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DAILY SUMMARY OF JAPANESE
PRESS
Friday, June 4, 1999
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INDEX:
(1)
Personnel network of Tokyo Governor Ishihara; From business circles,
Hitotsubashi University graduates back him; Ishihara picks his right-hand man
for Metropolitan executive post
(2) Jiji
Kokkoku column: Tokyo Governor Ishihara
inspects "Yokota" to realize his election-campaign pledge; Also meets
with heads of municipalities
(3) Return
or joint use of Yokota Air Base difficult
(4) War or
peace? Obuchi faction takes dual approach to LDP presidential race; Executive
party posts used as bait; Flatter other factions by reminding them how grateful
the faction is for their favors
(5) All-out
policy efforts for maintaining same staffing levels within companies; Creation
of total of 500,000 jobs; Diversification of vocational training; Strong nature
of being emergency refuge
(6)
Government plans to use ODA to increase countries that support whaling,
says parliamentary vice agriculture and fisheries minister
(7) DPJ starts
to discuss emergencies legislation; Intraparty socialists discontent with
party's security policy platform
(8) Outline
of LDP crisis management team's interim report
ARTICLES:
(1) Personnel network of Tokyo Governor
Ishihara; From business circles, Hitotsubashi University graduates back him;
Ishihara picks his right-hand man for Metropolitan executive post
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 52s) (Excerpts) May 31, 1999
[Humanology column by Katsuya Uehara, city desk]
One month has passed since Shintaro Ishihara assumed the post of Tokyo governor. He has demonstrated a strong desire to appoint outsiders to key posts, arguing that "administrative efficiency will rise if I can 'control' the outer and inner circles of the metropolitan government. He has already fulfilled his desire to place his imprint by appointing as his special secretary his right-hand man, a person who has been close to him since he served in the Diet. He has appointed as counselor, a person who was his junior at Hitotsubashi University and a member of his study group. Ishihara has pledged to offer metropolitan government posts to talented persons. This newspaper therefore probes into his personal networks in the business, political, and literary worlds.
On May 12, more than 700 persons got together in Nyosui Hall at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo to congratulate Ishihara for being elected Tokyo governor. The party was hosted by the Hitotsubashi University alumni association.
Hiroshi Takahashi, president of Yusen Air and Sea Service (former vice president of Nippon Yusen K.K.), graduated from the university in 1956, the same year as Ishihara. The two got to know each other since they both paint pictures for pleasure.
"Ishihara's works are tedious. I'm a better writer than him," says Takahashi, who now writes all of Ishihara's statements and speeches for the support group. On May 2, when Ishihara was having a difficult time in the appointment of a vice governor, he went to play golf with his four of his classmates. Takahashi is concerned though: "He has been extremely involved for the last month. I worry whether he has the stamina to take that pace much longer."
Ishihara has firm support from his fellow classmates at Hitotsubashi, including Takahashi. They regularly get together as the Showa 31 Society. Among them are Iwao Toriumi, president of Marubeni Co., and former Economic Planning Agency director general Sumiko Takahara, chairman of the professional baseball league, the Central League. Takahashi and Ishihara went cruising together with their families for a week in the Mediterranean in 1994. Since then, the four families and other classmates go on a journey every year.
Ishihara picked Soji Suzuki, his junior in the university and president of Japan Risk Management Research Institute, to serve as counselor. Suzuki, a core member of the Hitotsubashi Study Group, which Ishihara leads, was connected with the publication of Ishihara's recent book, Declaration of War, the Japanese Economy that Can Say No.
Beside the Hitotsubashi personal connections, Ishihara is close to Ryo Iida, senior advisor to Secom Co., who was a classmate in Shonan Junior High School under the old system of education. He and Rikuzo Suzuki, president of Sazaby Inc., have known each other from the time before he sat in the Diet. He met Suzuki when both were high school students. They got to know each other through yachting. When Ishihara ran in 1968 for an upper-house seat, Suzuki helped his election campaign.
Former secretaries, dubbed "Ishihara's six magistrates," who worked for Ishihara, when he served in the Lower House, managed the recent Tokyo gubernatorial race. One of them is Takeo Hamauzu. Ishihara proposed his name as vice governor to the special meeting of the Tokyo assembly on May 10. But the assembly decided to carry the decision over to its session in June. So Ishihara appointed him special assistant.
Former construction minister Shizuka Kamei has praised politician Ishihara by saying, "He is a genius in a sense. However, he was unable to use the full range of his abilities in the Diet at Nagata-cho where politicians are required to build murky personal connections."
Kamei has followed the activities of Ishihara until 1995 when Ishihara resigned from the Diet in such contexts as the late Ichiro Nakagawa group and the policy study group known as the Reimei-kai. Although the Metropolitan Assembly's LDP members have taken a confrontational stand against Ishihara, Kamei has urged him to fulfill his pledge by facing them head on.
Yasushi Tanahashi, president of Aviation Promotion Foundation (advisor to Nippon Freight Railway Company), called on him during March to April to give him the advice: "You will probably win the race. But it will be difficult for you after that." Ishihara replied: "I think so, too." Tanahashi served as director general of the Minister's Secretariat when Ishihara was transport minister.
Looking at his personal network in literary circles, critic Jun Eto was his junior by one year at the Shonan Junior High School, under the old education system. In 1955, when Ishihara made his literary debut by publishing his first book Taiyo no Kisetsu (Age of the Sun), Eto published his first book of literary criticism on Soseki Natsume. Since then, Eto has made freely reviewed Ishihara's works, while feeling an empathy toward them. Whenever Ishihara meets Eto, he always tells him, "Thanks to Yukio Mishima and Eto, I continue to write books."
Admiring Ishihara's books, Toru Kenjo, president of the publishing company Togensha, once called on Ishihara and made him promise to write essays for his magazine. He was fascinated by his frankness.
Religion has been a major element of support for Ishihara from physically and spiritually. In particular, he has maintained close relations with the Reiyuukai since his first run for an upper-house seat when that religious sect supported him. Naoyuki Otsubo, president of the publishing company Inner-Trip, 100 percent owned by the Reiyuukai, joined that sect influenced by Ishihara.
Otsubo, who has been on friendly terms with Ishihara for 40 years, guesses Ishihara's mind: "The teaching of Myoohorenge-kyo (Lotus Sutra) has supported him, namely, that each individual taking action on his own wields great saving power."
Major personal networks of Governor Ishihara
[Hitotsubashi
University]
Hiroshi Takahashi (president, Yusen Air and Sea Service)
Toru Toriumi (president, Marubeni)
Sukenari Ito (chairman, Nippon Life Insurance)
Hiroshi Saito (advisor to Nippon Steel)
Kazuo Suzuki (advisor to Toppan Printing)
Hiroshi Okuda (president, Toyota Motor)
[Koji Omi, LDP member]
[Sumiko Takahara, chairperson, Central League]
[Shonan Junior High
School]
Ryo Iida (top advisor to Secom)
Rikuzo Suzuki (president, Sazaby Inc.)
[Hitotsubashi
Research Institute]
Soji Suzuki (president, Japan Risk Management Research Institute)
Shu [?] Ichikawa (president, Ichikawa Associates)
Seiroku Kajiyama
Koji Omi
[Reimei Forum]
Shizuka Kamei
Takeo Hiranuma
Eiichi Nakao
Shoichi Nakagawa
Koki Kobayashi
[Overseas]
Aquino (ex-president, the Philippines)
Mahathir (prime minister, Malaysia)
[Transport Ministry]
Yasushi Tanahashi (president, Aviation Promotion Foundation)
[Religious circle]
Naoyuki Otsubo (president, Inner-Trip)
[Ex-secretaries]
Takeo Hamauzu (special secretary)
Jun Iwasaki (producer, Ishihara Promotion)
Shigeru Hyodo (sales manager, Kodensha)
Matashiko Imaoka (deputy chief, Promotion Bureau, Tokyo Agency)
Toshiki Kurihara (sales manager, Kajima)
Shosaku Takahashi (president, Heisei Construction)
(99060104kn)
(2) Jiji Kokkoku column: Tokyo Governor Ishihara inspects
"Yokota" to realize his election-campaign pledge; Also meets with
heads of municipalities
ASAHI (Page 3) (Excerpts) June 3, 1999
Will it end up as a mere performance? Or will it spark the central government to take action? On June 2, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, as part of his efforts to realize his election-campaign pledge to have the base "returned" or turned into "a joint-use airport by the military and the private sector," visited the United States forces' Yokota Air Base. The central government is indifferent toward the governor's move because it thinks what he is doing is "beyond the governor's authority" and "unrealistic." In the meantime, strong objections to a joint-use proposal have been voiced by those localities that suffer from noise pollution from the base. How is the governor going to pave the way toward realizing his campaign pledge? He appears highly motivated to do so, but for now, his efforts are likely to get nowhere. Anyway, the problem has been raised.
[Tomohiro Oikawa, Noriro Yazu and Yusuke Kigasawa of the City Desk]
"On the part of a local government that has been suffering from base noises for many years, we cannot accept a joint-use plan," said Joichi Kitagawa, mayor of Akishima City during the first meeting between Ishihara and heads of local towns held at Akishima City after Ishihara's inspection of the base and the noise level measuring station. Following him, however, Kotaro Shishida, mayor of Musashi Murayama City who sat two seats away from Kitagawa, noted, "(A joint-use plan) is worth considering if noise levels stay the same."
The meeting was initially set to listen to opinions from heads of municipalities, but at one point, one mayor interrupted another, claiming, "The situation in our area is different from yours." "Differences of temperature" thus came to light.
"Return of the base" had been a taboo topic for these municipalities because their interests have not meshed. In the past the liaison council consisting of five cities and one town repeatedly – more than 120 times – have petitioned the central government and the U.S. forces to cancel flight training and other exercises, but they have never called for "return of the base."
Last month, the town assembly of Mizuho Town, which is located right under flight path of the base, unanimously adopted a resolution to give support to Ishihara's "base return" plan, but "to absolutely oppose a joint-use airport plan." In contrast, Musashi Murayama City and Fussa City express the hopes that there may be an "economic impact from the base."
"After the inspection, I have now realized that (the base) is not fully utilized." "I have confidence in (a joint-use plan)."
Ishihara thus indicated his confidence, meeting the press after the inspection and the meeting with municipalities' heads. And he clarified that the metropolitan government would make a survey of an economic impact and gross noise level and hold a meeting that will be participated in also by heads of municipalities other than those of these five cities and one town.
But it is never easy to "bring to realization his campaign pledge." At the end of May, Ishihara stated, "If public opinion is formed in the backdrop of national request, then the central government will have to take up the matter." But a call for return of the base is not yet widespread in Tokyo as it is in Okinawa.
Since Ishihara took office as governor, the Tokyo metropolitan government has received 15 opinions in connection with the Yokota Air Base from metropolitan residents. Of them, there were three that favored his plan for a joint use of the base by the military and the private sector. In the midst of a serious financial crisis, there is another problem for the metropolitan government. It is how to manage for a huge sum of money for facility maintenance and traffic access maintenance expenses.
In the governor race, Ishihara played up his leadership capabilities under the banner of "fighting with the central government."
"His call for return of the Yokota base is a symbol of such. Taking action as governor can make him attain his first goal. But a detailed strategy to realize it and how to pave the path for that end are yet to be prepared," comments a senior official of the metropolitan government.
(99060303ku)
(3) Return or joint use of Yokota Air Base
difficult
SANKEI (Page 2) (Full) June 3, 1999
Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara yesterday paid a visit to the U.S. Yokota Air Force Base. Return or joint use of the Yokota Air Base has been Governor Ishihara's public pledge. It was natural for the Governor to visit the base to learn the present circumstances firsthand. Upon completing the tour at the base, the Governor let out his impression: "The idea of joint use by Japan and the United States has now taken another step forward." His comment indicated that his proposal for return or joint use of the base was unshakable.
Sitting just 30 kilometers west of Shinjuku, Yokota Air Base (equipped with only one 3,400-meter runway) spreads over 7 million square meters. Governor Ishihara thinks the efficiency of the base is extremely low. He has come up with the idea either to have the base back or to transform it into a third airport with joint use. Misawa Air Force Base in Aomori Prefecture is already dually used and there are similar cases in other countries. Governor Ishihara's argument is strong enough to make us believe that having a third airport in the Tama area, which is not too far from the center of Tokyo, is indeed a good idea. But if we dig deeper into his proposal, we will recognize serious obstacles between his ultimate goal and reality.
Yokota Air Base straddles five cities and one town, and 99 percent of that land is owned by the central government. In addition, the right to carry out diplomatic and security affairs rests with the central government. It is inappropriate for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to call for return of the Yokota Air Base, which has been lent to the U.S. military in accordance with the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. To the U.S. military, Yokota Air Base is the only transport base on mainland Japan. There seems to be no chance that the U.S. military will return that base, which can serve as a substitute for the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa.
Asking for joint use, if not reversion, is farfetched. On average, military aircraft take off from and land at Yokota Air Base 32,000 times annually (125,000 times at Narita Airport). Military airports are not designed for peacetime. They are maintained in a way allowing to display maximum efficiency in emergency situations. During the Vietnam War, Yokota was used to its maximum capacity. In the event of an emergency in areas surrounding Japan, such as the [Korean] Peninsula, or of a large-scale dispute like the Gulf War, military aircraft will again use Yokota Air Base much more frequently.
A dozen or so daily flights already have access to Misawa Air Force Base. Some European military airports with three or four runways are also being used jointly with the private sector. But in the case of a third airport in the Metropolitan area, it has to be able to accommodate more than 100 flights daily. A dispute might block such a large number of flights. Is dual use a realistic approach in view of such a risk? Furthermore, commercial flights will compound noise pollution. Will the local residents accept such a plan?
In terms of aviation administration, return or joint use of the Yokota Air Base must look good to Governor Ishihara, a former transport minister. However, the same approach takes on a different aspect when looked at from a security standpoint.
(99060304st)
(4) War or peace? Obuchi faction takes dual
approach to LDP presidential race; Executive party posts used as bait; Flatter
other factions by reminding them how grateful the faction is for their favors
ASAHI (Page 6) (Excerpts) June 2, 1999
The Obuchi faction in the Liberal Democratic Party has been has been on the move in its drive to get Prime Minister Obuchi reelected (as LDP president). Outstripping former secretary general Koichi Kato and former policy research council chairman Taku Yamasaki, who are also eager to run in the race, the Obuchi faction has obtained support from the Murakami/Kamei faction, Mori faction, and Kono group. Holding 93 members in the faction, the unity of the Obuchi faction is by far the strongest among the LDP factions. The faction, however, lacks strong leaders capable of following Hashimoto and Obuchi as the LDP president. Despite that, the faction has been pushing ahead with a unique strategy by making the most of its strength.
On May 23, 12 executives of the Obuchi and Mori factions and the Kono group – including Tamisuke Watanuki, chairman of the Obuchi faction, Secretary General Yoshiro Mori and former LDP president Yohei Kono -- played golf in Mishima City, Shizuoka Prefecture.
On the golf course, the members confirmed continued support for Prime Minister Obuchi. May 23 happened to be the day when former secretary general Koichi Kato returned home from the United States, where he revealed his enthusiasm to run in the presidential race.
Early in May, Mori had declared that he would totally back Obuchi for his reelection. On May 26, three days after the golf event, Kono revealed his decision to rally around Obuchi. They have been closing in Kato.
It was the Murakami/Kamei faction that had first indicated to back Obuchi in the party. To Masakuni Murakami and Shizuka Kamei, who have their eyes on key party posts, reshuffling top executives after the election is a golden opportunity to join the mainstream in the LDP.
The Obuchi faction excels in taking advantage of such sentiments of other factions. To Murakami, who aims at the Upper House LDP chairmanship, obtaining cooperation of the Obuchi faction that represents more than one-third of the Upper House strength is essential. The Obuchi faction, however, has yet to given the go ahead to "chairman Murakami." "We'll see what we can do after observing how the Murakami/Kamei faction will act in the election," an Obuchi faction executive said.
In tandem with such an offensive strategy, the Obuchi faction has been sending out friendly messages to other factions.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka: Everyone knows that you are the one after Mr. Obuchi. If you run in the upcoming race, the Mori and Murakami/Kamei factions won't just sit back with folded arms. Do you want to destroy your next chance?
Kato: I have been making preparations for the upcoming race. I haven't changed my mind.
Nonaka: Why don't you discontinue preparations?
According to a Kato faction member, the above conversation took place between Nonaka and Kato at a certain Tokyo restaurant around noon on May 28.
No Obuchi faction executive points directly to "Obuchi's reelection without a vote." Yet, evidence suggests that the faction want to block Kato and Yamasaki from running against Obuchi in order for the Obuchi Administration to carry out politics smoothly after the election.
On May 13, Watanuki, Kato, Muraoka and other executives from the two factions met at a restaurant near the Diet building. In the session, looking back on last year's presidential election, the Obuchi faction once again expressed gratitude for the Kato faction's initiative to back Obuchi as the successor to Hashimoto.
Kato did not get the message, and that irritated the Obuchi faction. Nevertheless, it will continue to call for "harmony" in the party.
Behind the Obuchi faction's dual approach lies a serious problem that there is no one in the faction who can become a presidential candidate once Obuchi steps down. Obuchi has to sustain his clout until mid-level members grow into strong leaders capable of running in presidential races. To that end, Obuchi wants to ward off a showdown with Kato and others.
Of the 56 Lower House members in the Obuchi faction, 21 are freshmen as compared with nine in the Mori faction and eight in the Kato faction.
Numbers-oriented expansion policy has resulted in the imbalance makeup of the Obuchi faction.
(99060204st)
(5) All-out policy efforts for maintaining same
staffing levels within companies; Creation of total of 500,000 jobs;
Diversification of vocational training; Strong nature of being emergency refuge
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 3) (Excerpts) June 2, 1999
In the face of the ever-worsening employment situation, the Government has outlined employment measures, which it will finalize on the 11th. The package can roughly be divided into three parts: (1) job creation; (2) enhancement of placement opportunities for unemployed workers; and (3) smooth labor turnover to growing industry sectors. Since many of the proposals require fiscal measures, the compilation of a supplementary budget that features employment measures will likely take the centerstage of the next extraordinary Diet session. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun probes the anticipated impact of employment measures and tasks to be tackled.
A plan that the central government provides special subsidies to local governments that outsource services to the private sector and nonprofit organizations (NPO) has surfaced all of a sudden. The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is now considering a method that allows local governments to judge which services should be outsourced, while receiving fiscal assistance from the central government. According to the proposal, the size of such subsidies would be hundreds of billions of yen. As a result, hundreds of thousand of jobs are expected to be created.
The Education Ministry is looking into a plan to hire on a temporary basis middle-aged to elderly people who have experience of working in the private sector as part-time PC instructors or foreign language teachers at public schools. As part of such a plan, it has the idea of having those who have been members of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers teach English or those who have experience of bringing up children work at kindergartens. Hires of new recruits under this plan would come to around 100,000 at the most.
The LDP will also proceed with deregulation that will promote participation in the nursing-care sector by the private sector. The number of jobs to be created through those measures is expected to reach nearly 500,000.
All these measures are centered on assistance to an army of "involuntary" unemployed, forced out of jobs due to corporate bankruptcies or restructuring. Above all, in order to help middle-aged and elderly breadwinner householders find new jobs, the Government will expand the range of vocational training courses from July so that they can acquire new skills and capability over a long period of time. The period of the payment of unemployed benefits would also be extended.
In addition, conditions for paying allowances from the "special emergency job creation fund," under which subsidies are provided to companies that hire middle-aged and elderly people forced out of jobs due to corporate restructuring, would be eased, if a jobless rate tops a certain set level. Some conditions are set for the payment of allowances from this fund, such as when the national jobless rate exceeds 5.2 percent for three months running. In addition, each area has its own standards for such a payment. Such standards would be eased in a way that will make it easy to pay subsidies in areas with higher jobless rates.
Reform of the employment insurance system, workers' last hope when they lost jobs, will also be included in the package as a mid-term task. Specific measures will be drafted before the end of the year. Due to a sharp increase in recipients of unemployment benefits, the employment insurance system has slipped into the red. A rise in premiums by fiscal 2001 would be inevitable. In order to allay discontent over increased burden, the Government will look into the possibility of raising the state's burden of funding the resources.
Increasing the smooth mobility of the nation's workforce from declining industries to growing ones is the most important area from the mid to long-term perspective, when Japan deals with change in its industrial structure. Taking that up as an issue, the Government will enhance the "special subsidies system to assist middle-aged and elderly workers to switch jobs," under which subsidies are provided to companies that have hired workers from companies with poor business showings. The existing system sets a lower age limit of 45. However, the proposed scheme will back occupation changeovers not only by those in that age bracket but also by those in the age bracket of under 44. The plan aims at assisting 50,000 people within this fiscal year.
The Government plan is to beef up not only corporate subsidies but also an assistance system covering individual workers. As part of such a plan, it will add university and post-graduate courses open to the general public to areas covered by the "educational training subsidies system," which is originally aimed at shouldering 80 percent (maximum upper limit is 200,0000 yen) of training fees individuals attending miscellaneous' schools pay. The aim is to make that system also available to white-collared workers who plan to switch jobs to other sectors.
(99060204yk)
(6) Government plans to use ODA to increase
countries that support whaling, says parliamentary vice agriculture and
fisheries minister
NIHON KEIZAI (Page 7) (Full)
June 3, 1999
In a press conference on June 2 after returning from Grenada, where the annual general meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was just held, Hiroaki Kameya, parliamentary vice minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, revealed a plan for Japan to use its official development assistance (ODA) program as measures to promote fisheries, for example, increasing of the number of countries that favor whaling. Forty countries now are members of the IWC. The vice minister said, "There are at least 10 countries, including countries in the Caribbean Sea, which would support our position." He thus indicated that the government would ask aid-recipient countries to support Japan's views [in the IWC]. His ministry will soon look into specific measures, consulting with the finance and foreign ministries.
(99060304kn)
(7) DPJ starts to discuss emergencies
legislation; Intraparty socialists discontent with party's security policy
platform
SANKEI (Page 2) (Excerpt)
June 2, 1999
The Democratic Party of Japan (Minshuto) held a meeting of its security affairs panel on June 1 to start a discussion of emergencies legislation and territorial defense, which have ever been left untouched in the party's security policy platform. Regarding the issue of emergencies legislation, the party's security policy paper proposes establishing a national security law that features basic principles for emergencies, as well as the cabinet's declaration of "emergency" situations under a defense operation order or otherwise under a situation that is close to it. Additionally, the party's policy statement also proposes having a law clarify [the people's] rights to be constrained during emergencies. In this regard, the policy paper says the party is going to study measures that will preclude any arbitrary infringement on rights. But the party's members deriving from the former socialist party voiced their disapproval.
Outline of the
DPJ's security platform
Following is an outline of the DPJ's security policy platform regarding the nation's security setup:
(1) Japan's defense and defense capability
? It is important for Japan to immediately establish its own system, under which Japan, in principle, is able to deal independently with terrorism, guerrilla activities, and other newly arising threats. We should study legislation against terrorists' and guerrillas' possible violation of Japan's sovereignty or their possible subversive activities.
? It is of urgent necessity for Japan to improve its capability of gathering and analyzing intelligence and taking counteractions. Japan will have to place priority on the task of possessing its own intelligence satellites, as well as the task of fulfilling the [Defense Agency's] intelligence headquarters.
? It is necessary to establish a national security law, which is to have the cabinet declare a state of emergency with the Diet's certain role or engagement and is to stipulate basic principles for emergency situations, and it is also necessary to improve or establish relevant laws.
? Emergencies legislation minimizes damage to the people's lives and assets by giving legal endorsement to the Self-Defense Forces and U.S. forces for their smooth and effective operations in the event of aggression against Japan. Self-Defense Force and other operations must not constrain the people's rights to any unnecessary extent, and the people's rights are to be guaranteed by prescribing in a law rights that could be constrained, thereby preventing any arbitrary infringement on rights.
(2) Japan-U.S. security arrangements
? We are aware that the Japan-U.S. security treaty is the most important pillar of Japan's security policy.
? It is necessary to make a constant review of the U.S. military presence from the aspect of its modality and scale. Particularly, in order to realign and reduce U.S. military bases on Okinawa, we will positively proceed with this approach, including the option of domestic and overseas relocation.
(3) Asia-Pacific security
? We should remain cautious about the Self-Defense Forces' carrying out of independent activities in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding operations for the rescue of Japanese nationals abroad and some other exceptional cases.
(4) United Nations security
? We will make it a basic policy line for Japan to make positive contributions to the international community's maintenance of peace through U.N. peacekeeping operations (PKO). In the case of peacekeeping forces (PKF) as well, the Diet should also start its deliberations in the direction of unfreezing Japan's participation.
(99060204im)
(8) Outline of LDP crisis management team's
interim report
ASAHI (Page 2) (Full)
June 3, 1999
The Liberal Democratic Party's crisis management project team worked out an interim report on June 2 with policy proposals for crisis management. Its main points are as follows:
Actions
against missile launchings
(1) Reflecting and improving the way of coping with ballistic missile launchings
? Introduce intelligence satellites as early as possible.
? Disclose necessary information as soon as possible.
? Make diplomatic efforts to deter launchings.
? Establish an integral intelligence system.
(2) Promoting ballistic missile defense (BMD)
? Make an early decision to introduce BMD systems.
? Study the significance of utilizing early warning satellites.
? Study the scope of intercept missile targets and establish a view regarding correlation between the introduction of equipment and systems to strike enemy missile sites and the Japan-U.S. security alliance, etc.
(3) Controlling human and money traffic to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
Maritime
security
(1) Enhancing the Maritime Safety Agency's capability
? Introduce vessels that can run at 40 knots or faster.
? Lengthen the cruising range of MSA ships.
? Equip MSA ships with 20mm automatic machineguns and bulletproof life jackets.
? Bulletproof bridges, etc.
? Research and develop detection systems.
(2) Enhancing the Maritime Self-Defense Force's capability
? Mount 12.7mm machineguns on MSDF escorts.
? Improve 20mm high-power machineguns.
? Equip MSDF vessels with high-speed boats for on-board inspection and bulletproof life jackets.
(3) Strengthening operational systems
? Study operations to stop and inspect unidentified ships and conduct education and training.
? Strengthen cooperation between the MSA and the MSDF.
Shore security
(1) Necessitating shore security against terrorism and guerrilla activities
(2) Issuing speedy and adequate orders for public security operations
? Make a cabinet decision in advance for certain cases simulated.
? Establish procedures for direct requests to the prime minister or the Defense Agency director general in case of emergency.
(3) Issuing speedy orders for public security operations in the event of situations difficult for police
In conclusion
It is about time to take up emergencies legislation on the political front.
(99060305im)