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On April 10, DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa met with a bipartisan delegation from the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee, consisting of Senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham and Amy Klobuchar. The two sides exchanged opinions on foreign affairs, security and economic issues. The meeting was also attended by Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama for the DPJ.
At the start of the meeting, Ozawa welcomed the delegation, saying that they had visited Japan at the best time of year, when the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. In response, Senator McCain mentioned seeing the avenue of cherries along Chidorigafuchi, commenting that “it was a very impressive sight.” Ozawa commented that McCain looked very well and did not seem to be tired following the hard Presidential campaign, adding, “I would be delighted to have this opportunity to hear your opinion on a variety of issues.”
During the meeting, Ozawa referred to the misconception, held by a section of opinion within the United States, that the election of a DPJ government would cause the Japan-US relationship to falter, allaying US concerns by saying, “If we take power, I am confident that we can be a far more trustworthy partner for the United States than the LDP.”
Ozawa went on to comment on the bilateral relationship, emphasising, “We must create a closer relationship in the areas of both politics and economics.” With regard to the economic relationship, he expressed his intention of strengthening relations by establishing a bilateral free trade mechanism through the speedy signing of an FTA.
With regard to the issue of North Korea, McCain revealed that China had no intention of imposing severe sanctions on the North, and pointed out that considering this, it was important to further strengthen the Japan-US relationship. Ozawa commented that if instability in the Far East were to worsen, there was a risk that it could trigger even more global confusion than that caused by the situation in the Middle East. In view of this fact, Ozawa stated that it was necessary to create a stronger relationship of trust with China, saying, “The most important theme for Japan and the United States to work together on is the democratization and stabilization of China.”
Ozawa also commented frankly on the plans announced by the Obama administration to increase the numbers of US troops in Afghanistan, saying, “Afghanistan cannot be governed by military force. Military force can be used to overthrow governments, but it cannot be used to govern people. Therefore I cannot agree to this proposal.”
With regard to the current economic and financial problems, Ozawa said, “The most important thing first of all is for each country to revitalise their economy.” He explained that the distribution of corporate profits and the direction of government spending should be to effect direct improvements in people’s lives and stressed revising the structure for redistribution of income in order to increase the public’s purchasing power was a basic policy for the DPJ, saying: “If corporate profits are not linked to improvements in people’s lives, consumers’ purchasing power will not increase. The DPJ believes that it is necessary to create a structure to reduce inequalities and increase purchasing power and has produced policies accordingly.”
McCain offered words of encouragement for the forthcoming general election, to which Ozawa responded cheerfully, and the meeting finished on a congenial note.
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