By Zhang Hua

    TOKYO, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda came back home Thursday after his four-day Europe tour, which took him to Germany, Britain and Italy. During the trip, Fukuda met respectively with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on the sidelines of the U.N. food summit in Rome.

    As the talks were the first ones between Fukuda and the European leaders, some Japanese media dubbed Fukuda's tour as "meeting diplomacy."

    PREPARES FOR G8 SUMMIT

    One of the main objectives of Fukuda's tour was to coordinate with European leaders and to seek their support for the upcoming Group of Eight summit which Japan will host early next month in Hokkaido. As the host country, Japan is undoubtedly aspiring for dominance at the summit.

    Since host venue rotates through members of the G8, Japan, which has been seeking political power with the capacity of the world's No. 2 economy, has waited eight years for the opportunity to convene leaders of the other seven most developed nations and wage its influence on issues to be talked at the summit.

    From the angle of domestic politics, to ensure leadership at the summit has to be one of the top priorities on Fukuda's agenda since he has to win back public trust through good performances on diplomacy.

    Fukuda's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been grinded by the contorted parliament, whose two houses are controlled by the LDP and the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan respectively ever since the LDP lost the Upper House election last July. Several important bills were blocked due to the opposition block's refusal to cooperate. The approval rate for the Fukuda Cabinet slid continuously to the dangerous level of 20 percent in May.

    In such a severe situation, Fukuda counts on scoring in foreign affairs. His Cabinet pulled off praise for having improved ties with neighboring countries following visits to Japan by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in April and Chinese President Hu Jintao in May. More diplomatic achievement at the G8 summit would be much helpful to the Fukuda administration.

    GARNERS UNDERSTANDING ON HOT ISSUES

    Fukuda held talks with U.S. President George W. Bush in November and Russian leaders, President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in April. Up to now, Fukuda has met leaders of six countries of the other seven fellow G8 members.

    According to Japan's tentative plan, this G8 summit would concentrate on climate change, and rising oil and food prices. Fukuda took with him the topics to Europe and won general support from the four European leaders.

    For example, Merkel and Brown both agreed that the G8 should send out positive signals on the issues, and Berlusconi, in echoing Fukuda's proposal, called on the body to provide tangible resolutions.

    About the post-Kyoto framework of reducing the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, leaders of Germany, Britain and France upheld Japan's position which proposes bringing rising countries into the new framework.

    Berlusconi promised all-rounded cooperation for the success of the summit and expressed interests in Fukuda's suggestion of establishing an international supervision mechanism aimed at preventing speculation in food markets.

    During a meeting with Fukuda on the sidelines of the food summit, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon encouraged the Japanese PM by saying Japan bears historical and political responsibilities in the cause of dealing with global warming.

    DIFFERENCES REMAIN

    However, the support gained by Fukuda during the tour of "meeting diplomacy" were principled and general. On issues involving national interests, especially on the issue of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Japan and its European friends still stood apart.

    Germany and Britain called on Japan to adopt the GHG emissions trading system, but Fukuda avoided direct reply as the system is strongly opposed in Japan's steel and power sectors.

    About the medium-term goal of GHG emissions reduction, the target of 20 percent was agreed among the European Union members, while Japan said it's inadvisable to set a clear target at the early stage. After meeting with Merkel, Fukuda mentioned Japan's intent to release its medium- to long-term reduction guidelines prior to the G8 summit, but without specific figures. Japanese media pointed out that British and German leaders must be unsatisfied with Japan's vagueness on the issue.

    In an effort to control the leadership in drawing the post-Kyoto framework, Japan put forward the "sectoral approach," which has aroused wide criticism from developing countries since the measure could disturb the "common but differentiated responsibilities."

    When Fukuda boasted of having obtained "basic understanding of major countries" on the approach and sought Britain's support, Brown only gave "positive evaluation of Japan's efforts." Japanese media said Fukuda received cold shoulder from his British counterpart.

    About expanding the scope of the G8 summit, Japan stood on the opposite with France. During the bilateral meeting, Sarkozy said it's necessary to enlarge the G8 in accordance with the change of international situation, while Fukuda expressed caution on the issue, insisting that the G8 is a "precious and meaningful" place for leaders of "a few leading countries which bear common significant responsibilities for the world" to exchange ideas.

    Japanese media said distinct and persisting differences prevented Fukuda's Europe tour of "meeting diplomacy" from transcending the level of "meeting," and the prime minister himself must have learned the difficulties in coordinating various positions among Japan's G8 partners.