NAPSNet Daily Report
 
friday, june 15, 2001
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I. United States

II. Japan
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I. United States


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1. ROK Pressured to Support US NMD

Agence France Presse ("WASHINGTON PRESSED SEOUL TO SUPPORT NMD," Seoul, 6/15/01) reported that the Hankook Ilbo wrote that the US put pressure on the ROK to explicitly support its controversial missile defense ahead of a recent visit by ROK President Kim Dae- Jung to Washington. Quoting leaked official documents, the paper said the US asked the ROK to make a statement expressing the ROK's all-out support for the National Missile Defense (NMD) shield. It said a senior US National Security Council official handed over a model statement to an ROK minister in Washington that he wanted used as a basis for an ROK statement of support. The ROK foreign ministry made no official comment on the report. The daily said the US official told the ROK officials that it was "really disturbing" that the ROK, a close ally of the US, joined Russia in putting out a statement supporting the ABM treaty at a time when Bush was fighting to get support for NMD. He also said Bush and his National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice were "upset."


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2. Japan-US Talks

The Washington Times (Ben Barber, "DIPLOMAT SETS MEETING WITH POWELL," 6/15/01) reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka will meet Secretary of State Colin L. Powell in Washington next week. The US State Department said in a statement that the two would discuss security and other issues and prepare for a summit between US President George W. Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in Washington on June 30. Since she was named foreign minister in April, Tanaka has emerged as a major skeptic of closer US-Japan ties. In May, she refused to meet with US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who had been sent to Japan as a special envoy by Bush to explain his approach to missile defense. Analysts say both the ROK and Japan fear antagonizing the PRC. Robert Manning, a Republican foreign policy adviser and former aide to Armitage, said the US should be glad that the new leaders of Japan speak their minds, even if it is not exactly what they want to hear. Manning, a fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, said in an interview on June 14 that the PRC is emerging as a great power in Asia and "where is the counterweight?" [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense's Early Bird news service for June 15, 2001.]


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3. Editorial on ABM Treaty

New York Times published an editorial ("MISREPRESENTING THE ABM TREATY," 6/15/01) which said that the merits of the 1972 Antiballistic Missile Treaty have been a feature of US President George W. Bush's European trip this week. The paper noted that the Bush administration would have its citizens believe that the treaty "is a discredited cold-war relic that bars the way to a new era free from fear of nuclear missile attack." However, it wrote, "That is bad history and bad policy." In future years, the editorial continued, "the ABM treaty could serve as a bridge to a new era in which further reductions in offensive missiles could be accompanied by the testing and building of limited defensive systems to blunt emerging threats from unpredictable countries like North Korea, Iran and Iraq. But to arrive at that desirable result the administration will have to stop maligning the treaty and engage in constructive discussions with Russia and China." It noted that the goal should be agreement on how to either amend the treaty or supersede it with a new agreement that can regulate the development of reasonable missile defenses. The paper went on to say that amending or replacing the treaty is a better course than simply abrogating it because Russia fears future technological improvements could render even its present missile force of several thousand inadequate and the PRC has more immediate fears that even a limited missile defense could nullify its smaller number of long-range missiles. "These concerns are legitimate," the paper continued, "and the United States, along with the rest of the world, has an interest in these countries' feeling secure with the lowest possible number of intercontinental missiles. The answer is to seek a new strategic equation that encourages the United States and Russia as well as China to field a minimal number of offensive weapons and reasonable defensive systems." In the end, it added, "The Bush administration ought to stop demonizing the ABM treaty and start building on it." [Ed. note: This article was included in the US Department of Defense's Early Bird news service for June 15, 2001.]


II. Japan


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1. Kim Jong-il's Visit to ROK

The Mainichi Shimbun (Hiroshi Fuse, "ROK FOREIGN AND TRADE MINISTER SUGGESTS THAT ROK IS MAKING INTER-KOREAN AGREEMENT DRAFT," Washington, 06/11/2001) reported that ROK Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Han Sun-soo told the Mainichi Shimbun on June 10 in Washington that he is optimistic about the prospect for DPRK leader Kim Jong-il's visit to the ROK. Han said, "The date of the visit is not known yet, but the General Secretary (Kim Jong-il) has expressed a few times his will to visit us." Han also suggested that the ROK is now discussing an inter-Korean agreement on tension reduction on the Peninsula toward the second inter-Korean summit meeting.


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2. US View of Japan's Stance on NMD

The Asahi Shimbun ("RAND SAYS NMD COULD DIVIDE JAPAN AND US," 06/10/2001) reported that the RAND Corporation, a US based think tank, released a report on June 8 that Japan's domestic disagreements on NMD could undermine the Japan-US alliance. The RAND report pointed out that although the DPRK's missile threat requires Japan's adoption of NMD, economic, constitutional and legal, and technological hurdles could constrain Japan's decision to adopt NMD. It also noted that Japan's desire not to antagonize the PRC, reflected in Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka's recent statement, is also a concern. The report concluded that in light of the absence of Japan's clear commitment to NMD, some high-level dialogue between Japan and the US is needed.


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3. Japanese-US Foreign Ministerial Talk

The Daily Yomiuri ("TANAKA TO MEET POWELL ON JUNE 18," 06/12/2001) reported that the Japanese and US governments reached a broad agreement on June 11 for Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka to hold a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on June 18 in a Washington hotel. Tanaka's visit was once threatened with cancellation over her alleged controversial remarks on the US missile defense plan but the itinerary was renegotiated at Tanaka's strong urging, the sources said. Japan asked the US to reconsider the plan based on the grounds that Tanaka's position will further deteriorate if her US visit is not realized.


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4. US Forces in Japan

The Daily Yomiuri (GOVT PRESENTS 8 OPTIONS FOR NEW US BASE," 06/09/2001) reported that at a meeting with prefectural and municipal governments on June 8, the Japanese government presented eight options for constructing a facility in Nago to replace the US Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture. Discussion on the selection of the final construction plan is expected to be hard- fought, since a demand by local governments that a time limit be set on the US military forces' use of the new airport has not been resolved. The options varied in terms of construction costs, construction periods and location, and were based on three construction methods--using reclaimed offshore land, or building either an offshore platform built on pillars or a megafloat. All were compiled on the stipulation that the facility include a 2,600-meter-long runway and two 300-meter-long safety zones. The central government did not indicate its preference for any of the options. The anticipated construction periods ranged from six years to over 18-1/2 years, and the costs were estimated at between 140 billion yen and 1 trillion yen. After the meeting, Koizumi met with Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine who also attended the meeting with Kishimoto, for the first time since his inauguration as premier. During the meeting, Inamine told Koizumi that he had conveyed his request concerning a time-limit to US usage during his visit to the country last month, and urged the central government to also fully receive the request.

The Japan Times ("TANAKA TO PROPOSE ROTATING MILITARY DRILLS IN POWELL TALKS," 06/14/2001) reported that Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka indicated on June 13 that she will ask the US to relocate some of its military drills from Okinawa to Guam and other places. She said that she will "make specific proposals" on the US training activities in Okinawa during talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell, scheduled for Monday in Washington. Speaking at a meeting of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, she indicated her proposals would deal with an already floated plan in which the US military would conduct drills on a rotating basis between Okinawa, Guam and other locations. However, she did not provide details. The rotation plan is intended to reduce the burden on Okinawa, which accommodates three quarters of US military facilities in Japan. Tanaka expressed her willingness to address issues related to Okinawa during her talks with Powell, but on the proposal to institute a 15-year limit on the US military's use of an airport to be built in Nago, northern Okinawa, Tanaka said, "I will touch on the issue but since the United States has its own position, I want to hear its view as well." Residents are demanding that the limit be imposed on the Nago facility, which would host heliport functions of Futenma Air Station after they are relocated from Ginowan in central Okinawa. The US has said it would be difficult to set such a limit.


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5. Russia's Policy Toward SCO

The Sankei Shimbun (Tsutomu Saito, "RUSSIA INTENDS TO SELL WEAPONS TO NEW MARKET," Moscow, 06/15/2001) reported that according to Russian military experts, Russia's intentions about the newly born Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) formed on June 15 among Russia, the PRC, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, include not only dealing with terrorism and separatism but also deterring US dominance and securing a new weapons market. A source from the Russian government revealed that the new group is "paying close attention" to the US, said that report. The report also pointed out that Russia is encouraged by the fact that Pakistan, India, Iran, Mongolia are also expressing their will to join SCO. A Russian military expert also said, "One of Russia's real intensions is to provide weapons to a new marked created by the formation of SCO and to allow the Russian military-industry complex to survive. The expert also pointed out that at the CIS meeting last May, President Putin already promised the leaders of the other five member countries that he would sell weapons at the Russian domestic price." The expert also added that Russia is also being criticized that the creation of an anti-terrorism force within SCO would benefit only Russia.


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