Ambassador Howard Baker's First Interview in Japan

With Ms. Hiroko Kuniya for NHK-TV's "Close-Up Gendai"
First broadcast on Monday, July 9, 2001

Responding to a question on the Ambassador's first week in Japan...

Amb. Baker: It certainly has been [an intense week]. And I must say I had no expectation that we would "hit the ground running," as we say in America - that things would be so intense so fast. But, as a matter of fact, as soon as I got off the plane at Narita and had a brief press conference on the tarmac before coming into town, it was clear that we had arrived at a very tense and important time. I've known Japan for a long time and I have been to your country many times and know many people here, so the arrival in Japan was not altogether a new experience for me or for my wife, who also has been here before. But I had not had the challenge to respond to the concerns of Japan and Okinawa about this most recent incident. And that was indeed a new experience. But I had the opportunity to be briefed slightly as I got on the plane in Washington and before I arrived in Tokyo fourteen hours later. And then of course we briefed extensively, and pretty much continuously, after my arrival.

Responding to a question about the Ambassador's role as a negotiator and conciliator...

Amb. Baker: Indeed, much of my, most of my public career has one way or the other been involved in negotiations and conciliation, whether in Congress or when I was President Reagan's Chief of Staff. The most difficult thing in any negotiation, almost, is making sure that you strip it of the emotion and deal with the facts. And there was a considerable challenge to that here and understandably so. I think it is a great tribute to the Government of Japan and to those who were handling it, including the Foreign Minister and the Prime Minister, that we were able to negotiate at the highest levels - I mean the President, the Secretary of State, and then my opportunity - without high emotionalism.

Responding to a question about the role played by the Ambassador in the negotiations between Washington and Tokyo on the incident in Okinawa...

Amb. Baker: The Foreign Minister sent word that she wished to speak with me personally about the matter. And I traveled to an office of the Foreign Ministry and had an extensive conversation with the Foreign Minister. And she was very frank, very forceful, very clear in her point of view. I explained the American situation. I promised to pass on the substance of her communication to Washington as soon as possible. I did that. Well, certainly, the issue was difficult and painful. The relationship between Mrs. Tanaka and me and our two governments was difficult, but it was not painful. As I say, we took pains to explain ourselves to each other. And, in the final analysis, we reached the right conclusion on both sides and I think resolved the issue in the best possible way.

Responding to a question about whether or not the United States was concerned that the Japanese criminal justice system was unfair...

Amb. Baker: If you may let me restate that. Any time the United States government turns over an American citizen, including military personnel, to the government of another country, it is in our nature to want to make sure that they receive the best treatment, the fairest treatment, and the most humane treatment.

Responding to a question about the legal differences between an ordinary American citizen committing a crime in Japan and a service member committing a crime in Japan...

Amb. Baker: Well, the ordinary citizen would not be covered by the SOFA, by the Status of Forces Agreement, which is the treaty between the United States and Japan on the way military personnel are deployed and treated in this country. It was done in the wake of a previous episode where we agreed that in the cases of very serious situations, that we would give special consideration to a request by the Japanese for custody. And we did that. Once again it was not part of the treaty itself, but we did that. I think and hope and believe that the Japanese government and the people of Japan will be happy and content with the progress of justice in this case and that it will not become a great issue in the future.

Responding to a question about the possibility of revising the SOFA...

Amb. Baker: We must examine then the concerns of the Government of Japan about the language of the treaty itself - of SOFA - and of the interim and further arrangements that have been made since 1995, and see whether or not we need to make any changes. Those are decisions I cannot make. They will be made in negotiation between the Government of the United States and the Government of Japan. But I can say that I am confident that the American government wants to hear those concerns with a sympathetic ear. I intend to travel to Okinawa and to visit with Okinawa officials and the citizens of Okinawa at an early date. I will send my best analysis of that situation, including the local attitudes, back to Washington, to the government there.

Responding to a question about the Ehime Maru and growing distrust of the US military among Japanese citizens...

Amb. Baker: Well, that's a very good question. And fundamental to everything else we've talked about. How exactly that's done will require much consideration on both sides. But why it must be done is absolutely clear. And that is the relationship between the United States and Japan is so important, not only to Japan and the United States and to the Pacific Rim, but the entire world, that we simply must not let it turn negative. So, how exactly you do that remains to be seen, but my guess is that it will require many actions, not just a few.

Responding to a question about the style of "Baker diplomacy"...

Amb. Baker: It's difficult to characterize it. I guess the first thing I would say is that I'm a pretty good listener and when I hear things I try to take them in and translate them into something useful. I also have a high regard for senior staff, for all staff. But I depend on senior staff. And second to take account of the advice of others. And then third to be a faithful reporter of the facts and recommendations that I choose to make to my government.

Responding to a question about whether and how the Ambassador would use his close connections in the White House...

Amb. Baker: I am. To begin with, I am aware that I am the President's representative in Japan. I am his emissary. That's the way the title reads. And that's the way I present my credentials to the Emperor. I am the President's representative in Japan. But by the same token, I work within the context of a wonderful State Department and US Embassy in Japan. A great staff here from the Deputy Chief of Mission on through the hundreds of people who support this effort. So while I know the President well, I know his family well, I have known them for a long, long time and I count them personal friends, it is my full intention to work through this embassy and to transmit the thoughts and views I have directly through the system. By the way, Secretary Powell and I are great friends. He was National Security Advisor for President Reagan at the same time I was President Reagan's Chief of Staff. So we know each other very well. But it is not the usual practice of an ambassador to pick up the phone and call the Secretary of State, or to call the President of the United States, although both of them have offered to me, do that if you decide to. But it is my purpose to work through this embassy and to work through the channels of the Department of State, which is very capable.

Responding to a question about criticism of US opposition to the Kyoto Protocol...

Amb. Baker: Well, let me respond to the treaty and how I see it, and how our country sees it, I believe, rather than to what others say we see. Number one, it should be noted that the Kyoto treaty has been a controversial item since it was signed in 1997. President Bush announced then that he wished to reconsider and reexamine the treaty. I support that. I think that the objective of the treaty is absolutely right. That is to identify the things that are necessary to minimize the assault on the environment by a newly industrialized world. It's important to do, not just for greenhouse gases or for the destruction of the rainforests, but also for a thousand other things, including overpopulation in some areas and other things that are hard to identify. The welfare of the planet and its environment is paramount. But what we do, and do equally and evenhandedly, is more difficult to identify. I have no doubt in mind that President Bush is serious in his determination to reexamine the overall issue and that would include reexamining the language of the Kyoto treaty. He has said so - he repeated that at Camp David recently - I think it is the right course and I hope and I think that in the final analysis there will be forward movement on the matter of environmental protection. I would predict it probably someday still has the name Kyoto attached to it, but I would also guess that it will be significantly different from the language of the treaty as it presently exists.

Responding to a question about whether it didn't make the best sense for industrialized nations to take the lead in reducing greenhouse gases...

Amb. Baker: I have no quarrel with that. The question is how to fairly implement such a plan. And that is being reexamined now. And America has been in the vanguard of environmental improvement since the 1970s. We were first in the matter of demanding that automobiles be cleaned up, that catalytic converters be installed on the exhaust system, that new fuels be devised that would reduce the burden on steam plants to generate electricity, that you have limestone scrubbers to take CO2 out of the atmosphere. The United States has led in all these things, been in the vanguard of the development of the techniques. So it seems to me that the United States should not be thought of as dragging its foot on environmental quality, but rather questioning the appropriateness of a treaty that has never been submitted to the Senate for debate and consideration.

Responding to a question about whether or not the US would support Prime Minister Koizumi's economic reform plan...

Amb. Baker: The President said at Camp David that he embraced the reform movement as described by the Prime Minister. And the President of course will speak for himself. I imagine that he supports the Prime Minister in his general efforts to reform the structure and procedures of this economy so that the economy can move forward. America prospers when Japan prospers.

Responding to a question about the Ambassador's advice on how Prime Minister Koizumi should go about implementing his reforms...

Amb. Baker: On the bad loans themselves, all I will say is that we had a similar situation in the United States in the eighties with our Savings and Loan, and we did approach it with a variety of tools, but the principle one was a federal agency that in effect took over those bad loans and took them out of the bank, packaged them, and then managed to merchandise them, to sell them. They were at a discount, but they sold them. But it got the bad loans out of the banks and allowed the banks then once again to start making loans. One of the problems as I perceive it in Japan now is that there's a lot of money here and a lot of wealth her. But the banks are so loaned up that it's difficult for them to put money into new ventures. But once again America does not wish to tell you what to do, but rather to support what you decide to do.

Introducing the Ambassador's wife, Mrs. Nancy Baker...

Amb. Baker: I would like very much now to introduce my wife Nancy. Nancy is the light of my life, but she is also an extraordinarily capable person.

Mrs. Baker, responding to a question about what her interests are and what her role in Japan is likely to be...

Mrs. Baker: I think one thing that I need to understand first, you know, is what one can even do. But it's interesting to me, just as it is interesting at home, to realize how our social structures are changing. Demography is changing us as we are older societies, we're living longer. How the generations balance each other out, how that affects education and health care. So it's of great interest to me. How I engage here, I really don't know yet. But it's clearly something that I think is important to us all.

Ambassador Baker, responding to a question about the role he would like Mrs. Baker to play in Japan...

Amb. Baker: I want her to play whatever role she's willing to play. I think she has described a range of possibilities, but her experience and her abilities and her talents are so broad that I would predict that there are other opportunities that will present themselves. And she will discover them. But she is a remarkable woman. And she was a remarkable Senator and she will be remarkable here on post in Japan.

Mrs. Baker, responding to a question about the significance of getting married later in life...

Mrs. Baker: I suppose I wouldn't presume to give advice on a personal matter, but I think we were very fortunate to be able to combine interests and families in a way that has provided a nice companionship and a renewing challenge to our own creative thinking. It isn't always easy when we've been two independent people, but it has certainly kept life interesting. And I think that both of us would recognize that it's those kind of challenges that keep you young, really.

Ambassador Baker, offering his thoughts on the US-Japan relationship...

Amb. Baker: We have so much in common. It is so unique given our cultural differences and our background and history that we are so closely allied and such friends, that it's important that we recognize that and explain ourselves, and go forward to even greater things.