Japan Hopes to Mend Fences at Summit Talks : Diplomacy: Prime Minister Kaifu seeks to end apprehension over many issues at his meeting with President Bush today in Newport Beach.

Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, who will meet with President Bush today in Newport Beach, initiated the visit to arrest growing “uncertainty and apprehension” over differences on trade as well as the Gulf War and other issues, a Japanese government spokesman said Wednesday.

Top issues likely to be discussed include Japan’s role in the post-Gulf era, including economic and environmental assistance to the ravaged war area, and Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev’s impending visit to Japan and how any rapprochement will affect U.S. interests. Other issues will include the multilateral trade negotiations and U.S.-Japan economic issues, such as the trade imbalance, said Taizo Watanabe, senior spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Kaifu arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday, and President Bush is scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles shortly after noon today and will proceed to Newport Beach for the meeting. After the meeting, the two leaders are scheduled to hold a joint news conference. Vice President Dan Quayle was scheduled to meet with Kaifu during breakfast today in Irvine.

Although most pre-summit reports have focused on Japan’s perceived shortcomings, Japanese officials say they hope the American side will do its part to patch up relations as well.

Bush can best aid Kaifu by assuring him that “global partnership is a reality” and “Japan is not outside the mosquito net” of America’s closest allies, Watanabe said. Some Japanese felt snubbed that Bush had consulted with French and British allies after the Gulf War, while postponing his official visit to Japan. That gave rise to some media criticism in Japan that “the U.S. is inclined to have closer talks with European allies rather than with Japan,” Watanabe said.

“There has been growing suspicion that Japan’s credibility is so low that there is no more inclination on the part of the American Administration to try to resume the so-called global partnership,” Watanabe said. “The (Japanese) government thought it was vitally important to put the feelings of uncertainty and apprehension to rest by reaffirming the cooperative relationship with the U.S. Administration at the highest possible level.”

The Japanese side may also remind Americans about their own obligations to contribute to progress on a host of economic issues.

Last year, for instance, the two nations concluded a pact called the Structural Impediments Initiative to improve American market access to Japan. The Japanese agreed to streamline their distribution system, increase domestic public works projects, strengthen anti-monopoly laws and the like. In the last year, the government has budgeted increased spending for public works and proposed legislation to begin accomplishing some of these aims.

The United States agreed to increase savings, reduce the budget deficit, improve the education system, move to longer-range business thinking and even convert to the metric system. But so far, the Japanese believe, Americans have fallen far short of their promises.

“Contrary to general public perception and the campaign organized by U.S. people concerned, the implementation on the U.S. side is really unsatisfactory in our view,” said Hiroshi Hirabayashi, economic minister of the Embassy of Japan. “Americans tend to blame Japan--not only Japan but their trading partners in general. Instead of pointing fingers . . . Americans are urged to do their job to keep their house in order.”

“Although I say many critical things to my American partners, I trust them and I like them and I like their frankness. So I want to be as frank as Americans,” Hirabayashi said.

Likewise, Hirabayashi said, the Japanese viewpoint on the multilateral trade negotiations may not be fully understood by Americans. Although the United States is pressuring the Japanese to open its rice market to ensure the success of the Uruguay Round of the multilateral negotiations, Hirabayashi said the American side should also offer to remove its own import restrictions on dairy products, peanuts, sugar and a dozen other protected items.

Those items are legally protected under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, while Japan’s rice is not. But Hirabayashi argued that the United States obtained the GATT waiver several years ago, when the nation dominated the world. It would probably not win approval for it today by other GATT members, he said.

Nevertheless, Hirabayashi said, Japan is willing to put the rice issue on the table as long as the United States and Europe do likewise for their politically sensitive items.

BUSH-KAIFU: KEY ISSUES Among the issues likely to be discussed by President Bush and Prime Minister Kaifu:

GATT: The United States wants Japan to help get the talks on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade back on track.

Rice: Washington sees Japan’s ban on virtually all rice imports as a roadblock to securing liberalized international trade rules through GATT. But Kaifu is unlikely to make concessions on rice during the summit because it comes just three days before nationwide local elections. Farmers are among the most powerful constituencies backing his Liberal Democratic Party.

Trade tensions: Bush is expected to raise long-running disputes on opening Japan wider to U.S. computer chip imports and on awarding public works contracts to American firms. The U.S. trade representative last week issued a report citing 32 items that remained shut out of Japanese markets.

Japan’s image: Kaifu wants to reverse the damage done to Japan’s image during the Gulf War. The Japanese also want to map out Japan’s role in Bush’s new world order and remind Americans that Japan will play an important part.

Middle East: Kaifu will discuss Japan’s plans for helping create a stable peace in the Middle East. Tokyo, which follows a pro-Arab policy because of its reliance on Middle East oil, already has said it plans to increase political contacts with Israel.

Soviet-Japan relations: Kaifu may discuss the upcoming visit to Tokyo of Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, the first visit to Japan ever by a Soviet head of state.

Soviet-Japanese Talks

“Sovereignty” an issue. A4