New Japan PM offers Obama help on Afghanistan

New Japan PM offers Obama help on Afghanistan
By Shingo Ito (AFP) – Sep 23, 2009

NEW YORK — Japan's new left-leaning Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday told President Barack Obama he would look for ways to support Afghanistan, holding out an olive branch in their first meeting.

Obama also sought to start his relationship with Hatoyama on the right footing, calling the half-century US alliance with Japan a "cornerstone" of US diplomacy and saying he will visit in November.

Hatoyama in the past has criticized "US-led globalism" and called for "more equal" ties between the United States and Japan, with some left-leaning members of his coalition pushing for a cut in the 47,000-strong US troop presence.

Hatoyama has said he plans to end an Indian Ocean naval refueling mission that supports the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan, one of Obama's key priorities.

While in opposition, his party briefly forced a halt to the naval mission through parliamentary maneuvers, arguing that Japan -- officially pacifist since World War II -- should not abet "American wars."

But Hatoyama told reporters after the summit that the relationship between Washington and Tokyo would be a "key pillar" of his foreign policy.

Japan "will seriously consider what we can do for the sake of Afghanistan as well as Japan and the United States" as a possible alternative to the refueling mission, Hatoyama said.

"Japan wants to make a positive contribution in the field of our specialty ... such as agricultural support or job training, which the Afghan people would be pleased to see," Hatoyama said.

Obama stopped short of responding to Hatoyama's proposal, only saying he was "grateful" for his thoughts, according to a Japanese government official.

Obama sought common ground with Hatoyama by drawing implicit comparisons between their change-fueled election races, congratulating him for running an "extraordinary campaign" and leading a "dramatic change" in Japan.

The US leader said he had "very good preliminary discussions about the critical importance of the US-Japanese alliance" in his talks with Hatoyama.

Obama agreed to visit Japan in November, Japanese officials said, possibly as part of an expected Asian tour including stops in China and at Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore.

The relationship has been the "cornerstone" of security and the economic prosperity of both countries "for almost 50 years," Obama said after the meeting at New York's Waldorf Astoria hotel, near the United Nations where world leaders were meeting.

The two leaders also agreed to work together in climate change talks. "We need to resolve the issue politically," said Hatoyama, who has dramatically stepped up Japan's commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Hatoyama -- whose Democratic Party of Japan ended more than half a century of almost unbroken conservative rule in a sweeping election win last month -- is taking his first steps on the world stage.

During the meeting, the two leaders agreed to stand firm against North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs, the Japanese government official said.

"We have to take stern action, including implementation of UN Security Council resolutions," Hatoyama told reporters.

Hatoyama's DPJ has vowed to maintain the country's hardline stance against North Korea, which is reviled by many Japanese due to its abductions of Japanese civilians in the 1970s and 1980s to train its spies.

However, Hatoyama has reached out to Asia and some lawmakers in his party have sought more emphasis on starting dialogue with the North.

"I plan to strengthen relations of trust and promote cooperation with Asian countries," Hatoyama told Obama, according to the Japanese official, adding that Obama welcomed the remarks.

During his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday, Hatoyama proposed a plan to create a future EU-style East Asian community, which may be bound under a single currency.

Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved