TOKYO - The new Japanese prime minister will not be coming to the Shanghai Expo but will send his predecessor in his stead, a move which leaves him more time to choose a destination for his first state visit, possibly China or the US.

Japan's NHK television reported on Tuesday that Naoto Kan will send former prime minister Yukio Hatoyama as a special representative to "Japan Day" at the Shanghai Expo. Kan's soonest overseas trip is likely to be a G8 trip to Canada this month.

Hatoyama's visit, starting Saturday, was set before his abrupt resignation on June 2 and it is speculated that Kan will keep the arrangement.

The Japanese government was against the Expo trip because there would be no talks between Kan and Chinese leaders, which would give his diplomatic debut "lack impact," Kyodo News quoted government sources.

On the other hand, the US has vowed solid support for Kan, who agreed to cooperate with the US on relocating the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Base within Okinawa Prefecture, in sharp contrast to Hatoyama, who clashed with the US on the issue.

Though media see Kan's first state visit as a weather vane for his diplomatic policies, Japan studies expert Liu Jiangyong with Tsinghua University says that's overanalyzing the situation.

"I can understand Kan doesn't want to make a hasty foreign visit with so many tasks back at home. That doesn't mean he doesn't value relations with China," he said.

"Actually, the first country a Japanese prime minister first visits after taking office is not necessarily the country he attaches most importance to, but more likely the country with the most serious problems with Japan," he said.

Asked to comment on the frequent Japanese power shifts, which has seen six PMs in five years, Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said it is "inconvenient for China to interfere in Japan's domestic affairs" yet expressed hope on the relationship staying stable under the Kan administration.

Also on Tuesday, Kan appointed a cabinet aimed at clipping the wings of a scandal-tainted party power broker and tackling the nation's huge public debt as his party prepares for a looming election.

The 17-member new cabinet retained 11 ministers, with Katsuya Okada and Toshimi Kitazawa, who served as foreign minister and defense minister respectively in Hatoyama's cabinet, remaining in their previous roles.

An NHK survey showed Kan's support neared an astonishing 70 percent yesterday, much higher than Hatoyama's less than 20 percent before his resignation.

"The new cabinet largely stays stable, as in the Hatoyama administration, to guarantee the continuation of DPJ policies," said Liu Jiangyong.

"And another highlight is obvious signs of efforts to get rid of the influence of Ichiro Ozawa," he added.

Many in the cabinet roster are critics of party power broker Ichiro Ozawa, whose campaign skills were widely seen as helping the Democrats win last year's election but whose image as an old-style wheeler-dealer has become a liability.

One new face in Kan's cabinet is Renho Murata, a former model and television announcer who won attention last year for her tough questioning of bureaucrats.

The 42-year-old Murata is the first Japanese cabinet member with Chinese origins. Her father was a merchant from Taiwan and her mother was Japanese.

Murata will take charge of administrative reform, giving her a leading role in the Democrats' pledge to shift power from elite bureaucrats to elected politicians.

With two years of Chinese language study at Peking University, Renho is active in pushing forward China-Japan communication.

Gao Hong, deputy head of Japan studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, believed Renho would be a positive role in China-Japan relations.

But there are also concerns in China that Renho's support for Taiwan independence will negatively impact the DPJ's China policies given her high position inside the party.

Among pending appointments, Kan is expected to nominate Uichiro Niwa, 71, a top businessman who started to do business with China in the 1980s, as ambassador to China.

This would be the first time Japan has picked a civilian as ambassador after World War II.

"It's a rare arrangement it shows that Kan is seeking breakthroughs in relations with China and wants to forge a flexible and vigorous image in diplomacy," said Gao Hong.

Ma Liyao, AP contributed to the story

Reuters?- China Daily

(China Daily 06/09/2010 page11)