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-3-
7. On the Middle East, apart from arms control the Japanese emphasis is going to be on improving relations with Israel. This is partly because the Americans have asked them to, and partly because they fear an alliance between the Japan-bashers and the Jewish lobby.
8.
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(I
I was struck by the realism of Japanese officials' attitudes to the Middle East. They had few ties and if the Arabs cold-shouldered them - as the Saudis and Kuwaitis chose at the moment they could live with that. They would go where they were welcome chiefly to countries who needed Japanese industry: for the moment this meant Algeria and Iran, though expectations were unrealistic in both. asked the Japanese to raise hostages when Nakayama visited Teheran.) The Japanese were immensely grateful for our offer of help in making sure their Embassy premises in Kuwait were safe though in the end it was the French who did the job. Apparently the Americans simply refused to help when asked by the Japanese.
9. The trouble with Japan is that the important changes are incremental and do not catch the eye or the headlines. The power of Japanese industry and the wealth of Japanese people is visible everywhere. All forecasters take it as read that Japan will grow 2 or 3 percentage points faster than the US and Europe for the next two decades (so that they might overtake the US in dollar GNP around 2010). The same incremental changes continue in foreign affairs. One day we will wake up and find that he who pays the piper wants to call the tune too.
Australia
10. A disappointment. My former thoughtful interlocutor has been replaced by a man who showed no signs of life at all. Some of his colleagues were interesting on Asia (recorded separately). Their number one concern shared by the Japanese was the North Korean nuclear programme: but no one has any good ideas about how to deal with it. I lectured them on Europe and in return got a blast on the Lubbers initiative which they saw as an attempt to create a CAP for energy. The UK, they said, was leading the pack in trying to establish a protectionist system. I told them this was nonsense but there is clearly a misunderstanding here which ESED may wish to correct.
R cooper.
RF Cooper
RC 2AEJ