Asia-Pacific journalists discuss defense guideline issues> Concern among Asian countries about the revisions last month to the Japanese-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines has still not eased.
Despite a pledge by Tokyo and Washington to make the new defense arrangement transparent, journalists from across the region were skeptical during a forum held Tuesday and Wednesday in Tokyo. Eleven journalists discussed security matters at the Asia-Pacific Journalists Meeting, sponsored by the Foreign Press Center in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry and the Japan Foundation.
"The mistake (Japan and the U.S. made in revising the 1978 defense guidelines) is in its timing," said Thomas Plate, a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. Because Sino-Taiwanese relations have improved and Beijing's leadership has stabilized, Plate said the announcement of the new guidelines should have been shelved. Criticizing the guidelines for lacking transparency, Plate said such a bilateral alliance runs counter to the triangular diplomacy that is needed between Japan, China and the U.S.