"It hardly sounds that way." Tam was boiling. "The way it looks now, I set up a reorganization plan, then MITI's people come in and take over."
"Merely for consultation, Dr. Richardson. I assure you." He glanced uncomfortably at Mori-san. Both Tam and I had the same hunch at that point: Noda's backers had started to get a little edgy about his investments, so they'd decided to send in some brass from the Delta Force to keep an eye on things. But you'd never have suspected that as he continued, "Dr. Richardson, surely you must be aware that MITI personnel are not in the habit of, as you phrase it, 'taking over.' At most MITI merely recommends policies to enhance competitiveness. Furthermore, the individuals we will engage will no longer be associated with MITI. They will merely be specialists in our hire. Their participation will be extremely beneficial, please believe me."
"If making decisions like this is your idea of consensus, then I don't think much of it." Tam was getting increasingly wound up. "And I'll tell you something else. I intend to review the government connections of anyone you bring in. I'm going to have final say."
"We all want to work together," Noda continued smoothly. "Our plans are continuing to evolve. Of course I will insist on full American-Japanese coordination and cooperation at every stage." He looked squarely at Tam. "You have my word."
She glanced over at me, trying her best to keep cool. I was toying with my papers, still posing as a neutral observer, but I was equally puzzled. Why would Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry let its people be used to assist American companies? Okay, MITI's elite technocrats were probably the cream of Japan's management talent, but they already had their hands full.
More to the point, given MITI's sorry history of rule bending and economic guerrilla warfare, why would it now cooperate in Dai Nippon's plan to restructure the high-tech segment of U.S. manufacturing? I asked Noda point-blank.
"Mr. Walton, if you choose to see Japan and the U.S. as competitors, then I suppose you could regard this as our ancient tradition of 'giving salt to the enemy.'" He smiled awkwardly.
Bullshit. That's what I thought, not what I said, which was nothing.
Tam in the meantime had her own question to chew on. Mori had mentioned Ken Asano. Was he involved too? Since Mori had specifically named him as being on the MITI team that she or somebody now planned to enlist, was this a tip-off that Ken was in with them up to his neck? Was this the "trust" he'd talked about?
Since Tam looked as if she was getting ready to resign on the spot, I figured a little cooling-off time for everybody might be in order.