Editorials
Wednesday, July 3, 1996
Hawaii is only a pawn in U.S.-Japan air flap
LAST week's meeting between President Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto at the Group of Seven summit in France may have produced some as-yet undisclosed progress on issues dividing the two countries, but if so it did not include the decades-long tussle over airline rights. Now the diplomatic chess game has once again resulted in Hawaii being used as a pawn.
At stake is scheduled air service by Japan Airlines between Hiroshima and Honolulu. Washington has informed Tokyo that it would not approve the scheduled start-up tomorrow of the once-a-week service. In addition, JAL's daily service to Honolulu from Sendai, northeast of Tokyo, may be reduced. Meanwhile Japan refused to allow Northwest Airlines to fly from Osaka to Jakarta.
Negotiations broke off Friday after Washington supported United Airlines' position that no new Japan-U.S. services should be permitted until Japan approves additional flights that the U.S. says are allowed under the existing agreement between the two countries. United and Northwest are seeking additional routes between the U.S., Japan and other Asian points.
Hawaii only recently experienced the frustration of having air service curtailed by the ongoing dispute when Japan Air Lines' flights to Kona were delayed by more than a month, costing the Big Island hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. Governor Cayetano complained that Hawaii was being held hostage in the negotiations, but his complaint didn't change anything.
The same thing is happening again with the Hiroshima flights, and there is little that Hawaii officials can do. Here we go again. However, Japan Air Lines may resort to charter flights from Hiroshima until this dispute is settled.
If Prime Minister Hashimoto wanted to make a grand gesture to demonstrate his commitment to free trade he would drop the restrictions on American airlines, which would solve Hawaii's problem. But no Japanese leader is about to take such action - the Japanese government is still very much protectionist - and Hawaii has no choice but to continue playing the role of unwilling pawn.
Other editorials in brief:
Council musical chairs
CITY Councilman Andy Mirikitani won't be banished to the eighth floor of the Honolulu Hale tower after all. Instead he will move to the office previously occupied by Councilman Steve Holmes. This is the farthest of the Council offices from the room of Colleen Sakai, an aide to Chairman John DeSoto. The idea is to keep the two apart. Sakai last month filed a police report accusing Mirikitani of verbal harassment. Holmes will move to the office of Councilwoman Rene Mansho, who in turn will move to Mirikitani's office.
If the members of the City Council are really such menaces, perhaps more drastic action is warranted. The could, for example, hold office in their respective districts and conduct Council meetings by conference call. Or they could be voted out of office.
The Viper Militia
MILITIA activity has been tolerated as harmless game-playing by extremists armed to defend themselves against an imaginary "new world order" supposedly running the federal government. The Oklahoma City bombing showed that such paramilitary groups can be anything but harmless. Now authorities have arrested an Arizona group accused of planning similar violence. The handling of the investigation and the manner in which arrests were made showed that federal agencies have learned much from previous experiences with extremist elements.
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Rupert E. Phillips, CEO
John M. Flanagan, Editor & Publisher
David Shapiro, Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Frank Bridgewater & Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editors
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor