Fukuda, on Eve of Visit, Stresses U.S. Relations
By Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
TOKYO, Nov. 13 -- Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda affirmed on Monday the singular importance of Japan's alliance with the United States, but also made it clear that his government's reach in global security affairs would not be as expansive as the Bush administration wants.
In an interview with The Washington Post, Fukuda, who this week will make his first foreign visit as prime minister to Washington to meet with President Bush, said that Japan-U.S. relations are the "very foundation" of his foreign policy.
Yet in prepared remarks to begin the interview, Fukuda carefully narrowed the main focus of his government's foreign policy to Asia, particularly North Korea and China. "I believe the heaviest responsibility for Japan is to see to it that there is stability and prosperity in Asia," he said.
On a visit to Tokyo last week, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urged Fukuda's government to raise its sights considerably. Japan should shoulder "global security responsibilities" commensurate with its wealth and military strength, he said.
"There are a number of international peacekeeping and other activities where we believe Japan could play a constructive role," he added.
Asked about these comments, Fukuda said that Gates "did not exactly say that Japan should engage in international or global activity."
Fukuda added that, in any case, international operations by Japan's military forces are constitutionally limited. Japan's pacifist constitution was drafted by the United States during its postwar occupation of Japan.
In the interview, Fukuda also put distance between his government and the Bush administration on the issue of North Korea and its nuclear weapons program.
In recent months, tension between the United States and North Korea has eased, as the government of Kim Jong Il has promised to disclose, disable and eventually dismantle its nuclear facilities. In return, the Bush administration has offered fuel assistance and said it would move toward removing North Korea from a list of states that sponsor terrorism.
Japan, though, has remained somewhat distant from this process. Last month, Fukuda's cabinet voted to extend economic sanctions against North Korea for another six months.
"We do not take exception to the substance" of U.S. dealings with North Korea, Fukuda said. Still, he said, "the existence of North Korean nuclear weapons is a greater threat to Japan than to the United States. So naturally we cannot remain indifferent to that. We are, of course, greatly concerned."
Fukuda, 71, was chosen by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party to lead Japan seven weeks ago, after the abrupt resignation of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe.
Abe's government was mired, at the time, in a parliamentary stalemate over a Japanese naval mission in the Indian Ocean to refuel warships taking part in military operations in Afghanistan.
That stalemate has continued, all but paralyzing Fukuda's government. With an opposition party firmly in control of the upper house of parliament, Fukuda could not renew the law that authorized the refueling mission.
Two weeks ago, the law expired, the mission ended and the ships sailed home. The United States has strongly urged Japan to renew the law and send the tankers back.
Fukuda said his visit to Washington, where he is scheduled to meet with Bush on Friday, is intended to affirm that "many Japanese, not just myself, think that U.S.-Japan relations are by far the most important and most valuable" component of Japan's foreign policy.
As for the refueling operation that is Japan's primary contribution to the war in Afghanistan, Fukuda said that "we have no option but to persist" in trying to push a continuation through parliament.
"I regret very much that there are political parties in Japan that are opposed to a law that enables Japan to engage in that activity," he said.
Fukuda was referring to the Democratic Party of Japan. Ten days ago, he invited that opposition party to join his government in a grand coalition, but he was immediately rebuffed.
In the interview, Fukuda gave the impression his enthusiasm for the Indian Ocean mission had been dampened by skeptical public opinion in Japan.
"There are quite a few people in Japan who doubt the effectiveness" of the refueling mission, he said. For nearly six years, it has supplied fuel to vessels from the United States, Pakistan and 10 other countries.
"Many of these people might be wondering where these operations are taking us. How many years is it going to be before the situation is settled?" he said.
Fukuda said that since his government is constrained by law in the deployment of military forces outside Japan, he would like to step up overseas involvement in other areas, including development assistance to poor countries and helping nations solve environmental problems.
Many people here think Japan's most pressing problem is domestic, not foreign -- a declining birthrate that is sapping population numbers. U.N. forecasts say the country's population of 127 million, which started to decline last year, could shrink by 25 million by 2050.
In the interview, Fukuda acknowledged the problem and said that a significant factor in Japan's low birthrate was a "traditional mentality" that penalizes working mothers. "In comparison with other countries, Japan is a society where it is more difficult to bear a child or raise a child," he said.
Fukuda's diagnosis of the issue was far more detailed than his prescription for what to do about it.
He declined to say whether his government planned any major child-care initiatives, such as have been implemented in France and other European countries, that would make it more psychologically and financially attractive for working women to have children.
"I think over time this problem of declining birthrate will improve gradually," he said.
Special correspondent Akiko Yamamoto contributed to this report.
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