President Clinton began a state visit to Japan on Tuesday, seeking a new era of ex-panded security ties while wary of pushing Tokyo beyond the bounds of its pacifist constitution.
Clinton arrived in light rain and with little ceremony from Seoul, where he and President Kim Young-sam invited North Korea and China to join the United States and South Korea in talks on bringing peace to the divided peninsula.In Tokyo, regional security is also at the top of the agenda. The president's national security adviser, Anthony Lake, said the scene was set for a successful summit by Monday's announcement that 11 U.S. military facilities would be closed or reduced in size on the restive southern Japan island of Okinawa.
But Lake made clear the cutbacks must not lead to a drop in U.S. forces, either in Japan or the rest of Asia, because a pullback would create a vacuum that could set off an arms race.
"Maintaining this presence in the long term is very much in the interest of everybody, the United States, Japan, China, South Korea, because if we were to withdraw them, it would create a vacuum . . . that could only be filled by an arms race which could include China, Korea, Japan and others," Lake said.
In a security trade-off, the United States has agreed to streamline its military presence in Okinawa while Japan will cooperate more closely with the United States in protecting the security of the region. In practical terms, Japan will provide military supplies for U.S. forces in peacetime and has agreed to study such a possibility in wartime.
The base consolidations will give back to Okinawans 20 percent of land the U.S. military has occupied on the island.
Trade disputes between the two economic superpowers were expected to be largely set aside. Laura Tyson, chair of Clinton's National Economic Council, said Clinton would talk about trade with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto but detailed discussion would be left to negotiators.
Japan did announce streamlined rules for U.S. timber imports Tuesday, recognizing a U.S. lumber association standard for wood imports just hours before Clinton arrived. "This is a good way to get this day started," U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter F. Mondale said at a ceremony in Tokyo.
The agreement, which is expected to expand the market for U.S. timber in Japan, was about 20 years in the making, according to head of the Western Wood Products Association, Robert Hunt.
Police mobilized their biggest ever force to protect a foreign leader but said that even without the rain they did not expect big demonstrations during Clinton's stay, which lasts until Thursday.
Clinton then leaves for Russia, where he will attend a nuclear safety and security summit featuring Russian President Boris Yelt-sin as well as leaders of Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada and Japan.
Afterward, Clinton and Yeltsin will hold a one-day summit to discuss Bosnia and NATO expansion.