Emperor to grant exceptional audience to Chinese Vice President Xi+

TOKYO, Dec. 11 Kyodo -
The Imperial Household Agency announced Friday that Emperor Akihito will meet
with Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, an arrangement finalized
after considerable wrangling over the political implications of the decision.

According to the government, the exceptional meeting was arranged in light of
the importance of bilateral relations.
A written request is customarily submitted for the agency to arrange a meeting
with the emperor at least one month before. But China made the request on Nov.
26.
Shingo Haketa, chief of the agency, told a news conference that he received the
request from Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano and told him that granting
a meeting ''will generate considerable concern about the role of his majesty
(as a symbol of state).''
The agency was thought to be initially reluctant to accept the request because
it would go against the rule of protocol.
Asked if it would lead to political exploitation of the emperor, Haketa told
the press conference he cannot brush aside such a view, saying, ''I feel pain
(about the development).''
According to Article 4 of the Constitution, the emperor ''shall not have powers
related to government.''
Hirano told a regular press conference that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had
asked him earlier this week if he could help to arrange the meeting for Xi, who
Hatoyama described as ''an important figure in Japan-China relations.''
Xi is widely considered in line to succeed President Hu Jintao and is scheduled
to visit Japan for three days from Monday.
During telephone conversations with Hirano, Haketa said he had expressed his
unwillingness to ask the emperor to meet with the Chinese vice president based
on ''a political decision.''
Rebutting the contention, Hatoyama told reporters in the evening, ''I don't
think the emperor is being used for a political purpose.''
Hatoyama said he had hoped that the emperor would meet with Xi if his health
allows him to do so, as he believes such meetings would only help to improve
Japan's relations with other countries.
Hirano, the top government spokesman, also said that he assumes that the
emperor has determined that the meeting with Xi would help to deepen the
bilateral relationship.
Japanese government sources told Kyodo News earlier in the day that China had
requested that an exception be made to the rule of protocol to allow the
meeting, as Beijing apparently believed Xi would lose face if he failed to meet
the emperor during his trip and relevant officials could be asked to take
responsibility.
Speculation is rife that Ichiro Ozawa, secretary general of the ruling
Democratic Party of Japan, who is pursuing closer relations with China and
other Asian countries, also pushed for the meeting.
The DPJ's No. 2 is believed to have wielded influence over the government's
policymaking ever since the Cabinet was launched in mid-September.
Ozawa met with Hu in Beijing on Thursday as part of regular exchanges between
the DPJ and the Chinese Communist Party, whose general secretary is Hu.
Hatoyama denied that Ozawa had influenced his decision on the matter while
adding that he had been aware of the one month rule.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya told a senior Japanese Embassy
official in Beijing earlier this month that the success of Xi's upcoming visit
hinges on whether he can meet the emperor, according to the sources.
==Kyodo
2009-12-11 23:18:47