Tokyo Must Stick to Its Promises : Facing the U.S. trade issue is no less crucial now

Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa’s sudden decision to resign should not be used by Tokyo as an excuse to back away from his promise to have a package of measures to open Japan’s markets soon. But the unexpected political turmoil will understandably make it more difficult to deliver such a plan before July, when the Group of Seven leading industrial countries holds its annual summit.

The need to fulfill that promise--with or without Hosokawa--is more pressing than ever as the world, not just the United States, watches. Reformist Hosokawa unfortunately fell short in delivering bombshell changes during his eight months in office, but he did manage to set Japan on a course of change, politically and economically. A slide back to the status quo could further derail U.S.-Japan efforts to create a new framework for trade.

It is unfortunate that Hosokawa could not get out from under the taint of the money scandals that brought down three of his predecessors. In his surprise announcement Friday, Hosokawa said he was leaving office to take responsibility for the controversy surrounding his personal finances, in particular accusations that many years ago he received an illicit $952,000 payment. The Liberal Democratic Party, which in last July’s elections lost power after 38 years, was demanding greater disclosure. Hosokawa admitted to no wrongdoing but he acknowledged that “legal problems” had been discovered recently.

The LDP, long criticized for its cozy relations with rich supporters and business, suddenly and conveniently became a champion of rooting out corruption. Interesting that Hosokawa’s finances posed no problem to the LDP until after he secured passage of political reform, opened the rice market, pushed deregulation and earned praise in Japan for standing up to recent U.S. trade demands.

What happened to Hosokawa had much to do with internal Japanese politics. But should the political turmoil spill over into stalling Japanese trade initiatives, Japan’s economic and global interests might suffer.

U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor and Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata are scheduled to meet next week in the highest public contact since U.S.-Japan trade talks fell through in February. The meeting, if it is held, could take on more significance because Hata has been discussed as perhaps the leading candidate to succeed Hosokawa.

Hosokawa has been an agent of change in a time of real, if unspectacular, political transition. Can Japan continue in that direction?