Tokyo - German Chancellor Angela Merkel Thursday tried to
convince Japan's opposition leader to back extending the military
mission in Afghanistan.
Ichiro Ozawa, head of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan,
told Merkel he opposed the extension of the mission to refuel ships
in the Indian Ocean, which expires on November 1, the party said in a
statement reported by Kyodo news agency.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government is having difficulty
convincing the opposition to agree to extend the special law to
continue the deployment.
'Japan's refueling mission contributes to German navy vessels, and
is also sought by the international community. I plan to explain
those things to the Democrats,' Abe said Thursday.
The Democratic Party of Japan gained control of the upper house
of parliament from Abe's ruling party Liberal Democratic Party in the
July 29 elections. Ozawa has argued that broader United Nations
authorization is needed for Japan to engage in the military mission.
Earlier Thursday Merkel, who arrived in Japan from China on
Wednesday, was received by Emperor Akihito before giving a speech on
climate control to business symposium.
The German chancellor wants to achieve worldwide obligatory
climatic protection goals by 2009, proposing concrete goals for
individual countries.
It isn't sufficient if each country says it is doing as much as it
can, said Merkel. in her speech, adding that what is needed are
'qualifable reduction goals' to decrease carbon dioxide.
For the first time Merkel called for the reduction of greenhouse
gases by developing countries such as China and India, saying that
in the long-term the carbon dioxide output per head of the population
in developing countries is not to rise more than in industrialized
nations.
The industrialized countries should try to decrease their energy
consumption which would also involve dropping the carbon dioxide
output per head, said Merkel.
The developing countries therefore have the task to use
'intelligent growth' and not let their pollutant output rise so fast.
On Wednesday, Merkel and Abe and pledged that their countries
would be at the vanguard of efforts towards the reduction of
greenhouse gases.
During her three-day stay in Japan the German chancellor is also
to visit Kyoto and Osaka.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
USA
Your Talkback on this Story