On January 21, DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama issued the following statement on the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

On January 20 (the early hours of January 21 Japan time) Barack H. Obama of the Democratic Party was inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States of America. We would like to express our sincere congratulations to the new President, as well as our hope that he will use his abilities to the full as the new world leader.

The new administration is confronted with a whole range of problems, including the financial and economic crisis generated by the sub-prime loan fiasco, the continuing fight against terror in Afghanistan, the Iraq war, the increasingly confused situation in the Middle East, and the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, as well as global warming and poverty. The Japan-US relationship is our most important bilateral relationship, and under such circumstances, both countries must strive to engage in closer cooperation. On the other hand, certain causes for concern for Japan, such as North Korean policy, and the question of the realignment of US military forces in Japan, also exist.

Our party will recognise the Japan-US Alliance as the lynchpin of our country’s security policy, create an equal relationship of mutual trust between Japan and the United States, and aim to establish a Japan-US Alliance for a new era. To this end, we will create an independent foreign policy strategy for our nation, and in addition to making Japan’s position clear, when it comes to the international community we are prepared to make a division of roles with the United States and to actively fulfil our responsibilities. Instead of the policy taken by the LDP of simply following behind the US, we would like to engage in a frank and open dialogue, establish an equal partnership and create a more robust Japan-US relationship.

President Obama has already announced his plan for a “Green New Deal” that will channel investment intensively into the environmental and energy fields, and lead to economic recovery and job creation. Our party will not rely upon the economic recovery of the United States, but will actively proceed with two policies to maintain overall demand, namely an “Environmental New Deal” and a “Safety and Security New Deal”, and free ourselves from this unprecedented economic crisis. Furthermore, we hope that President Obama will exercise strong leadership with regard to the problematic issues of climate change, the abolition of nuclear weapons and reform of the United Nations.