
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 20, 1994                   TAG: 9404200018
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: New York Times
DATELINE: TOKYO                                LENGTH: Medium

CONSERVATIVE CHOSEN AS PREMIER IN JAPAN

Leaders of Japan's ruling coalition settled Tuesday on Foreign Minister Tsutomu Hata as the next prime minister but remained divided over policies to end the recession and reopen trade talks with the United States.

Hata's selection was assured when his remaining rival, former foreign minister Michio Watanabe, withdrew.

But the continuing disputes between the conservative members of the coalition and the Socialists over economic policy could delay the formal naming of Hata, 58, a conservative and pragmatist who has refused even to declare his candidacy.

Even worse, the failure to agree on basic issues could presage more of the paralyzing infighting that characterized the last months of Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa's government, which was toppled 11 days ago because of Hosokawa's involvement in a financial scandal.

Hata defected from the Liberal Democratic Party last summer and was a founder of the current coalition. He favors a strong relationship with the United States but has opposed some of Washington's demands for greater access to Japanese markets.

Though he is the son of a prominent politician and has operated near the corruption-tainted center of power for a decade, Hata is an approachable man with a common touch who spent years working for a tour-bus company. He has also demonstrated an inclination to compromise and side with Japan's conservative bureaucracy.

Hata's greatest political achievement was his defection with a group of rebels from the Liberal Democratic Party, ending 38 years of one-party rule. He and the others insisted it was time to clean up politics and put Japan on a path toward economic deregulation.

The divisions within the coalition could be bad news for Washington, which has been eager for a strong government in Tokyo to deal with issues ranging from Japan's yawning trade surplus to North Korea's suspected nuclear weapon program.

Indeed, the infighting that surrounded Hata's selection made it clear the new government will not be able to quickly solve the problems that have brought relations between the world's two largest economies to their lowest ebb in years.

by CNB