A former Japanese diplomat has accused the United States of manipulating Japan since the second world war in order to “eliminate” prime ministers who sought to develop betterrelations with Beijing.

Ukeru Magosaki, who also served as the head of the Foreign Ministry’s Intelligence and Analysis Bureau, has recently written a book that has soared to the top of Japan’s bestseller lists.

The book - Sengoshi no Shotai (The Truth Behind Post-war History) – states that the US will never remove its military bases from Japanese territory, no matter how much public outcry there is.

Magosaki also said he believes that certain factions in the US would even like to see Japan develop nuclear weapons.(to fight Uncle Sam’s war).

“In the book, I divide Japanese leaders into two groups; those who have wanted to pursue independent foreign policies and those who have just followed US instructions and policies,” Magosaki said in Tokyo yesterday.

“Those in the first group were not welcomed by the US government and were usually quickly eliminated from the post of prime minister.”

This was not achieved directly by Washington, he claimed, but through subtle influence over key politicians, the media, government officials and senior executives of major companies.

A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Tokyo declined to comment on the allegations made in Magosaki’s book.

To achieve its control of Japan’s political processes, Washington has interfered with media coverage, encouraged opposition parties, twisted public opinion and even brought down governments by “eliminating” key cabinet members, Magosaki claims.

Two of the Japanese politicians who he claims have been hounded for their independent thoughts have been Yukio Hatoyama, who lasted less then nine months as prime minister until June 2010, and Ichiro Ozawa, whose reputation has been tarnished by a financial scandal and a legal case.

Magosaki believes that had Hatoyama remained in power, the government would not be making moves to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors – shut down in the aftermath of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant – and would not have gone ahead with raising the consumption tax or deploying US military Osprey aircraft to Okinawa.

These issues, along with the ongoing debate over the Diaoyu-Senkaku islands and the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade discussions, are all closely connected with Washington’s global geopolitical interests, Magosaki said.

The US was “encouraging politicians like [national policy minister Seiji] Maehara to take action against China as that has a benefit for the US,” he said.

And while business interests in the US may want closer co-operation with China, the US government was pursuing what Magosaki termed an “offshore balancing strategy” under which neighbouring nations - he named South Korea, the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan – are encouraged to pursue actions to constrain China and its growing regional influence.

“The Senkaku [Diaoyu] issue is part of that strategy,” he said.

“Today, in the US, there are some people who want Japan to have a nuclear bomb.

“This is related to balancing strategy, to counter China by using Japan’s military power.

“From China’s point of view, Yoshihiko Noda has been the worst prime minister they could have had and they feel there can be no trust” between the two governments, Magosaki said. “That means that anyone who replaces him will be welcome.”

The 4th Media » A Japanese Ex-diplomat Accuses the Sino-Japanese Rift Part of US Agenda: The Truth Behind the Post-war History
Japan PM signals election can wait, defies opposition


TOKYO -- Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made clear on Monday he was in no rush to go to the polls, speaking of the risk of a “political vacuum” in a speech likely to anger an opposition that has urged him to keep a promise to call an election soon.

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) swept to power in 2009 and holds a slim majority in the powerful lower house of parliament, but the opposition's domination of the upper house has it allowed it to block crucial budget deficit funding legislation.

The opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is using the issue to press Noda into calling an early election, at a time when opinion polls show Noda is likely to lose any vote.

But the prime minister showed no sign of being cowed when he delivered a policy speech at the opening of an extra parliament session called primarily to pass a bill needed to fund a 38.3-trillion-yen (US$474 billion) deficit.

“In order to fulfill my responsibility for tomorrow, I cannot abandon jobs halfway to their completion,” Noda told the lower house. “We shouldn't create at will a political vacuum that would cause policies to stall.”

Speaking on the eve of a review of monetary policy by the Bank of Japan (BOJ), Noda also vowed to work with the central bank more closely to support the economy, using terms employed in the past to pressure the central bank into easing policy.

Noda's cabinet approved a US$5.3 billion fiscal stimulus plan last week that economists said was too small to have much impact, and piled more pressure on the BOJ, which is expected to boost monetary stimulus steps at Tuesday's meeting.

Unless Noda wins opposition backing for the funding bill Japan's government could run out of money by the end of November, but there were scant signs that the opposition was ready to cooperate.

Noda had promised in August to call an election “soon” in order to secure opposition votes for another key piece of legislation — his signature sales tax increase plan designed to shore up state finances saddled by swelling social security costs.

But he has been coy on exactly when he will call the election for the lower house, which must be held by August next year.

Analysts believe he is unlikely to do so in the near future given his party's poor ratings in opinion polls.

“Noda wants to delay the day of reckoning as long as possible,” said political commentator Harumi Arima. “Who would call an election now knowing that over 100 parliament seats would be lost, putting the party on the brink of collapse?”

Noda will wait until next summer to hold general elections together with upper house polls due in July, Arima added.

continue: Japan PM signals election can wait, defies opposition - The China Post