PARIS — It was welcome news for the struggling government of Prime Minister Taro Aso that the Obama administration has given Japan a high priority in its foreign policy agenda. In mid-February, Hillary Rodham Clinton chose Japan as the first country to visit as U.S. secretary of state, and later that month, Aso became the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House by President Barack Obama.
But these gestures by Washington can hardly be said to have helped to shore up the shaky Tokyo government. The only tangible accomplishment during Clinton's stay in Tokyo was the agreement on relocating some U.S. Marine personnel and their dependents from Okinawa to Guam, which she signed with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone.
The Lower House of the Diet is expected to start deliberating the bill to approve the agreement this week. As the accord is opposed by the Democratic Party of Japan and other opposition groups, it is bound to become the most controversial issue in the current legislative session.