Obama, Aso agree to boost ties, work hand-in-hand to spur economy

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 Kyodo - U.S. President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso agreed in
their first meeting Tuesday to strengthen the bilateral alliance and do their
utmost to spur the world economy's recovery, while warning North Korea against
action that aggravate tension in the region amid its threats of a missile test,
Japanese government officials said.

Lauding Japan as a ''great partner'' in taking up global issues and reassuring
Tokyo that the bilateral alliance is the ''cornerstone'' of security in East
Asia, Obama welcomed Japan's intention to play a greater role in assistance for
Afghan reconstruction and in neighboring Pakistan.
On joining hands as the world's two largest economies to tackle the global
financial meltdown, Obama and Aso committed to resisting protectionism and
working to maintain global confidence in the U.S. dollar, but discussed no
concrete ways of doing so, according to the officials.
At the outset of the talks, Obama said the invitation of Aso as his first
foreign leader guest at the White House is ''testimony to the strong
partnership between the United States and Japan'' and that his administration
hopes to strengthen their alliance.
But expectations for concrete results from the talks were low, with the
Japanese premier's support ratings having plunged to critical levels at home
and many believing he may be unable to cling to power much longer.
While satisfying Japan's eagerness to realize an early meeting of the two
leaders, Washington appeared low-key and less enthusiastic than Tokyo regarding
the occasion.
Despite strong wishes from Japan, the White House declined to arrange for a
joint press conference after the talks, unlike in past visits by Japanese prime
ministers, Japanese officials said. Also, no lunch or dinner events were hosted
aside of the 80-minute meeting.
The talks came shortly before Obama was to address a joint session of Congress
to outline his domestic and foreign policy agenda.
Aso, who stressed that it is necessary for the two countries to work
''hand-in-hand'' to tackle the financial crisis, told reporters afterwards,
''We discussed the importance of figuring out how to maintain confidence in the
U.S. dollar as the key currency as any damage would bring grave impact.''
Obama and Aso agreed to work closely and urgently to stimulate demand at home
and abroad, help other countries respond to the global crisis, unfreeze credit
markets, and seek concrete results from the Group of 20 economic summit to be
held in London in April, the White House said in a press secretary statement.
To demonstrate Tokyo's support for the U.S.-led fight against terrorism in
Afghanistan, for which Obama recently approved an additional deployment of
17,000 troops, Aso said Japan will soon appoint Ambassador to Spain Motohide
Yoshikawa as special envoy to take part in a U.S. review of its comprehensive
strategy on Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Yoshikawa is expected to visit the United States next month to meet his U.S.
counterpart, Richard Holbrooke, to better coordinate aid and other assistance
in Afghanistan, the Japanese officials said.
Aso told Obama that Japan will host a donor conference on Pakistan in April.
Japan considers Pakistan a ''front-line state'' in fighting terrorism in
neighboring Afghanistan.
But given the domestic political turmoil and the constraints of Japan's
pacifist Constitution, such as on the use of force and weapons by the country's
Self-Defense Forces, critics said it will be difficult for Aso to commit to
personnel dispatches as former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi did in Iraq for
Obama's predecessor George W. Bush.
On North Korea, Obama and Aso agreed it is necessary to not only deal with the
nuclear standoff but also comprehensively handle Pyongyang's missile threats
and abductions of Japanese citizens.
To that end, Aso and Obama reaffirmed close cooperation at the stalled
six-party talks, which also involve North and South Korea, China and Russia, to
verifiably eliminate North Korea's nuclear program, the officials said.
Amid signs that North Korea is preparing to test-fire an improved version of
its Taepodong-2 ballistic missile, Aso said he also discussed with Obama how
best to coordinate an immediate response should the North actually do so.
Japan, which was upset last year when then President Bush erased North Korea
from a list of state sponsors of terrorism before the North had fully addressed
the abduction issue, was believed also to have sought Obama's cooperation on
pressing Pyongyang to reinvestigate and come clean on the dozen or more
unresolved kidnapping cases.
Global warming was also on the agenda, an issue on which the two allies now
have much closer positions than during Bush's presidency. Obama and Aso agreed
to work together to form a post-2012 global emissions cut protocol.
With Obama emphasizing clean energy technology, he and Aso agreed to discuss
details of Japan's proposal to combine the two countries' expertise such as to
further develop new alternative forms of energy and promote the use of hybrid
and other next generation vehicles.
The aim is to help create jobs in both countries while reducing carbon
emissions, the Japanese officials said.
Obama underscored his firm commitment to the Japan-U.S. security alliance and
the leaders agreed to steadily implement a roadmap to realign the U.S. military
presence in Japan by 2014 to reduce local burdens, as stipulated in an
agreement the two countries' foreign ministers signed when Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton visited Japan last week.
After the talks with Obama, Aso met former senior U.S. officials, including
John Hamre, the president of Washington's Center for Strategic and
International Studies, and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard
Armitage.
Aso then paid tribute at Arlington National Cemetery and met Hawaii Sen. Daniel
Inouye before leaving for Tokyo in the evening.
The beleaguered prime minister, just five months into office, arrived in
Washington Monday night with his approval ratings having plunged to critically
low levels, at 13.4 percent in a Kyodo News poll, and the Japanese economy
suffering from its worst crisis since World War II.
Calls from not only the opposition but also within his own ruling coalition
have been mounting for him to step down or call an early general election,
which may end the Liberal Democratic Party's more than half-century in power.
Growing anxiety within the LDP about losing a general election this year became
all the more clear when one Cabinet minister suggested Tuesday in Tokyo that
Aso reshuffle the Cabinet to regain public support.
==Kyodo