'The Cold War has ended, but we're still in that mode'

Image via Wikipedia

David McNeill

With a sweeping victory for the DPJ now a fact, party leader Yukio Hatoyama is certain to replace Taro Aso as Japan's leader. The scion of a conservative dynasty and the grandson of a former prime minister, the 62-year-old former academic has raised conservative hackles by promising what he calls a "new deal" in economic, environmental and defence policies, switching government emphasis from big business to consumers and ending Japan's traditional subservience to the US military.

"The Cold War has ended, along with the direct threat from Russia, but we're still in Cold War mode," he told The Independent. "In my home constituency of Hokkaido [in the north of Japan] there are still lots of tanks prepared to counter a Russian invasion. We're being told to show the flag in Afghanistan and put boots on the ground in Iraq, but are we really making a genuine contribution if we just go along with what America says?"

'The Cold War has ended, but we're still in that mode' - Asia, World - The Independent

Related articles by Zemanta

• Miyuki Hatoyama is a wife to break the mould of Japanese first ladies (telegraph.co.uk)