Japan opposition win could introduce new uncertainty in US ties
Sunday, 30 August 2009
WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (AP): A projected landslide victory this weekend for Japan's opposition party could introduce new uncertainty into a relationship the United States has long relied on to anchor its security interests in Asia.
The Obama administration will be watching closely how the Democratic Party of Japan, or DPJ, will govern should it gain power after Sunday's election.
Opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama, who probably would become prime minister, has pushed for his country to be more independent from Washington and closer to Asia. The DPJ has questioned a major realignment of US forces in Japan, close ties with the United States and continuing Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of US forces in Afghanistan.
"As a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of US-led globalism is coming to an end," Hatoyama wrote this week in The New York Times. But he also predicted that the United States, though declining in influence, "will remain the world's leading military and economic power for the next two to three decades."
While a DPJ victory could cause new tensions with Washington, it would be unlikely to destroy the foundation of an alliance forged after Japan's defeat in World War II. Hatoyama also has said that he would not seek radical change in Japan's foreign policy, and the US-Japan alliance would "continue to be the cornerstone of Japanese diplomatic policy."
The United States is Japan's military protector in a dangerous region, with more than 50,000 troops stationed in the country, and its biggest trading partner. Also, the rhetoric of an opposition party fighting to oust an incumbent from power often changes when that party is faced with the realities of governing.
"It was one thing for the opposition party to take opportunistic partisan shots at the government for supporting the United States in the war on terror or paying for US bases, but it is quite another to put the alliance at risk when in power," Michael Green, a White House Asia adviser during the George W Bush administration, said in an interview posted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, where he is an analyst.
But he said a DPJ victory could cause confusion in Washington and Tokyo "as the DPJ decides what it actually stands for in power."
The Obama administration will be watching closely how the Democratic Party of Japan, or DPJ, will govern should it gain power after Sunday's election.
Opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama, who probably would become prime minister, has pushed for his country to be more independent from Washington and closer to Asia. The DPJ has questioned a major realignment of US forces in Japan, close ties with the United States and continuing Japan's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of US forces in Afghanistan.
"As a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of US-led globalism is coming to an end," Hatoyama wrote this week in The New York Times. But he also predicted that the United States, though declining in influence, "will remain the world's leading military and economic power for the next two to three decades."
While a DPJ victory could cause new tensions with Washington, it would be unlikely to destroy the foundation of an alliance forged after Japan's defeat in World War II. Hatoyama also has said that he would not seek radical change in Japan's foreign policy, and the US-Japan alliance would "continue to be the cornerstone of Japanese diplomatic policy."
The United States is Japan's military protector in a dangerous region, with more than 50,000 troops stationed in the country, and its biggest trading partner. Also, the rhetoric of an opposition party fighting to oust an incumbent from power often changes when that party is faced with the realities of governing.
"It was one thing for the opposition party to take opportunistic partisan shots at the government for supporting the United States in the war on terror or paying for US bases, but it is quite another to put the alliance at risk when in power," Michael Green, a White House Asia adviser during the George W Bush administration, said in an interview posted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, where he is an analyst.
But he said a DPJ victory could cause confusion in Washington and Tokyo "as the DPJ decides what it actually stands for in power."