Tanaka not traveling smoothly

The Yomiuri Shimbun, Asia News Network, Tokyo

The dispatch of special envoys by the prime minister is supposed to play an important role in furthering Japan's diplomatic aims, but all too often the issue of who goes gets mired in less lofty homegrown political squabbles.

Administrative Vice Foreign Minister Yoshiji Nogami found himself in just such a pickle in late September, when he asked Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka to travel to Pakistan to explain Japan's aid package for Afghans in refugee camps.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi intended to dispatch Tanaka to Pakistan as a demonstration of Japan's diplomatic efforts to help countries surrounding Afghanistan -- one of the limited but effective measures Japan has used to make a contribution to the U.S.-led attacks on Afghanistan. Japan has been criticized for failing to present visible measures to combat terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

In response to Nogami's request, however, Tanaka reportedly said: "Refugee camps? I don't want to go to such dirty places."

She apparently interpreted the request as some sort of political trap set by Koizumi and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda.

Tanaka's answer reportedly left Nogami stunned. Tanaka seemed more willing to visit Group of Eight countries than Pakistan.

Having decided it would be difficult to persuade Tanaka to go to Pakistan, Nogami consulted with Fukuda and others on the issue.

Finally, Senior Vice Foreign Minister Seiken Sugiura was chosen to go in Tanaka's place.

In talks with Sugiura in Islamabad on Sept. 27, Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf welcomed the senior vice minister. Sugiura reportedly apologized to Musharraf for his being a mere senior vice minister.

Musharraf responded by saying Sugiura did not have to apologize and went on to say Sugiura's visit to his country demonstrated the strong ties between Japan and Pakistan.

Sugiura apparently was ashamed because government-appointed envoys are traditionally regarded in Pakistan and other countries in the region as top politicians who carry personal letters from the leader of their country.

In an extremely rare decision, the government later sent such political heavyweights as former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura to the country.

Former Foreign Minister Yohei Kono, however, when unofficially asked to visit Saudi Arabia as a special envoy, refused. "I'm not going just to convey a message," Kono reportedly said. "I'm not going on a fool's errand."

After refusing to visit Pakistan, Tanaka has been left out in the cold as far as major diplomatic events are concerned. Her longtime wish was thwarted when she was not allowed to attend the U.N. General Assembly.

Tanaka was left to wonder how come it seemed to be senior vice ministers who always get to go abroad.

Behind-the-scenes negotiations were reportedly involved in Mori's visit to India late last month as a special envoy.

"I will be counting on you," the former prime minister reportedly whispered to Muneo Suzuki, the former Hokkaido and Okinawa Development Agency director general, at a House of Representatives Diet session on Oct. 18 in which the Antiterrorism Law was passed.

"I'll change the government's policy course concerning negotiations with Moscow over the (Russian-held) northern territories (off Hokkaido) back to the original version that you and I jointly agreed on," Mori reportedly said as he took a seat next to Suzuki.

The government's current policy on the issue of four islands claimed by Japan is that Japan will enter discussions with Russia to seek the return of the Habomai group of islets and Shikotan island and at the same time continue talks on the sovereignty of the remaining two islands -- Kunashiri and Etorofu. Mori presented this policy to Russia during his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Irkutsk in March. Suzuki, who is knowledgeable about Russia, was deeply involved in creating the policy.

At the same time, Mori was seeking Suzuki's support for the lifting of sanctions placed on India and Pakistan before his planned visit to India later in October. In return for Suzuki's support on lifting sanctions, Mori offered a deal to Suzuki, who was opposed to Mori's idea, insisting that the signing of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by both countries must be a precondition for Japan lifting its sanctions.

After the deal was struck at the Diet on Oct. 18, Mori met Koizumi in his official residence that evening and reportedly pressured his successor to make it clear to the Russians, at the next summit between the two countries' leaders, that Japan will revert to Mori's policy. Koizumi initially put priority on confirming the sovereignty of all four disputed islands in Japan's negotiations with Russia.

As Mori requested, Koizumi did not push the issue during talks with Putin held on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Shanghai on Oct. 21.

Subsequently, the Cabinet decided to lift the sanctions against India and Pakistan on Oct. 26 after gaining unofficial approval from the Liberal Democratic Party.

After this, Mori's planned visit to India was all set.

In talks with Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mori reportedly said, "India is a major power in the region so please have some self-restraint in the dispute (with Pakistan) over Kashmir."

Vajpayee, however, reportedly fended off Mori's request by saying he understood Japan's concerns, but also would like Japan to understand that his country has long suffered from terrorist acts in Kashmir.