JAPAN-U.S.: Hashimoto Hopes to Mend Bilateral Ties in U.S. Visit

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Feb 21 1996 (IPS) - Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto hopes to focus on security and bilateral ties when he meets U.S. President Bill Clinton Friday, but analysts say the contentious issues of trade and U.S. bases are bound to come up in the talks.

This is Hashimoto’s first overseas trip since taking office in January. During his last visit to Washington as trade minister last year, Hashimoto displayed sharp bargaining skills and stood up to U.S. negotiators in their auto trade dispute.

Officials in Tokyo say this week’s three-day visit is a chance for Hashimoto to mend bilateral relations soured by the auto trade row and build close personal ties with Clinton before the U.S. leader comes to Japan in April.

But this may be easier said than done, say Tokyo-based analysts. Hashimoto’s sudden decision to visit Washington just prior to his scheduled meeting with Clinton reflects the delicate state of Japan-U.S. ties, says political commentator Minoru Tada.

Tokyo and Washington have long been at odds over a number of trade issues. They have to discuss the future of their agreement on semiconductor trade, which is due to expire in July.

The Japanese argue that U.S.-made products now account for a quarter of the total share on the market since the agreement was signed a decade ago, and want the agreement to end.

Another irritant in bilateral ties is the continued presence of U.S. military facilities in Japan. There have been increasing calls for the closure of bases in Okinawa since the alleged rape of a Japanese girl by U.S. servicemen stationed in the south- western island last year.

Political observers see Hashimoto’s decision to go to Washington as a bid to come up with a new strategy on the Japan- U.S. security pact which endorses Asia’s largest U.S. military contingent to be stationed in Japan.

For Hashimoto, the major challenge is how he, aware of the role of the U.S.-Japan security treaty in the post-Cold War era, can persuade the U.S. administration to heed the Okinawan people’s calls for a reduced military presence on their island, wrote the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper.

The Japanese premier now faces the daunting task of redefining the security alliance which links his country to the world’s only remaining superpower.

Japanese defence officials are keen to keep the U.S. military bases in Japan but in deference to public sentiment, they have been forced to consider a plan to reduce the their presence.

Defence officials maintain that security ties must be firm because the link forms a buffer to the economic problems that strain Japan’s relations with the United States.

They say the security pact is also important for the United States to protect its military stature in Asia.

To a certain extent, the security arrangement also somehow sets a limit to Japan-bashing, defence officials say, citing Asian nations’ lingering suspicions of Japan which colonised much of the region during World War II.

The Security Pact, signed between the two countries in 1963 at the height of the Cold War, forms the backbone of the bilateral alliance.

Japan’s security was protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, allowing the country to rebuild its economy after the war.

But with the loss of the Soviet threat in the post-Cold War period, U.S. experts are pointing out the pact has in fact upset the balance in Asia.

The pact, which tips the balance of power in Asia heavily in Japan’s favour, could ironically generate potentially explosive conflicts in the region, some U.S. defence officials say.

These officials are urging Clinton to expand the bilateral alliance into a regionwide security organisation that recognises each participant’s economic and technology interests as well as its legitimate military concerns.

But senior Japanese officials and politicians want the process to develop slowly.

A major concern for Tokyo is a possible territorial feud with neighbours South Korea and China, with which it has conflicting claims to islands in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea ratified by the Japanese parliament this week.

The North Korean threat in East Asia is another issue that Japan is not ready to face alone. Defence experts say this is one of the major reasons why the Japanese government is keen to strengthen its security alliance with Washington.