East Asia through the Prism of the U.S.-Japan Relationship
Thomas Foley, Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan
May 24, 2001
MR. FOLEY: Thank you very much. I have
great pleasure in being here today, particularly because of an old friendship
and association with Peter Kovach, so I'm delighted to have this opportunity.
As Peter said, I returned to the United States in the first week
of April. I originally intended to return around the first of the year, but I
was asked to stay for a time because of the tragic submarine incident which
saddened all of us in the United States. It was a terrible, terrible tragedy.
I think the strength of our relationship has allowed us to overcome the
immediate consequences of that very, very tragic event. And it is certainly
true that the U.S.- Japan relationship, I think, is very strong indeed.
There's a new administration in Washington and a new administration in Tokyo
- a new prime minister and a new cabinet - and both of the administrations
are advancing new policies and new approaches to existing problems. In either
case, there is some controversy about the proposals that have been offered.
But there is no controversy about the commitment of both governments to
maintaining and possibly even strengthening the U.S.-Japan relationship.
One of the first things that Prime Minister Koizumi said upon
assuming responsibility was to reaffirm that the U.S.-Japan relationship was a
cornerstone of Japanese foreign policy. And President Bush, both during the
campaign and subsequently, indicated that his administration would emphasize
and underscore the fact that has been true in our policy for 40 years or more:
that the U.S.-Japan relationship is fundamental to U.S. foreign policy. And in
the words of Mike Mansfield, "the most important bilateral relationship
in the world, from the standpoint of the United States, has always been the
relationship between the United States and Japan."
Nevertheless, there are always problems in this relationship. It
is one that Prime Minister Obuchi celebrated as being based on common values
which informed and supported common interests. But as everyone knows, the
history and culture of the two countries are vastly different. Japan is an
ancient country and a new democracy. The United States is a young country and
an old democracy. But they share very much the important institutions of
parliamentary democracies, open elections, freedom of determination of
governments by their people. They share, of course, an open market economy,
the rule of law, an independent judiciary, a respect for human rights, respect
for individual liberties. One can go down the list a very long time and
recognize that the United States and Japan have a constant interest in all
these areas of institutional democracy and free economy.
However, the United States and Japan, of course, developed this
relationship out of a bitter adversarial condition in the Pacific war. And it
is a remarkable event, I think, that the relationship is going so strong,
coming from those very difficult years. The United States and Japan - this is
obvious, but just to underscore it - have a fundamental military security
relationship which is being examined, I think, in both capitals. Prime
Minister Koizumi has indicated that his government may - or he personally
would like to see some modifications, either of interpretation or of the
constitutional limitations of Japan's self-defense force concept. And he has
spoken positively about collective security opportunities for Japan. In United
States, several of the important figures in the new administration,
particularly Deputy Secretary Richard Armitage in the famous Nye-Armitage
report, emphasized the need to develop a broader security relationship with
Japan.
One of the difficult areas is Okinawa. Because of the presence of
so many of our bases and forces there, there has been a conscious effort on
the part of United States and Japan to try to minimize the occasional
difficult irritability of that situation. And one of the things that was
accomplished by my predecessor was to develop the so- called Sako (sp) report,
a special action report on Okinawa, which was concluded in December of 1996
and is largely on the way to full implementation. There are some - still are
important elements of that to be concluded, particularly the movement of the (Kadena
?) air station.
I think the other great area, of course, is our economic
relationship, which has been of concern to both countries. The United States,
for the past three years, has been concerned that Japan's economic recovery
was slow, that there was a beginning - a very positive beginning of more
direct foreign investment in Japan, obviously infusion of great amounts of
public money, and stabilizing the banks, and restructuring have gone forward
in important areas. But we still feel, as many in Japan feel, that a full
addressing of the problem of bad loans in the banks and real estate that lies
behind them is an important part of economic reform and adjustment in Japan.
The new Prime Minister is enjoying, as far as I know,
unprecedented popularity. His recent polling figures range from 80 to 90
percent. I'm sure most of the Japanese correspondents and others who are
familiar with Japan would agree that most of these Prime Minister would be
happy to have half of that, or maybe a third of that. So - (chuckles) - one
wonders at this remarkable level of public confidence. But I think it is a
very happy event because, in my judgment, one of the difficult difficulties in
Japanese economic recovery has been the sense of some undue pessimism and lack
of confidence on the part of the Japanese public itself. The feeling that
things weren't changing, that the political system was not sufficiently
responsive, I think, has had an impact in the economic sphere as people have
tended to view the future in a somewhat dour way, and Japanese reactions to
the difficult times or difficult judgments about the future has been to
increase savings rather than increase consumption. And the consumption sector
of the Japanese economy has been one of the persistent lagging problems in
Japanese recovery. Sixty percent of the Japanese economy is in consumer
spending. But as far as I know, Japan is of the few, if not the only country
where people over 70 are adding to their savings, not drawing from their
savings.
So if the new administration brings a greater sense of public
confidence and enthusiasm, one believes that that might spill over into the
economic sector and bring greater economic optimism.
One of the things that troubled me in Japan - I'm going to end
with this - was, just before I left, there were - in the year before -
polls that asked - not business executives, but the general Japanese
population, "What country to think will be the second-largest economy in
the world 10 years, 15 years from now?" And the answer in plurality - it
was a divided response - was China, not Japan. More Japanese suggested that
China would be the second-largest economy than Japanese predicting the Japan
would be the second-largest economy.
Now China has a dynamic economy; a very impressive one and it is
moving very rapidly, but if - as far as I understand the relationship - if
China achieves its very ambitious objective of doubling the size of the
Chinese economy in the next 10 years, and Japan does nothing - does not grow
all - the Japanese economy will still be about twice the size of the Chinese
economy at the end of the decade.
That's not a reflection against China; it is an underscoring of
how strong, fundamentally, the Japanese economy is. Or, another way to put it
is how large it is - occupying almost 70 percent of the entire economy of
Asia.
I believe personally that Japan is going to see an economic
recovery of greater dimension in the coming years. In areas like information
technology, particularly, I think Japan will demonstrate, as it is doing now,
that it has the capacity, again, to lead the world in key technologies and to
move forward in a way that it did so dramatically in the '60s, '70s and 80s of
the last century. So in that sense I'm very positive about the economic future
of Japan.
I'm taking too much time in the formal remarks, so I would like
to just stop at this point, and welcome your questions.
MODERATOR: Your question, sir.
Q I'm - (name, affiliation inaudible) - you alluded to
the issue regarding Japan's right of collective self defense. But as you know,
that there is prohibition on the exercise of Japan's own right of self defense
has been debated on by - (inaudible) - and others in the Japanese Diet for
possible revision. And Bush administration officials also informally
encourages Japanese side to remove that long-standing ban, allegedly for the
closer defense cooperation for contingencies between the two countries. I know
this is one issue that Japan should eventually make a decision on, but I like
to hear your view from the standpoint of management of the alliance.
MR. FOLEY: Well, of course it goes without saying that the
decision about Article Nine or any other feature of the Japanese Constitution,
which is now under consideration, is totally a matter for Japan. And the
United States has no official position of any kind with respect to the
possible revision of the Japanese Constitution. We would hope that, either
through interpretation or through whatever legislative or other changes that
might be involved, that Japan could take a stronger position in peacekeeping
operations.
Japan today is restricted by its own interpretation of what it
can do in peacekeeping operations in a rather severe way. As you know, there
have to be five conditions before Japanese peacekeeping can involve direct use
of Japanese self-defense forces or other forces - police forces. And those
circumstances very rarely - (chuckles) - exist, or when they do exist,
there's hardly much need for peacekeeping operations, to put it another way.
So I think we would welcome that. And we would hope that there would be
opportunities for Japan to engage in perhaps a closer relationship on some
joint activities. But how this can be done and whether it involves an
amendment to the constitution and whether the Japanese public and government
wish to move in the direction is entirely a matter for Japan to decide.
Q My name is Ben Bangola (sp). I'm Washington
correspondent for - (inaudible) - news. I would like to know, first of all,
what lies ahead when Tom Daschle becomes majority leader in the Senate as a
result of expected switchover by senator from Vermont?
And my second question is, Secretary Powell is also touring
Africa, promoting African Growth and Opportunity Act. Can that law, passed by
Congress last year, evolve with Republican administration?
MR. FOLEY: I'm sorry, what - the Congress --
Q Yes, I would like to know --
MODERATOR: The second question is --
Q The second question, Colin Powell - Secretary Powell is
touring Africa, promoting trade, investment under AGOA.
MR. FOLEY: Yes.
Q Could that law - would that law evolve with the new
Republican administration?
MR. FOLEY: Let me --
MODERATOR: What he means is the Africa Growth --
Q Opportunity Act - has it changed, to grow under
Republican administration?
MR. FOLEY: Now, yeah. Well, I think there is, as you know,
a recent action of the Congress to encourage closer trade relations with
Africa. And this administration is committed to that policy, as well as the
last administration.
I don't think that I am even - because of my political
background in my political background in the Congress - considered an expert
on the Senate. I was Speaker of the House - (chuckles)--- and these are
rather different bodies. And by the way, I learned when I was nominated to be
ambassador to Japan by President Clinton how important the Senate was. I
suddenly developed a great respect for the Senate that - (laughter). I always
had respect, but even greater --
But there's no doubt this is an historic event. And you probably
heard Senator Jeffords today. He intends to leave the Republican Party, become
an independent, and to vote with the Democrats to organize the Senate. The
obvious conclusion of that is that when that happens - and he says he will
not do that until the bill on tax reduction is placed on the president's desk
for signing - that Senator Daschle is presumed to be the next majority
leader. And that would mean, normally, that the committee chairmanships would
move from Republicans to Democrats, and the parties would just change places.
That's not a matter of light consequence. The majority leader, like the
speaker, moves the agenda of the Senate. The committee chairmen largely
determine the scope of - and the schedule, and agenda of their committees -
not totally, but in very large part. So it will have very great impact, I
think, certainly on the business of the Senate.
Q Richard Finney (sp) with Radio Free Asia. Japan and the
U.S. seem to be a little out of step on the issue of human rights in that
Japan seems very quick to grant development aid countries to countries like
Burma and Vietnam. Do you foresee any better cooperation or kind of mutual
alignment between Japan in the U.S. on that kind of issue?
MR. FOLEY: Well, I think, in fairness to the Japanese
government - I'm not a spokesman for the Japanese government - but the
Japanese government would say that we desire the same consequence. We desire
to see parliamentary democracy and be recognized in what we call Burma and
others call Myanmar. And the differences are that we have opposed any
extension of serious infrastructural aid to Burma until the proper actions are
taken with respect to the opposition party. Japan has decided to conclude a
previous commitment on a hydroelectric dam, but - and to some extent, on an
airport, which they argue is necessary for safety purposes. But there is no
opening of the aid gates by Japan. And the United States and Japan, I think,
share that common goal of supporting parliamentary democracy and recognition
of it by the present regime.
Q (Inaudible) - magazine. With the collective security
between the United States and Japan - (inaudible) - what kind of picture do
you see when you introduce China into the picture?
MR. FOLEY: Well, both the United States and Japan desire a
positive and constructive relationship with China. Both of our policies
reflect a one-China policy, both of our countries desire to have peaceful and
improving relations with China, and we are, I think, are very much committed
to that goal.
The area of Chinese military activity, including its buildup of
its forces, is not one that has created any overall sense of alarm, and I
don't think that the U.S.-Japan relationship should create that reaction in
China. In fact, for many years the U.S.-Japan relationship has included a
strong security component. And I don't foresee, personally, that there will be
anything that will threaten China or legitimately be considered as threatening
China, or depart from the intention of both countries to have positive,
constructive and improved relations with China.
MODERATOR: Someone in back.
Q My name is Murray Hebert (sp), Far Eastern Economic
Review.
Ambassador, you referred to the Nye-Armitage report.
Can you tell us, when the report was released here, what reaction
did the Japanese officials have to that, and what aspects are they interested
in, and what might they not be interested in?
MR. FOLEY: It was very widely read in Japan. I think the
report was considered of very great significance in Japan, as it was here. But
my sense is that the report was probably directed even more to a domestic U.S.
audience than to any audience overseas or any foreign audience. But it
received great attention immediately in Japan. I was asked about the Armitage
report by every senior Japanese official, almost, that I spoke to. And they
found it one of great interest and significance.
The report, I think, if you've read it, is eloquent on the
importance of the relationship. I think it shoots for a relationship - or
aims at a relationship between the United States and Japan similar to the
U.S.-British relationship. I'm not sure that that's a good comparison, but it
certainly is one that reflects the desire of both countries to very strong,
open, consultative relations. And I think the report is well schooled on that
point.
Some of what the report urges is already being done, frankly. I
mean, the United States is urging, along with Japan's help, greater foreign
direct investment in Japan. The United States and Japan have been working to
open up our markets more fully. We have very good consultation on a host of
issues including our mutual relations with North Korea. So I think the report
is a very good one, but it points to some future changes including,
particularly, the possibility of defusing training in Okinawa, and even
reducing the level of Marine presence in Okinawa that has excited a lot of
interest, particularly in Okinawa.
MODERATOR: Over here.
Q Thank you. Ole Orset, Nordic Media.
Mr. Ambassador, here in D.C. we have probably one of the
strongest symbols of Japanese-American friendship around the Tidal Basin and
in the blooming cherry blossom trees. But we also have seen some troubled
incidences over the years. You mentioned Okinawa, we saw the submarine
accident, and so forth. Now we have the Pearl Harbor movie out. What kind of
impact do you think that will have in the American --
MR. FOLEY: I don't think it will have any. I haven't seen
the movie yet, so I'm not a good critic, but I can personally suggest that -
I haven't sensed any nervousness about the movie's release in Japan. The
movie, according to all the critics I've seen, celebrates the courage of
individual soldiers and sailors and airmen. It doesn't demonize Japan, it
doesn't go into an effort to still up old feelings. And it's basically a love
story. Two things: it celebrates the courage of that generation, and it's a -
has a high of degree of romantic interest. I think it will be a hit in Japan.
My guess is it's going to go over well in Japan. We'll see, but I wouldn't be
at all surprised, and that's what I expect.
Q (Inaudible) - Nikkei Newspaper, the Japanese daily
newspaper.
A question about Taiwan. Both Japan and America had some
difficulties the last couple of months in specific to Taiwan. In a sense, do
you think the U.S. and Japan have some cooperation in the management of Taiwan
policy, or is Taiwan can be sort of uncertain factor?
MR. FOLEY: Well, I think, again, you know, the countries
have a similar circumstance in this respect: both countries recognize China as
one China. Neither country recognizes Taiwan as an independent or separate
entity - state entity. Both countries, however, have groups of citizens who
admire the development not only of the economy, but of democratic institutions
in Taiwan. So that has caused, from time to time, some controversial problems
such as China's reaction to meetings that some individual Americans might have
with Taiwan officials, when they have on occasion been allowed to transit
through the United States or Japan, in the Japanese case.
But, again, the two policies of the countries are identical.
Q How damaging is the spy plane in the U.S.-Chinese
relationship? And how does missile defense system fit into that?
MR. FOLEY: The plane incident?
Q Yes.
MR. FOLEY: Oh, the plane incident was an unfortunate
incident. The U.S. position is clearly the plane was operating in
international airspace and its contact with the Japanese - rather, the
Chinese Air Force led to a very regrettable accident, and one that we do not
feel was, in any case or in any way, the result of any actions by the U.S.
aircraft crew. And, you know, the Chinese have told a different story, but -
and, there's no doubt it was a very irritable incident between the two
countries which I hope we are going to finally resolve. The Chinese announced
yesterday that the plane would be returned in crates.
Q (Off mike.)
MR. FOLEY: Oh, missile defense? Well, the U.S. government
is committed - this administration is committed to consultation with its
allies and others about its plans to develop a missile defense system. At the
present time, to my knowledge, the technology does not exist to deploy such a
system, so we are undertaking on the part of - the U.S. government is
undertaking to discuss this matter with not only the Russian Federation but
with European allies and our allies in the Pacific area. Japan is
participating on a research program on the theater missile defense, which is,
again, in a research mode.
Q Sujono from Suara Merdeka, Indonesia. I was just
wondering, how to you foresee the APEC? Do you think it will continue to be a
viable organization?
MR. FOLEY: I hope so. I think APEC has served a very
important purpose and it needs to have a strong commitment from the countries
involved so that it can continue to be a significant process in the
liberalization of trade and in broader economic relations between the
countries in the Asia-Pacific region. I hope very much that it will have a
continued and viable future.
MODERATOR: Let's see if someone else who hasn't asked a
question - (pause) - then let's go back to where we started.
Q I'm from the Sankei Shimbun, again.
Mr. Howard Baker was confirmed by the Senate as your successor
yesterday. And if you were to give any words of advice or caution, what would
they be? (Laughter.)
MR. FOLEY: I've already spoken to - several times to
Senator Baker, who is an old friend of mine. And by the way, I'm absolutely
delighted with his appointment, and I congratulate the president, as well as
Howard Baker and Nancy Kassebaum Baker. It's a splendid appointment in every
way, and he will represent United States with great distinction in Japan.
The - I think my advice is - has been pretty limited. There's
not very much I need to suggest to Howard Baker. I had hoped to learn more
Japanese than I did, and so I told him that it is difficult when you are at
our more senior years to learn a difficult language, but whatever he can learn
will be useful. He should try to get out of Tokyo as much as possible. Tokyo
is one of the great cities of the world, but Japan has so many wonderful
places to see and to go - 47 different prefectures. I had promised myself
that I would try to do what Japanese ambassadors do in the United States,
visiting all the states. I wasn't able to do that, but I regretted I didn't do
more of it, and now as a private citizen, when I go back to Japan I'm going to
make up for that a little bit.
When I asked Mike Mansfield, when I was going out to Japan, for
his advice - because we're old friends, too - he said, "Be
yourself." And I think that's pretty good advice. Most, I think, people
who go to Japan find it's a marvelous experience; they find that it's a great
honor, particularly because of the long and distinguished line of American
ambassadors that precede you. But you can't be somebody else. You have to be
yourself, and as you see your own responsibilities, to try to represent the
interests of the United States well.
I was criticized a bit, frankly, for being too friendly to Japan.
When my nomination was announced, a couple of publications suggested that I
was too much of a "chrysanthemum club" as they put it,
"member" - too much of an open, sort of, Japanophile.
And so at my confirmation hearing, I was asked if that would be a
problem. And I told another story about Mike Mansfield.
George Shultz, when he was Secretary of State, used to have a
large globe next to his desk, and when he would meet ambassadors or
ambassadors-to-be, he would very often say "Ambassador, show me your
country," meaning, show me the country to which you are going to be
posted or accredited. Now when he did that with Mike Mansfield, Mike took the
globe and swung it around to the western United States and pointed at a large
state next to mine - Montana - and said, "Mr. Secretary, this is my
country." And what I meant to convey by that - I think every ambassador
knows it's a great honor to go to Japan, our strong and loyal and wonderful
ally and partner, but we go to represent the United States. And I hope we can
all, in our own way, do that well. And doing that well, I think, also supports
U.S.-Japan relations.
MODERATOR: Let's go to - (off mike) --
Q (Off mike) - right now they have two Japanese baseball
players. (Laughter.)
MR. FOLEY: (Chuckles.) The most famous people in my state
right now.
Q Any comment for those two Japanese players?
MR. FOLEY: Well, I hope they stay and they don't get
weaned away. They're doing a great job.
Q Second question is a whaling issue. Now you are a
private citizen, so - a sort of primitive question - is there culture
difference between U.S. and Japan for dealing with whaling issues, or the way
the Japanese government be opened up. The last year's decision was bad, I mean
- I'm saying the Japanese approach was bad, or can you say something about
whaling issues?
MR. FOLEY: About which issues?
Q About whaling?
MODERATOR: Whaling. About the whales.
MR. FOLEY: Whaling? Oh, the whaling issue, I'm sorry,
sorry, yes. Well, we actually take very - this is one of the areas that is,
unfortunately, one of - an irritable issue, a difficult issue. The United
States, by the way, is not alone in having concern about Japanese whaling
activities. The Irish ambassador, when I was in Tokyo, led a delegation of 13
countries to make an official objection to the expansion of the Japanese
so-called-scientific whaling expedition. And, on the other hand, I think it
would also be fair to say that this is an issue on which foreign concerns, as
real and sincere as they are, have had a limited reaction on the Japanese
people. There is not, to my judgment, a very strong recognition in Japan - at
least not a vocal one - of the problems that the Japanese whaling policy has
brought. And so it remains one of those issues on which we don't agree.
You can almost say, though, that - to me it's interesting that
- where are the differences in U.S.-Japan policy: whaling; a slight nuance -
and not-so-slight in terms of our feeling about it - but on Burma. And it's
very difficult to find many others where the United States and Japan find
themselves in a different policy internationally or domestic - on domestic
issues - of the economy. So, again, it's a matter of emphasis and nuance
rather than any sharp differences. I think we are about as close as most
allies can get.
MODERATOR: We have time for a couple more questions.
Q There are reports that U.S. global strategic focus is
shifting towards Northeast Asia. Do you see that kind of tendency?
MR. FOLEY: Well, I think - obviously there has been a
concern about the circumstances on the Korean peninsula. In 1998, Bill Perry
went to North Vietnam, and there was an important change in policy, at least
to the extent of there being the famous summit between Kim Jong Il and Kim Dae
Jong.
This administration has taken some time to reexamine their
policy. I think, personally, they will reaffirm - I guess, I am not informed
on this, so this is my surmise - that they will, again, strongly encourage
Japan, the United States and South Korea to maintain a policy of encouraging
peaceful development of the relations with North Korea. But at the present
time, one of the concerns, I think, that this administration has, is that
there has not been much evidence, as far as I know, of a relaxation of
military activities or operations on the North Korean border. And so the
administration - the president, I think, is looking to see - I'm not his
spokesman, but - looking to see some movement in that direction.
MODERATOR: The last question over here.
Q Mariko Ikiro (ph) with Kokai TV. Looking back at your
tenure in Japan, what was your most gratifying experience, and what was your
most frustrating? And how would you compare the caliber of the Japanese
politicians to that of your former colleagues?
MR. FOLEY: (Chuckles.) Well, I don't have any problem with
that - I will take that question first.
I first came to Japan in 1968--69 to take part in what was then
called the second Shimoda conference, which brought together Japanese and
American business and government officials. For a long time, I was very active
in supporting and encouraging parliamentary exchanges between the United
States and Japan. So I have known, over the past 30 years, leaders of the
Japanese political parties, pretty much across spectrum, and they are people
of enormous ability. Some of my best friends were Japanese political leaders,
and not just LDP, but in other parties as well. I value very much my
friendship with Madame Doi, for example, who was the speaker of the Japanese
Diet.
And so I think - parliamentarians share a bond because we have
the same tasks, which are to represent our constituents and move our country
in the direction we think is best for our people. And so when you see that in
another country, in a kind of another parliamentary body, you recognize it and
you share a bond and a sense of relationship with the people who are involved
in that important profession. I have the highest respect for Japanese
politicians, if you want to say that - Diet people, government officials.
Obviously the Japanese bureaucracy is one of the most talented and one of the
most respected in the world.
Now, one can argue about whether there should be greater or less
role for Japanese ministries in setting policies, but there is no question of
the enormous talent and ability of officials of the Japanese government, and
every country that has had any contact with Japan recognizes that.
Let me - help me on the other question.
Q (Off mike.)
MR. FOLEY: Oh, most frustrating - the most difficult -
the most difficult one was not so much a policy question, but this is a very,
very sad consequence of the Ehime Maru. I felt deeply saddened by that because
it was a total unnecessary accident. It was really beyond explanation how it
happened, and it involved the loss of life of nine people, including four
students. The representatives of the families - two fathers both lost teenage
sons. It is a terrible, terrible tragedy. And when you are living through -
or were on the periphery of it, as I was - you never forget it. Now, I think
and hope that we've - as I say - been able to go forward from that.
The most - the happiest one, I guess, was just getting to know
Japanese people well. I cannot remember a single - now maybe ambassadors
don't have this problem, but I can't remember a single personal unpleasant
association or contact with anybody in Japan. You know, even the protesters
outside the embassy sometimes waved - (laughter) - when I went in. That's -
very few places in the world that you have that experience. (Laughter.) That
was the greatest thing - the chance to live in Japan and to see - and -
(inaudible) - and I had some great pleasure in getting to know some Japanese
friends very well and very personally. We would've had more opportunity if
both of us had been better at the language, but that's just my problem. I
should have learned it at seven rather than try to learn it at 70. I would
sometimes order a particular beverage at a reception and get ice water, which
was the result of my bad Japanese rather than anything else. (Chuckles.)
MODERATOR: We thank you very much.
MR. FOLEY: Yes, thank you very much. I appreciate your
coming today.
MODERATOR: Thank you, Ambassador Foley, and thank you,
ladies and gentlemen, for your good questions.