan next month to meet Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is adding impetus to the talks on relocating 40,000 U.S. troops in the country and U.S. demands that Japan lift a 22-month ban on North American beef imports. The U.S. Senate has threatened trade sanctions should Japan not revoke the embargo.
The visit comes with Bush's approval rating at an all-time low over his response to Hurricane Katrina, his handling of the Iraqi war and the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court. Koizumi has been criticized by South Korea and China after visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which memorializes war criminals.
``Bush wants to have a good visit to Japan; he has enough problems,'' said Gerald Curtis, a professor of political science at Columbia University in New York. ``Koizumi wants to show that in spite of Yasukuni, there's been no impact on relations with the U.S. The only thing that would mar things is if the beef situation is not resolved by the time Bush shows up.''
The U.S. has agreed to Japan's proposal to relocate a military heliport in Okinawa to an existing U.S. base, Richard Lawless, deputy assistant defense secretary, said at a press conference in Tokyo. Japan's top government spokesman Hiroyuki Hosoda concurred at a regular press conference.
`Formally Accept'
``Our intention is to formally accept this specific proposal later this week by including it as one of several realignment actions to be jointly recommended in our bilateral report,'' Lawless said in a statement.
His comments came two days after a Japanese government panel said North American cattle pose a low risk to food safety, signaling an end may be near to the beef embargo.
``The beef ban and military base realignment will be seriously discussed with Bush pressuring Koizumi on the former and Koizumi pressuring the U.S. on the latter,'' said Ellis Krauss, a professor of Japanese politics at University of California, San Diego.
U.S. beef exporters have been barred since December 2003 when the first case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was reported. Before the ban, Japan was their biggest market, with about $1.5 billion in purchases in 2003.
No `Hasty Decision'
Koizumi today said that ``it's a mistake'' to assume the beef ban will be lifted before Bush comes.
``It's ridiculous to assume we have to make a hasty decision on this because the president is visiting Japan,'' he said in parliamentary testimony.
Most markets in Asia remain closed to U.S. beef. The decline in trade has resulted in a loss of more than $200 million for container-ship operators and pushed demand for corn down by 200 million bushels, said Philip Seng, president of the U.S. Meat Export Federation. Corn is used to fatten livestock.
``This is really not just a beef issue,'' Seng said in an interview from Denver. ``It's actually an issue that's become very much in the national interest of the U.S. That's why we see everyone from the president to the secretary of state to the treasury secretary'' involved in the negotiations.
Kyoto Summit
The BSE subcommittee of Japan's Food Safety Commission two days ago said it's too early to recommend the ban be lifted and a proposal may be ready the next time it meets. The next meeting's date hasn't been set, subcommittee head Yasuhiro Yoshikawa said in an interview the same day.
Bush is scheduled to meet Koizumi on Nov. 16 in Kyoto ahead of attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Busan, South Korea.
The leaders of the world's two largest economies have met at least 16 times since each took office in 2001, last meeting in July at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland. Next month's trip would be Bush's second to Japan since he became president and follows a visit in February 2002.
An accord on military alignment probably will be reached sooner after Lawless said he told Japan defense chief Yoshinori Ono that the U.S. accepts moving the heliport site from Futenma Air Station to Camp Schwab. Other issues including reducing the number of U.S. troops in Japan, and shifting some from Okinawa to the main island of Honshu.
Nicholas Burns, U.S. undersecretary of state for political affairs, met with Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Tsuneo Nishida on Oct. 23 and Oct. 24 and discussed both beef and bases.
``We would hope these issues could be resolved before President Bush visits Kyoto in just a couple of weeks time,'' Burns said in an Oct. 24 interview. ``We expect that will be the case but there's still some remaining hard work that needs to be done.''
