PACIFIC PERSPECTIVE: THE BUSH/KAIFU SUMMIT : A Japan That Actually May Say <i> No</i> : Kaifu’s Vulnerable

Toshiki Kaifu’s position in Japan is vulnerable. Japanese businessmen and the Japanese media are highly critical of his lack of leadership during the Persian Gulf crisis and of his lack of policy on economic relations with the United States.

For Kaifu, a good relationship with George Bush is the only foreign-policy card he can play against his critics in Japan. But, showing off his chumminess with Bush is not working, and both the Japanese Establishment and the American Establishment would prefer to see Kaifu replaced.

The Japanese business Establishment wanted to dispatch minesweepers and military transport planes during the Gulf crisis, but Kaifu rejected these proposals. The Japanese business Establishment wants to open the Japanese rice market, but Kaifu rejected it.