"GFJ Commentary" introduces news analyses andopinions in Japan on the relations of Japan with therest of the world, but they do not represent the views ofGFJ as an institution.

August 17, 2012

Still in Office, NIWA Uichiro? Shame on You
By OKADA Shoichi
On September 26, 2010, I contributed an article entitled ʺIs DPJ Capable of Ruling?ʺ to thisBBS ʺGiron‐Hyakushutsu,ʺ in which I stated that ʺThe Government of Japan released aChinese fishing boat captain who had been arrested on charges of trespassing into Japanesewaters (off the Senkaku Islands) and interference with government officials in the execution oftheir duties before dawn on September 24. The release came with bizarre reasons at a bizarretiming. Although the Prime Minister’s Office quite conveniently attributed the decision of therelease to the initiative of the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office in Okinawa, it was morethan obvious that the Prime Minister’s Office was involved in the decision of the release. Thesedevelopments lead us to an unavoidable conclusion that the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ)
may not be capable of taking the helm of the state. It is undeniable that the national leaders ofJapan are being indecisive without any firm beliefs or strategy and evade confronting the crisis
over such national fundamentals as statehood, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.ʺ

Although almost two years have passed since then, the state of affairs has not improved
an inch but has been even aggravated. On May 4, NIWA Uichiro, Japanese Ambassador toChina (specially appointed by the DPJ), who sat in on the talks between YOKOMICHI Takahiro,
Chairman of the House of Representatives of Japan who visited China, and XI Jinping,Vice‐President of China, is reported to have made remarks on the plan of ISHIHARA Shintaro,
Governor of Tokyo, to purchase the Senkaku Islands to the effect that the national sentiments of
the Japanese are weird and that Japan is a bizarre country. Immediately after that, NIWA, in theface of immense criticism by the Japanese public, submitted a letter of apology to Foreign
Minister GENBA Koichiro, saying that the same remarks would not be made again. However,
he should have known that a letter of apology is not enough at all to excuse his misconduct.

Speaking of NIWA, he is notorious for the statements he made in a dialogue published ina magazine several years ago such as ʺwe will see an era of Greater Chinaʺ and ʺI expect thatJapan will become a tributary state of China,ʺ and it was quite obvious that he was the lastperson to be qualified as an ambassador who is supposed to represent the national interests ofJapan. There is a company called Itochu Corporation, where NIWA had long been in power asPresident. Considering that this company is said to be making an outstanding performance (inother words, making tons of money) in business with China, we could presume that NIWAʹsmentality has not changed a bit since his days in Itochu. Rather, he may think that he wasappointed Ambassador to China for his very ʺperformanceʺ in Itochu. It is quite concerned thathe still has idiosyncratic favoritism toward Itochu and for that abuses his privileges as
Ambassador to China.

While it is almost two months since May 4, NIWA has not tendered his resignation yet andstill clings to the honors and privileges of Ambassador to China. And the DPJ government
tolerates this. SAKURAI Yoshiko, a celebrated journalist of Japan, says of NIWA that ʺI shouldwonder what his philosophy of life has been,ʺ ʺalthough this may not be the right word, but heshould be considered ʹa traitor to his countryʹ,ʺ and ʺhe may be regarded (by China) as ʹhandyʹ
or ʹconvenientʹ.ʺ I assume that China inwardly disrespects NIWA as a person who repeatedlymakes such remarks. No country on this planet, whatever country it may be, respects those
diplomats or military personnel coming from abroad who suck up to a country where they arestationed at the sacrifice of their own national interests. Lastly, I would like to sayʺ Still in office,
NIWA Uichiro? Shame on You.ʺ

(This is the English translation of an article written by OKADA Shoichi, former
corporate executive, which originally appeared on the BBS ʺGiron‐Hyakushutsuʺ of GFJon July 2, 2012.)