Cablegate: Demarche Regarding Secretary General of The

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OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKO #0323 0380637
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 070637Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1577
INFO RUEHAB/AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN 0051
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 1959
RUEHUJA/AMEMBASSY ABUJA 0026
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 4390
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 2265
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO 0636
RUEHKL/AMEMBASSY KUALA LUMPUR 1859
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI 8449
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 5975
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 2051
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE 7122
RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0017
RUEHOS/AMCONSUL LAGOS 0104

UNCLAS TOKYO 000323

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EIND JA
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE REGARDING SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE
INTERNATIONAL RUBBER STUDY GROUP

REF: STATE 10729

1. Econ Officer delivered demarche points contained in ref
on February 6 to METI Deputy Director of Chemical Industries
Yoshinao Ogawa. Ogawa was aware of the U.S. concerns, but
indicated METI would need to review the situation further
before establishing an official position. He also noted he
might contact his Department of Commerce counterpart to
discuss the issue further.

2. Ogawa noted that due to scheduling problems Japan would
be represented at the 2/12-13 meeting by local Embassy
representatives. Specifically, Mr. Murakami (MOFA) on day 1
and Mr. Totoki (METI) on day 2. He regretted that he would
be unable to attend, and acknowledged that this situation
placed a greater burden on METI to prepare clear positions
and instructions in advance of the meeting.

3. Concerning the IRSG Secretary General, Ogawa sympathized
with U.S. concerns, but expected the European IRSG members to
have other views. He would like to hear those views before
reaching any conclusions. Recognizing the timing, he said he
would seek further input to develop a position before the
meeting.

4. Concerning the U.S. position, Ogawa showed Econoff an
email covering some of the same concerns that he had received
some months ago and asked why the U.S. representative had not
followed up with him directly. Suggesting that it may have
been because of the need to reach all of the members with a
consistent message, we encouraged him to reach out to USG
counterparts to discuss details further.

5. Asked about Japanese views, Ogawa indicated the GOJ
shares some of the U.S. concerns in principle. As for
Japanese industry, they seem concerned by the possibility the
U.S., if sufficiently dissatisfied with the group, might also
pull out thereby reducing further the IRSG's ability to
provide meaningful data and reports. He added that, in
addition to encouraging the UK and Indonesia to rejoin,
Japanese industry would very much like to see China become a
member of the group.
DONOVAN

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