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China hawk takes over as Japanese FM
September 18, 2010, Saturday
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A SECURITY expert and China hawk, Japan's new foreign minister has already taken a tough stance toward China amid escalating diplomatic tension over a ship collision in East China Sea.
Seiji Maehara, the former transport minister and most prominent symbol of change in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's new Cabinet announced yesterday, will also become the point man for Japan on the nettlesome issue of relocating a controversial US Marine base on Okinawa.
The Cabinet reshuffle comes after Kan, a fiscal disciplinarian who took office just three months ago, won a divisive Democratic Party leadership election on Tuesday and promised to use his victory to push ahead with efforts to cap spending, create jobs and build party unity.
Kan retained the ministers for the key Cabinet posts of finance and defense, but changed 10 of the 17 positions.
Maehara takes over the Foreign Ministry at a delicate time in relations between China and Japan. Tensions have flared over the collision last week of a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese patrol vessels near Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
China has harshly criticized Japan's arrest of the fishing boat captain, saying it could hurt bilateral ties, while Japan has defended its right to hold him as they decide whether to charge him with "obstructing the coast guard's duties."
Maehara, a telegenic 48-year-old, has taken a strong stance, saying China's claims to the islands are "illegitimate."
"Territorial problems do not exist in the East China Sea," he told a news conference on Tuesday, when he was still transport minister. "We will simply take a rigid and resolute response in order to firmly defend Japan's 'sovereignty,' while we take strict measures based on our domestic law. It's as simple as that."
On Thursday, Maehara flew to southern Ishigaki island, where the arrested Chinese captain is being detained. He inspected patrol boats and visited coast guard personnel to praise their efforts to seize the captain.
Maehara has been known to warn against China's military presence in the region, saying in a 2005 speech to fellow members of parliament that "We can control (China's) expansion in its force only if we act firmly and resolutely."
Sees threat
He has called China "a threat," saying that the country has developed missiles capable of reaching Japan and conducted maritime surveys around the "Japanese waters." He has also said that deciding whether to establish friendly relations with China would be "Japan's major diplomatic test."
An expert in defense and diplomatic issues, Maehara has served on parliamentary and party panels on the US-Japan security alliance and other military and strategic issues. He made a splash soon after becoming transport minister last fall by suspending a massive dam project that the Democrats considered a prime example of wasteful public works spending under the long-ruling conservatives.
Seiji Maehara, the former transport minister and most prominent symbol of change in Prime Minister Naoto Kan's new Cabinet announced yesterday, will also become the point man for Japan on the nettlesome issue of relocating a controversial US Marine base on Okinawa.
The Cabinet reshuffle comes after Kan, a fiscal disciplinarian who took office just three months ago, won a divisive Democratic Party leadership election on Tuesday and promised to use his victory to push ahead with efforts to cap spending, create jobs and build party unity.
Kan retained the ministers for the key Cabinet posts of finance and defense, but changed 10 of the 17 positions.
Maehara takes over the Foreign Ministry at a delicate time in relations between China and Japan. Tensions have flared over the collision last week of a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese patrol vessels near Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea.
China has harshly criticized Japan's arrest of the fishing boat captain, saying it could hurt bilateral ties, while Japan has defended its right to hold him as they decide whether to charge him with "obstructing the coast guard's duties."
Maehara, a telegenic 48-year-old, has taken a strong stance, saying China's claims to the islands are "illegitimate."
"Territorial problems do not exist in the East China Sea," he told a news conference on Tuesday, when he was still transport minister. "We will simply take a rigid and resolute response in order to firmly defend Japan's 'sovereignty,' while we take strict measures based on our domestic law. It's as simple as that."
On Thursday, Maehara flew to southern Ishigaki island, where the arrested Chinese captain is being detained. He inspected patrol boats and visited coast guard personnel to praise their efforts to seize the captain.
Maehara has been known to warn against China's military presence in the region, saying in a 2005 speech to fellow members of parliament that "We can control (China's) expansion in its force only if we act firmly and resolutely."
Sees threat
He has called China "a threat," saying that the country has developed missiles capable of reaching Japan and conducted maritime surveys around the "Japanese waters." He has also said that deciding whether to establish friendly relations with China would be "Japan's major diplomatic test."
An expert in defense and diplomatic issues, Maehara has served on parliamentary and party panels on the US-Japan security alliance and other military and strategic issues. He made a splash soon after becoming transport minister last fall by suspending a massive dam project that the Democrats considered a prime example of wasteful public works spending under the long-ruling conservatives.
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