The Obama Administration is so desperate for Japanese and Chinese investment funds because they probably sense the stimulus may be a failure. Hillary even broke with diplomatic protocol and met with the Japanese opposition party hoping to get some loyalty and money from them. Japan came back with a "We're broke" story that they announced to th media. They said they had the biggest dropoff in 35 years.
Pretty smart way of doing this though.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/02/16/2009-02-16_secretary_of_state_hillary_clinton_cause.htmlSecretary of State Hillary Clinton causes stir with plan to meet with opposition leader in Japan
By Richard Sisk
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Monday, February 16th 2009, 7:18 PM
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WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Clinton's plan to meet in Tokyo with an opposition leader caused a political stir in Japan yesterday in the midst of a ruling party scandal over an allegedly tipsy finance minister.
Breaking with protocol, Clinton said that Ichiro Ozawa, head of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, would be included in a round of meetings Tuesday beginning with Prime Minister Taro Aso of the Liberal Democratic Party.
Ozawa was among those calling for the resignation of Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who slurred his words and appeared to nod off at a Rome economic summit over the weekend attended by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.
As video of his behavior played endlessly on Japanese TV, Nakagawa admitted to having some wine but denied "heavy drinking." He said he hadn't been feeling well and may have taken too much cold medicine, according to Kyodo News.
Clinton picked Japan as the first stop on her debut overseas trip to the Far East to shore up Japan's posture as the top U.S. ally in the region.
Clinton will also be traveling on hereight-day tour to Indonesia, South Korea and China, where she plans a town hall meeting in Beijing that could be troubling to her hosts.
Clinton has warned North Korea against any "provocative action" during her trip, but Pyongyang appeared to be making preparations for a test launch of a long-range missile.
In Tokyo, the Clinton-Ozawa meeting was expected to boost the opposition in elections later this year against Aso, who has approval ratings in the teens.
The Nakagawa incident complicated the ruling party's problems.