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Keizo Nabeshima
COMMENTARY
Feb 29, 2000
No backtracking allowed
The peace-treaty talks between Japan and Russia are off to a fresh start because Boris Yeltsin suddenly resigned as Russian president at the end of last year. Yeltsin had agreed at a Russo-Japanese summit meeting in 1997 that the two nations should "strive" to sign a long-pending peace pact by the end...
COMMENTARY
Feb 11, 2000
Diet imbroglio over at last
The Diet returned to normal Feb. 9, two weeks after the opposition forces started boycotting all proceedings to protest against the ruling bloc's handling of a controversial bill to reduce Diet seats. The turmoil started when the three-party governing coalition passed the bill for cutting Lower House...
COMMENTARY
Jan 31, 2000
Let the great debate begin
The Diet is finally launching debate on constitutional issues, breaking a long-standing political taboo. As the ordinary Diet session opened Jan. 20, both houses created panels to conduct the first parliamentary debate on the pros and cons of constitutional amendments. All political parties will take...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2000
Cut U.S. military presence
Japan faces intense pressure to settle uncertainties regarding the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps heliport now at the Futenma Air Station in Okinawa before July, when it hosts a Group of Eight summit. Unless the problems are settled by then, U.S. President Bill Clinton is likely to face a firestorm...
COMMENTARY
Jan 3, 2000
Building peace in a new era
As we greet the new millennium, we should ask ourselves what Japan should do to contribution to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, establish military and nonmilitary security, help solve global problems and prevent conflicts.
COMMENTARY
Aug 31, 1999
ODA helps Japan, the world
Medium-term policy guidelines for Official Development Assistance, announced by the government Aug. 10, set the standards for implementing Japan's ODA between 1999 and 2003. The guidelines place emphasis on aid to Asian countries to help them implement structural reforms aimed at solving their economic...
COMMENTARY
Jul 13, 1999
Break deadlock on base issues
U.S. President Bill Clinton expressed hope June 25 that all pending issues concerning U.S. military bases in Okinawa, including the issue of the Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, will be resolved before he attends a Group of Eight summit there in July 2000. "I don't want to go over there and have all...
COMMENTARY
Jun 29, 1999
Japan presses Asia's agenda
In a strong warning to North Korea, the Group of Eight leaders who met in Cologne, Germany, earlier this month said in a declaration that they "are deeply concerned about recent missile flight tests and developments in missile proliferation, such as actions by North Korea."
COMMENTARY
May 28, 1999
A step in the right direction
Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi agreed with U.S. and South Korean officials in Tokyo Monday on the need to continue trilateral cooperation in their policies toward North Korea. It is highly significant that Obuchi's agreement with U.S. policy coordinator William Perry and South Korean Unification Minister...
COMMENTARY
Apr 20, 1999
Last gasp for political parties?
The raison d'etre of established parties is in serious doubt following their serious setbacks in the April 11 local elections. A case in point was Shintaro Ishihara's overwhelming victory in the Tokyo gubernatorial election. Ishihara, a former lawmaker of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, now running...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 1999
In the wake of the spy boats
Two North Korean spy boats disguised as trawlers recently intruded deep into Japanese territorial waters in the Sea of Japan. This was the second incident to have heightened tension between Tokyo and Pyongyang since last August, when a Taepodong ballistic missile test-fired by North Korea flew over northern...
COMMENTARY
Mar 23, 1999
Strategies for a secure Japan
Diet has finally begun debating the enabling bills for the Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines, almost a year after the government sent them to the legislature last April. How the debate will develop in the weeks ahead has an important bearing on the security environment of Asia, including the...
COMMENTARY
Feb 23, 1999
Small weapons, big problems
The major challenge for post-Cold War disarmament negotiations on conventional weapons is to devise ways of controlling machine guns, automatic rifles and other small arms. Those are main weapons used in civil wars in Asia, Africa and Central America. To tackle the challenge, the U.N. Group of Governmental...

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