| They'll be the first Democrats to do so ... |
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's main opposition party, which until recently touted plans to stand up to the United States and form closer ties in Asia, is taking a more pragmatic line toward Tokyo's top ally ahead of a likely election victory. That should help ease concerns about any possible upset in the relationship, under which Japan has for decades kept in lockstep with the United States on security policy in return for the shelter of its "nuclear umbrella."
| Needed now more than ever because of the crazy Norks. Japan has figured out that dissing the US right now just isn't a smart move. |
Analysts say the change in emphasis by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) is both a bid to avoid alienating voters ahead of the August 30 poll and a sign of a new realism as it confronts a growing probability of taking power.
"The stage is completely different now," said Yukio Okamoto, a former diplomat now of think tank Okamoto Associates.
"They have to really, realistically think about what they are going to do," he added. "The line they have been insisting on so far is untenable, unsustainable in the face of the stark realities of the world security situation."
The long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has made the U.S.-Japan alliance the core of its diplomatic and security policies since the end of World War Two, and has stretched the limits of its pacifist constitution, often at U.S. urging. In an effort to erode the rival Democrats' lead in opinion polls, the LDP has repeatedly accused opposition leaders of lacking the experience to handle growing regional threats.
North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May, following what Pyongyang said was the launch of a rocket, which passed over a nervous Japan. China's rapidly rising military might is another constant concern for Japan, whose defense budget has been sliding for seven years.
"In the midst of that, your security policy is 'let's distance ourselves from our ally of the past 50 years and embark on a new security policy'? It's a no-brainer that you back away from that," said Brad Glosserman of Hawaii-based think tank Pacific Forum CSIS. "Essentially, what the DPJ wants to do at this point is eliminate every reason that voters have for not voting for them."
| Then again, the DPJ could be borrowing a page from US Democrats -- lie their way to power ... |
Democratic Party leaders have long stressed that they will keep the U.S. alliance at the center of Japan's security policy, but their plans to challenge the current consensus on a range of issues could cause friction. Former party leader Ichiro Ozawa sparked criticism in February, for example, when he said that most of the 47,000 U.S. troops based in Japan were not needed.
| That's actually true. We could bring most of them to Guam or elsewhere, but even then the DPJ isn't satisfied, because ... |
The DPJ has also attacked an agreement to move 8,000 U.S. Marines from the southern island of Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam, because of the high costs involved for Japan.
Under Ozawa's successor, Yukio Hatoyama, the party is now distancing itself from promises to call an immediate halt to a refueling mission in support of U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan. The DPJ has in the past delayed legislation enabling the mission, saying it was a breach of Japan's pacifist constitution. Ozawa publicly snubbed a personal request from then-U.S. ambassador Thomas Schieffer in 2007 to back it. |