As the Election Day dust settles in Washington, foreign governments are watching closely to see what will change.Japan is no exception. Arguably, for Japan and Asia as a whole (with the potential exception of congressional retaliation aimed at China), the impact will mainly be felt in its impact on how the Bush administration conducts foreign …
Month: November 2006
An end to openness?
Obviously the biggest stories of the day -- pretty much all around the world -- are the Democratic majorities in the House and the Senate and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's resignation.I gave my take on the former yesterday, in this post, but I want to call attention to comments on the election over at …
The importance of Henry Paulson
So the Democrats reclaim the House. And the Senate remains within reach, with results from two races pending.There's not much I can say about this that isn't being said elsewhere, but what I will say is that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson may now be the most important man in the Bush administration, if not in …
A changing US-Japan alliance?
Meanwhile in the midst of the nuclear weapons flap, two senior US State Department officials were in Tokyo for meetings with Foreign Minister Aso. Nicholas Burns, undersecretary of state for political affairs, and Robert Joseph, undersecretary for arms control and international security, met with Mr. Aso to continue alliance coordination in response to the DPRK's …
The Yomiuri Shimbun weighs in
Having already written at length on the nuclear debate once today, I still feel the need to comment on the Yomiuri Shimbun's editorial today (in Japanese) -- 「議論すら封じるのはおかしい」 (roughly, "It is laughable to even try to stifle the discussion."The Yomiuri argues, as I have elsewhere, that the debate is less about nuclear weapons and more …
The nuclear debate "fallout" continues to spread
Quite a bit has happened in the intervening days since Mr. Nikai called for restraint. As I expected, it seems that the "loose lips" of Mr. Aso and Mr. Nakagawa have led to greater outrage from other parties and more calls for prudence from LDP senior officials.First, as this article in the Asahi Shimbun reports, …
Continue reading The nuclear debate "fallout" continues to spread
Pre-election doubt
I said that I would try to limit my discussion of American politics, but I read a few pieces today upon which I couldn't resist commenting.First, in the FT Alan Beattie writes about American attitudes towards globalization, noting that despite the common perception that Americans are much more tolerant than Europeans of the "negative" consequences …
Nuclear "indiscretion" causing problems for Abe?
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports today that Nikai Toshiro, head of the LDP's Diet Strategy Committee (国会対策委員会, kokkai taisaku iinkai, usually abbreviated as 国対, kokutai), publicly cautioned Foreign Minister Aso Taro and LDP Policy Affairs Research Council chief Nakagawa Shoichi to exercise "prudence" in their remarks on Japan's acquiring nuclear weapons.The source of this comment is …
Continue reading Nuclear "indiscretion" causing problems for Abe?
North Korea as schoolyard bully
North Korea has demanded that Japan be excluded from the next round of six-party talks, to be held in Beijing sometime before the end of the year. What did Japan do to deserve Pyongyang's scorn? Well, aside from colonizing Korea during the first half of the twentieth century, Japan is guilty of having questions about …
Nukaga calls for Japanese cruise missiles
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports (article in Japanese) that former JDA Director-General Nukaga Fukushiro gave a talk at a Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation) symposium on North Korea's nuclear test and East Asian security. In his remarks, Mr. Nukaga asked: "If North Korea decided to use force and fired a Nodong at Japan, which American warships …
Tobias S. Harris 