Aso requests talks with next U.S. president before inauguration

Monday 27th October, 06:16 AM JST

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yosun at 01:45 PM JST - 27th October

It's smart to talk with next U.S. president before inauguration because Aso can probably get some easy promise from a happy new elected! After new president takes office and realize how terrible the mess, George & Wall street left, then he can only think of good old time drinking some beer and ask Japan to share military spending as before.
BBLeo at 01:53 PM JST - 27th October

For such talks perhaps wearing black and white gloves would be recomended and two carpets, one red and one black for welcome. Will both travel on the same plane? Now Japan will be able to judge which one is the best liar.
ThreeTigers at 02:02 PM JST - 27th October

Go for it Aso! Way to being proactive!
some14some at 02:42 PM JST - 27th October

Aso's concerns are genuine & understandable, because both presidential candidates are refering China as 'Rising China' and no mention of Japan.
MissWorldTravel at 02:50 PM JST - 27th October

GW miss world you obviously are new to Jpn or have never been here, sometimes these things are very clear & easy to understand for us gaijin, its the locals that seem to have more difficulty understanding whats going on & why

Its quite the contrary
fatloser at 03:04 PM JST - 27th October

So what is YOUR idea?? Or are you just hurling insults like Mr Aso? Let's hear it , missy!!
timorborder at 03:29 PM JST - 27th October

Aso is working against the clock. If there is an election in Japan in the near future and the LDP does badly (as predicted) he is headed for the high jump. As such, as a four-time failed PM aspirant, he is seizing his short time at the top to try and lay down some sort of legacy. As it is, the guy has a serious complex about his grandfather (Japan's greatest postwar Prime Minister) and Taro is trying to do something to leave his own small mark on the Japanese political landscape. Whether he will be succesful or not is another issue.

With regard to the US-Japan Alliance, although the ship of state is sailing along with no real problems, I think some people in Washington are getting a bit fed up regarding the revolving door to the PMs office here in Japan. Koizumi was somebody who Washington could work with. Abe and Fukuda were non-entities (Fukuda was also difficult because of his traditional friendly attitude regarding China). Washington wants somebody they can trust, and somebody who will be around for more than a year. Aso probably doesn't foot the bill, however, because of his grandfather he still has an interesting book of contacts within the Washington establishment.

On the other hand, from the Japanese side of things, Japan wants the US to address some issues it sees as serious (Washington sometimes does not agree). For one, Japan would like to see Washington keep North Korea at arms' length (and not cut Kim Jong Ill any slack). This is because of the ongoing abduction soap opera and some other issues. Conventional logic is that if Kim does not have to worry about the US, then North Korea might go off on another tangent of trying to destablize the region. Tokyo would like to US to remain firmly focused on the North Korean question.

I also think that Tokyo would like to see the US reign in its deficit problem. Japan (as a country) and Japanese city banks are already stocked to the eyeballs with US T bonds. I don't know how long Japan can keep buying US T bonds at the current rate.
thepro at 03:29 PM JST - 27th October

Yes, MissWorldTravel, us gaijin find it quite difficult to understand the pseudo-democratic-heriditary political system in Japan.
fatloser at 04:02 PM JST - 27th October

MAybe her idea is as vibrant as his idea. Who wants to meet an uncrowned prince?? NOBODY!!
ptolemy at 04:28 PM JST - 27th October

Youre still the gaijin who dont know the details on Japanese politics.

There are no details on Japanese politics, just nepotism , cronyism, and following a prewritten script. Actually, yes, Abe's and Fukuda's failures are Aso's, they all belong to the LDP.
apecNetworks at 05:19 PM JST - 27th October

These are historic times and things are getting interesting.......

Actually, the only way PM Aso can get either Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama to understand his interests is to get one of them into APEC to understand what the Clinton Administration promoted. THEN, that person will understand GEOPOLITICS reallllll quick. I would like to see APEC this year just to see how they are working together, but air travel commercially must be a real pain.
OssanUSA at 02:18 AM JST - 28th October

Aso's concerns are genuine & understandable, because both presidential >candidates are refering China as 'Rising China' and no mention of Japan.

Goes to show how non-up-to-date the candidates are. China's rise just went boom. Now it's going to be a slow slow rise if that, rather than meteoric.
Kimigano2 at 02:33 AM JST - 28th October

If Aso goes to Washington, perhaps. The president elect is a busy person.
Kimigano2 at 02:34 AM JST - 28th October

apecNetworks,

The US is already a member of APEC.
apecNetworks at 04:49 PM JST - 28th October

To Kimigano2,

APEC consists of Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

I know the US is in APEC, and that former Pres. Clinton hosted the initial APEC Forum in the State of Washingtion. My previous statement may be unclear, but I was referring to the two candidates for presidency. The way things work in the US is that a Senator may not know what the actual US Foreign Policy is until he/she steps into the White House - actual situations are "classified". If either of the two Senator's goes to APEC, that person can actually SEE geopolitics, rather than being fed briefs via intelligence. There is a big difference between receiving someone's assessment of geopolitics, and to actually assess geopolitics in-person - no middle person. During the Clinton Administration period, I was being fed sensitive info due to my association w/ APEC. I have tested the info on the internet and, strangely, some of the info have produced a reaction from unusual players/countries - the quality of the info: confidence high.