Asia Times: Tokyo leads from the middle at G8 summit


	July 25, 2000	atimes.com

Japan

Tokyo leads from the middle at G8 summit
By Suvendrini Kakuchi

NAGO, Japan - Billions of yen and an army of officials, policemen and volunteers helped Japan play the role of gracious host at the Group of Eight summit that ended here Sunday.

But while Japan was admired as a good host by everyone, it came under fire for its leadership of a summit that this year was meant to give special voice to developing countries, and the way it failed to iron out differences among G8 countries on key issues.

''It was a very good summit,'' US President Bill Clinton, Japan's most important G8 partner, told a beaming Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori before boarding his plane. ''I personally enjoyed it.''

Japanese officials said 81 billion yen ($750 million), excluding the budget extended by the Okinawa prefectural government, was spent on hosting the summit and other G8 related conferences including the finance ministers' meeting last month. The enormous budget, reported to be far higher than what was spent in Cologne at last year's summit, covered 20,000 policemen who lined the streets, as well as tarting up the beaches of Nago and Okinawa's airport.

Also included in the bill was food flown in all the way from Tokyo for the participants, including 4,000 foreign media personnel. ''A priority to us was concern for the health and well-being of everybody, which is why we took these steps,'' said a foreign ministry official.

Japanese media also gave the thumbs up to Mori's performance, which Kyodo news agency described as ''smooth''. The summit was Mori's debut on the world leaders' stage after he took over as prime minister after the death of Keizo Obuchi. Mori, known for his controversial remarks in recent months, kept to a carefully crafted script and was strongly supported by aides who were never far away.

Despite the painstaking preparations, not everybody is happy with Japan's leadership at the Okinawa summit. The non-government organizations represent the most disappointed sector, with many saying the high price of hosting the summit made it all the more a letdown that rich countries did not do more for the poor nations they say they want to help.

While extending appreciation for Mori's efforts to put poverty reduction at the summit's forefront, they are bitter about the final communique issued Sunday, which proponents of debt relief describe as ''hollow and empty and a step back'' in efforts to help poor countries. ''The lack of leadership from Japan to get concrete answers on debt cancellation was very disappointing. We cannot expect much from the G8 group,'' said Yoko Kitazawa of the Japanese chapter of Jubilee 2000.

The Japanese government's much-touted $15 billion dollar fund to close the "digital divide" between rich and poor countries was also rejected Saturday by Jubilee, which burnt a laptop on the beach in protest. NGOs have denounced the information technology charter put out by the G8, pointing out that computers are of no use to a vast majority of people in poor countries who cannot read or write.

But the most strident protests came from activists in Okinawa who were hoping for a breakthrough on the issue of the hated US military bases that have been here for more than five decades. Emotions reached a new high in Okinawa in early July, when a 14-year-old girl was molested by a drunk US marine who had broken into her room.

A statement released by the Okinawan NGOs said: ''We are totally against the G8 summit that has been used by the Japanese government to fool the people and make them feel important so that they can forget the problems with the bases.''

While many residents expressed anger at Clinton's belated apology this week for the incident, crowds of people also gathered in excitement to watch the world's top leaders and hoards of foreign media people arrive on their sub-tropical island on the south of Japan. ''It was good that the central government chose Okinawa,'' explained 35-year-old journalist Mie Ogido. ''The summit has been a good opportunity for the world to get to know us.''

Okinawa, the poorest prefecture in Japan, is dependent on $1.4 billion in direct spending from the US bases, which occupy 20 percent of the island.

Looking back, the area where Japan performed best was in its usual diplomatic role of acting as a middleman, a position that helps to harmonize, more than lead, in contentious situations. In this respect, analysts believe Japan brought developing countries into the main focus in the summit, in a dramatic departure from the rich nations' usual way of doing business.

Mori pushed issues such as infectious diseases, the digital divide, food safety, and education, under the theme ''deeper peace of mind'', for the first time in the G8, a step that generated animated discussions.

Japan's leadership, however, proves weak when it comes to making other important decisions, due to its penchant for creating consensus at all costs. For instance Mori, bowing to US pressure, failed to bring about a concrete decision on genetically modified food. The United States differs on this issue with European countries, which want tighter laws to regulate the use of genetically modified organisms. There is also growing opposition in Japan to them.

In the end, the summit decided only to have a follow-up conference on the topic.

The Yomuiri Shimbun, Japan's largest daily, summed it up: ''Japan, prior to the summit, unveiled a comprehensive package of $15 billion for five years for reducing the digital divide.'' But when Tokyo ''called on other G8 members to cooperate, no other country followed Japan's lead.''

(Inter Press Service)

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