Guest What?

Is nationalistic chauvinism waning among the Japanese? That seems hard to believe, but why then is Japanese Ambassador Taizo Watanabe driving a Mercedes-Benz and not a Japanese make as expected of all senior Japanese officials?

"It's my official car," Taizo admitted during a recent luncheon hosted by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club. The envoy said the Japanese government has been unloading the dozens of limousines it bought for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meetings it hosted in Osaka last November.

"So, they sent one to Jakarta," said Taizo, who has been involved in the talks over a dispute between Indonesia and Japan concerning Jakarta's national car policy.

Because the limousines Japan bought for APEC were intended for important guests, including heads of state, they were all bullet proof, including the one sent to Jakarta.

"I can assure you that it has nothing to do with the national car issue," Taizo quipped. (emb)