Noda seeks TPP policy by November summit

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will try to come up with a policy on joining negotiations for a trans-Pacific free-trade pact before he leaves for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hawaii in November, sources said.

Noda will soon convene a meeting of his key Cabinet ministers to resume the coordination process for the talks, the sources said. The work on the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, as the U.S.-led pact is called, was meant to be finished by last June but was suspended by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Noda's crew is apparently divided over the matter. Noda is apparently in favor of joining the talks, but Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Michihiko Kano is reluctant because the pact is certain to put pressure on Japan to open up its protected and politically sensitive agriculture market.

Among other key ministers, trade chief Yukio Edano, speaking to reporters during a visit to Singapore last month, supported joining the talks.

Singapore is one of nine countries engaged in the talks. Those countries have set a goal of achieving a broad accord for the TPP agreement when APEC's leaders gather for an annual summit starting Nov. 12.

Noda, who met with U.S. President Barack Obama last month in New York, is expected to clarify his government's stance on the U.S.-led trade initiative when he meets Obama again on the sidelines of APEC, the sources said.

KYODO

Business leaders in Kyoto on Sunday urged the government to make all-out efforts to lessen the severity of the disaster reconstruction tax it is planning.

"Honestly speaking, I cannot see how the government can impose heavier taxes on corporations while the economy is in such bad shape," Yoshio Tateishi, chairman of the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said at a meeting with economic and fiscal policy minister Motohisa Furukawa and members of local business groups.

The comment came as the government last week announced a plan to raise income, corporate and other taxes for a limited period to finance the reconstruction of disaster-hit areas and businesses in eastern Japan.

Tateishi said the government should reduce the rate of the tax hikes as much as possible by selling off assets and other means.

Furukawa said he would try.

"The government will do its best to reduce the rate of tax hikes," he said.

But "Japan is in the worst fiscal condition of all the developed countries, and we cannot achieve stable economic growth without addressing the problem," he added.

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Japan PM drops plan to visit US for summit talks - Sacramento Bee

FILE - In this Aug. 9, 2011 file photo, Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan delivers a speech during a ceremony to mark the 66th anniversary of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki, southern Japan. Kan, under pressure to resign within weeks, has declined Washington's invitation for a visit to hold talks with President Barack Obama next month, chief cabinet secretary announced Friday. Aug. 19, 2011. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, FRANCE, HONG KONG, JAPAN AND SOUTH KOREA

TOKYO -- Japan's prime minister, under pressure to resign within weeks, has declined Washington's invitation for a visit to hold talks with President Barack Obama next month.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced the decision Friday, citing "Japan's political situation," suggesting uncertainty over Prime Minister Naoto Kan's leadership.

Kan has faced a strong challenge from party rivals who have demanded his resignation. Kan has said he will step down when a pair of key bills are approved in parliament, which is likely next week. That would set the stage for a leadership election within Kan's ruling party, expected by the end of the month.

"It is extremely regrettable that we have to rearrange a visit at the invitation of President Obama," Edano said. "We will reschedule a visit at an appropriate time as we continue our effort to achieve unshakable Japan-U.S. relations."

Obama invited Kan to the U.S. for talks in early September when the two leaders met in France during May's Group of Eight summit. The March disaster had forced Kan to postpone his earlier plan to visit the U.S. in the first half of this year.

Kan and his Cabinet have faced criticism over their handling of the March 11 disasters due to a perceived lack of leadership as the disaster survivors grew frustrated by slow-paced relief and reconstruction efforts.

The earthquake and tsunami wiped out large parts of Japan's northeast coastline and left just over 20,000 people died or disappeared. Another 100,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes due to radiation threats from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, whose reactors have melted down in the first few days of the crisis.

As Kan's days are numbered, Japanese media have shifted their focus to candidates to be his successor. Among several reported frontrunners are Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda.

Kaieda, who has several policy disputes with Kan over the nuclear crisis management over the past weeks, has vowed to resign from his current post.

Suggesting a possibility of having a new prime minister within weeks, Edano said he believed "a prime minister at that point" would attend the United Nation's General Assembly in September.

Edano said Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto recently informed U.S. Ambassador John Roos of Kan's cancellation of his U.S. trip and obtained Washington's understanding.

Kan's successor would be the sixth prime minister in five years.

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Japan PM drops plan to visit US for summit talks (AP)

TOKYO – Japan's prime minister, under pressure to resign within weeks, has declined Washington's invitation for a visit to hold talks with President Barack Obama next month.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano announced the decision Friday, citing "Japan's political situation," suggesting uncertainty suggesting Prime Minister Naoto Kan's leadership.

Kan has faced a strong challenge from party rivals who have demanded his resignation. Kan has said he will step down when a pair of key bills are approved in parliament, which is likely next week. That would set the stage for a leadership election within Kan's ruling party, expected by the end of the month.

"It is extremely regrettable that we have to rearrange a visit at the invitation of President Obama," Edano said. "We will reschedule a visit at an appropriate time as we continue our effort to achieve an unshakable Japan-U.S. relations."

Obama invited Kan to the U.S. for talks in early September when the two leaders met in France during May's Group of Eight summit.

Kan and his Cabinet have faced criticism over their handling of the March 11 disasters due to a perceived lack of leadership as the disaster survivors grew frustrated by slow-paced relief and reconstruction efforts.

The earthquake and tsunami wiped out large parts of Japan's northeast coastline and left just over 20,000 people died or disappeared. Another 100,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes due to radiation threats from the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, whose reactors have melted down in the first few days of the crisis.

As Kan's days are numbered, Japanese media have shifted their focus to candidates to be his successor. Among several reported frontrunners are Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and trade and industry minister Banri Kaieda.

Kaieda, who has several policy disputes with Kan over the nuclear crisis management over the past weeks, has vowed to resign from his current post.

Suggesting a possibility of having a new prime minister within weeks, Edano said he believed "a prime minister at that point" would attend the United Nation's General Assembly in September.

Edano said Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto recently informed U.S. Ambassador John Roos of Kan's cancellation of his U.S. trip and obtained Washington's understanding.

Kan's successor would be the sixth prime minister in five years.

View the original article here