TOKYO — Tuesday's summit between President Clinton and Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi--a meeting of two politically wounded leaders discussing a crippled Japanese economy--represents a bid to forge a beachhead against global recession.
The United States is now one of the only economic bright spots in a shaky world financial system, and halting the slide in the Japanese economy, the world's second largest, is essential to stemming the threat of contagion.
Obuchi enters the meeting, to be held in a former Rockefeller mansion in Tarrytown, N.Y., north of New York City, with several cards in hand. Japan has cut taxes and interest rates, pumped billions into stimulating its economy and on Friday secured a long-awaited political deal to fix its banking crisis.
Washington pushed hard for the banking bill, which analysts hope signals the end of Japan's denial stage and the beginning of a concerted effort to tackle its $650 billion to $1 trillion in bad bank debt, which has chilled confidence from the sushi shops of Tokyo to the sake bars of Osaka.
"We believe that in the recent legislation, Japan has taken an important first step," Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Sunday at a news conference in New York after meeting with senior Japanese officials. "Obviously, what will be important is how it's implemented."
Implementation is the watchword, amid signs today that the deal is already starting to unravel.
For Clinton, the planned four-hour break from his ongoing travails is likely to be a welcome relief and a reminder that there remains more to the U.S. presidency than tabloids and tapes. For Obuchi, it's a chance to leave behind his low and declining domestic popularity ratings, now around 21%, amid accusations he gave too much to political opponents in forging Friday's bank bailout deal.
Clinton is likely to query Obuchi on prospects for speeding up Japan's recovery process. The U.S. administration has repeatedly outlined a three-step program of fiscal stimulus, financial reform and deregulation to ease Japan's ills.
But Clinton won't be too tough, analysts say. Both leaders need friends right now, and, having let his lieutenants keep up pressure on Japan in recent weeks, these observers continue, Clinton can now play nice guy and openly support the Asian nation's efforts and its new prime minister.
