Miyazawa’s Spring Visit to U.S. Shelved : Diplomacy: The political climate may be too tense for another high-profile session soon between the Japanese prime minister and Bush.
WASHINGTON — Japan and the United States served notice Friday that they are shelving a planned visit here this spring by Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa, amid indications that the political climates may be too tense in both countries for another high-profile session between Miyazawa and President Bush.
Only a week ago, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Masamichi Hanabusa told The Times that Miyazawa intended to visit Washington in the next few months, most likely during Japan’s Golden Week in late April and early May.
But in Tokyo on Friday, Miyazawa told Japanese reporters that he might have to postpone the trip, and an aide was quoted as saying that Japan has been informed that Bush will be “very busy†with his political campaign this spring.
U.S. sources confirmed that any visit by the Japanese prime minister is probably off until July.
“A visit during Golden Week has been problematical from the White House point of view,†one U.S. official explained Friday. “The President has his own political schedule. And we have some reservations about having the prime minister here in the middle of the (American) primary season.â€
U.S. officials said there is no connection between the visit’s postponement and Miyazawa’s comments in the Japanese Parliament last Monday that “the work ethic is lacking†among recent American college graduates.
But in a broader sense, the new furor over Miyazawa’s remarks seems to have persuaded both governments that they should concentrate on low-key private diplomacy, instead of another highly publicized state visit.
Anything Bush says that sounds friendly or conciliatory to Japan could subject him to political criticism at home in an election year, while any Bush criticism of Japan could harm relations between the two countries.
Miyazawa, who faces political problems at home, is in much the same boat.
Bush’s policies toward Japan and his trip to Tokyo last month have been criticized both by Democratic candidates and by Patrick Buchanan, Bush’s challenger for the Republican nomination.
When Bush traveled to Tokyo last month, he carried along a delegation of American business executives who complained of restrictions on access by their companies to Japanese markets. Their criticisms caused some Japanese to complain about American highhandedness and arrogance.
Meanwhile, one American official Friday noted another possible reason for postponing a Miyazawa visit this spring: It would be too soon for Bush Administration officials to say there had been progress since the Tokyo trip.
No date had ever been set for a Miyazawa visit to Washington, and U.S. officials suggested Friday that the White House had never approved the idea of a trip this spring. “It seemed to loom larger on their end than on our end,†one Administration official said.
Miyazawa’s remark about the American work ethic followed comments by House Speaker Yoshio Sakurauchi, who said many American workers “can’t read and . . . don’t want to work.â€
At the same time, Tokyo has been upset by recent American actions aimed at restricting the ability of Japanese firms to do business in this country.
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