Editing 78-07-A3 (section)

= Japan III =

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=== Transcript ===
Renewing the acquaintance of Prime Minister Fukuda of Japan,
former Prime Minister Kishi, leaders of the majority party, members
of the cabinet and legislature and, of course, meeting some government
officials for the first time was an enjoyable and rewarding experience
for me. On one evening we had dinner with some half-a-hundred members
of both houses of the Diet--the Japanese congress.

It was a remarkable experience. We each had a microphone and
headset for the lengthy question-and-answer session so there was
instant two-way translation. For many it was unnecessary because
they spoke our language. This was true of the other individual meetings
also, though an interpreter was present for some. In my speaking
engagements we simplified the process by providing Japanese language
copies of my remarks to everyone present. I'll guarantee you I didn't
do any ad-libbing on those occasions. But I couldn't help notice
how many in the audience were obviously listening and understanding
what I said without referring to the text.

In all these meetings one topic was uppermost in the mind of
each person I met. That is, is the United States withdrawing from the
Western Pacific? They quoted statements by our leaders, which seemed
to indicate such a withdrawal was possible. They brought up our troop
withdrawal from South Korea, the talk o f normalizing relations with
the mainland of China at the expense of Taiwan, and the growing
strength of the Soviet navy in the Northwest Pacific.

These were not uninformed citizens worrying about things they
had read in the paper. These were leaders of a nation of 115 million
people. And since World War II have depended on the United States for
its national security. This was a responsibility we assumed in return
for Japan's disarming and disavowing militarism.

I was to meet this same question in other countries friendly to
us, but deeply concerned about a U.S. foreign policy that seems unrealistic
and incomprehensible to them. I tried to tell them of polls
showing that Americans want an improvement in our military capability,
that the American people do not support a policy that would abrogate
our treaty with the Republic of China on Taiwan and that our people
want us to maintain a presence in South Korea. On that last point I
had my fingers crossed because frankly I wonder if our government does
intend to maintain such a presence or, for that matter, pay attention
to the expressed desire of the people.

It was frustrating to hear national leaders friendly to the
United States asking for some assurance that our country has the will
to accept leadership of the free world. And they made it very plain
there was no other nation with the strength to do so if we abdicated
that responsibility.

Our presence in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines is
absolutely essential to the stability of the Western Pacific and,
actually, to peace and freedom in the world. We must be prepared to
maintain the Seventh fleet at a level of strength capable of keeping
the sea level open in the northern Pacific and in the Indian Ocean.
Do our own leaders understand that?

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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=== Details ===
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<TR><TD WIDTH="150">Batch Number</TD><TD WIDTH="150">{{PAGENAME}}</TD></TR>
<TD>Production Date</TD><TD>05/15/[[Radio1978|1978]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Book/Page</TD><TD>[[Radio_Commentary_Books#Reagan:_In_His_Own_Hand|RihoH-114]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Audio</TD><TD></TD></TR>
<TD>Youtube?</TD><TD>No</TD></TR>
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===Added Notes===

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