(* This is a provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only. The original text is in Japanese.)

Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuya Okada

Date: Tuesday, August 31, 2010, 5:35 p.m.
Place: MOFA Press Conference Room

Main topics:

Opening Remarks
- (1) Visits to China and Mongolia and Participation in Third Japan-China High-Level Economic Dialogue
US Military Realignment Issue
North Korean Issue
Natural Resources Diplomacy in Central Asia
Visit to Germany
Objection to Newspaper Article
Entry of Visiting Aircraft to Kadena Air Base
Assistance to Afghanistan
Monetary Policy (Yen Appreciation)
Sanctions against Iran

1. Opening Remarks

(1) Visits to China and Mongolia and Participation in Third Japan-China High-Level Economic Dialogue

Minister Okada: It seems like it has been a while, but I have two announcements.
   The first announcement is about the high-level consultations on economic affairs – the economic dialogue – held recently in China, and the next announcement is about my visit to Mongolia, when I paid a courtesy call on the president and held a meeting with the foreign minister. The details have already been announced, so I have nothing in particular to add to that. But I would like to say that, starting with my official visits to Vietnam and Laos that followed a series of ASEAN-related conferences at the end of July, I have visited eight countries in the past month or so, including Vietnam, Laos, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan – the Third Foreign Ministers’ Meeting of the “Central Asia Plus Japan” Dialogue is also included here – as well as India, Thailand, China, and Mongolia. While these are all countries in the same region of Asia, I believe that these exchanges of opinions were very fruitful.
   Although the Diet was in recess during this period, the visits were physically quite grueling. But there were some countries where it was the first time for a Japanese foreign minister to visit in four years or six years, so I came to realize once again that the Japanese Foreign Minister needs to visit Asian countries more frequently.
   In addition, I am scheduled to visit Germany this weekend. I plan to hold talks with Foreign Minister Westerwelle focusing on topics related to the UN Security Council (UNSC) and hope that the meeting will be meaningful. It appears that I will be spending two nights on the airplane. It will be the first time that I will not be staying at a hotel, but I hope to make this trip a meaningful one.

2. US Military Realignment Issue

Nakaima, Ryukyu Shimpo: I would like to ask a question about Futenma. I think that a detailed description of the flight routes was held off in the report issued today. Please tell us the reason for the hold.

Minister: I think that I told this earlier during the doorstepping interview. I am aware that there are proposals that the Government of Japan has presented so far, or that they exist, but they are not necessarily shared by Japan and the United States. Moreover, I think that there will be additional factors. There is also debate on what to do about the Ospreys that I mentioned earlier. We are not saying that we plan not to bring various things out into the open. I believe that it is necessary for Japan and the United States to discuss various possibilities honestly and thoroughly and give a straightforward explanation to the people of Okinawa who are directly involved in the matter. Ambassador Roos and I came to agree on this point during our meetings. Although it would have been the best if we could have presented (the detailed description of the flight routes), there are some points that still need to be worked out, so frankly speaking, at this moment, we cannot present something that is specific, and thus did not present it in the report. We hope to work out arrangements between Japan and the United States and make a presentation at some point.

Nakaima, Ryukyu Shimpo: With regard to the issue of the flight routes, Japan and the United States apparently could not reach an agreement, but with regard to the runways, the report includes plans advocated by the two sides. Please tell us whether it may have been possible to include in the report the ideas of the two sides with regard to the flight routes in the same manner. Also, I believe that in the process of gaining the understanding of the people of Okinawa in the future, it would be easier to gain their understanding by disclosing various information. Please tell us the reasons for not including the ideas of the two sides in the report in spite of that.

Minister: As I said, we need to take various factors into consideration, but this is primarily about helicopter flight routes. So, we have to consider what is tolerable in terms of operations. What I mean by tolerable here is in reference to the problem of aircraft noise or the problem of aircraft flying close to residential areas. There are some differences between Japan and the United States on such points. From our standpoint, the US Government once agreed on what the Government of Japan had so far presented, although I am not quite sure about that because that took place before the change in government. Nevertheless, that is the briefing I received from officials, but the United States is apparently saying that they have not necessarily agreed on such things. Therefore, I believe that instead of getting hung up on past circumstances, we should once again hold thorough discussions on specific topics. We are not trying to hide anything; it is just that we could not do it in time. Of course, since this is a technical study and we still have time until we finalize it, we will present the flight routes by the upcoming 2+2 meeting. I think that such matters as whether the current environmental assessment will be appropriate or whether additional assessments need to be made will naturally be included in the discussions at that time.

Nakaima, Ryukyu Shimpo: In relation to this, in light of the upcoming governor’s election in November, yesterday, the Okinawa Chapter of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) announced its policy platform. The chapter clearly states that “relocation (of Futenma Air Station) to Henoko is impossible” and that it “calls for relocation to outside the prefecture or outside the country.” Please tell us once again how you feel about the fact that a local chapter of the ruling party takes such a position.

Minister: Since this is a policy platform at the prefectural chapter level, I think that it can have a certain level of freedom. However, I feel that since we are a political party, the policies of a local chapter should normally not be in direct conflict with the policies of the government or the administration. Since this concerns the party, this matter should be debated within the party, and as a member of the government and as the Foreign Minister, I have no intention to make any further comments. However, I feel that it will not be good at all unless things are readily understood by the voters. At a committee meeting during the previous Diet session, the manifesto of the DPJ’s Kagoshima Chapter was taken up, and instead of as the foreign minister, I said in my capacity as the secretary general at the time: “I am not aware of such things. I believe that they were presented at the responsibility of the prefectural chapter.” However, since matters related to state taxation were included in the manifesto – I think that such matters as reducing the consumption tax were written in it – I have said, “I do not think that such things can be done by the prefectural chapter.” Since this is about political parties, even if there is some degree of freedom at the prefectural chapter level, I believe that with regard to matters on which there is direct confrontation, I cannot help but say, “Please hold thorough debates within the party.”

3. North Korean Issue

Saito, Kyodo News: I would like to ask a question in connection with the situation in North Korea and the Six-Party Talks.
Mr. Wu Dawei was here today. In a doorstepping interview after holding talks with you, although this is a literal translation, Mr. Wu Dawei effectively said: “We have a new proposal, but it is necessary to jointly study it with various parties involved. We would like to hear the opinions of each country.”
Can this be considered as a new proposal by the Chinese side? Did he unreservedly disclose some sort of a new idea to break the deadlocked situation? Also, please explain once again what kind of opinion you presented.

Minister: What I said was that the Six-Party Talks are very important. However, the Six-Party Talks must not be an end in themselves. Since the nuclear and missile issues must be properly resolved there, the Six-Party Talks must be re-started, keeping such prospects in mind.
Another thing is that, if we look at the current situation, on the one hand, North Korea has yet to fulfill its pledges to the UNSC, sanctions are still continuing, the Cheonan incident has yet to be resolved, and North Korea claimed at the ARF that the investigation results were falsified. As there are so many various problems, the Japanese side feels that the Six-Party Talks cannot be convened immediately. However, even if the Six-Party Talks were to be convened in the future, the talks cannot be simply restarted; they must be convened with future prospects in mind. I asked Mr. Wu Dawei what he thought with regard to such matters.
I am not in a position to speak about his response. He disclosed various ideas, but he did not necessarily respond directly to my questions. I think that he disclosed a part of various things he has in mind.

Saito, Kyodo News: Meanwhile, the US side is moving toward imposing additional sanctions against North Korea. On the other hand, China, chair of the Six-Party Talks, has repeatedly urged various parties to refrain from acts that would heighten tensions. Looking at this situation, it appears that there indeed is a considerable gap between the perception of China and the United States. Please tell us your outlook on how Japan will act in between the United States and China.

Minister: I told Mr. Wu Dawei that nobody desires armed conflict, and that no one wants to heighten tensions unnecessarily. However, North Korea has been ignoring UNSC resolutions. From a mid- and long-term perspective, we have been holding the Six-Party Talks for a long time, but it is North Korea that steadily continued to carry out its nuclear weapons development program along the talks; so we cannot simply reset everything and call for re-starting the Six-Party Talks. I said such things to Mr. Wu Dawei.
I believe that the United States did not impose additional sanctions to particularly heighten tensions. They are doing what naturally needs to be done. Japan has also already made an announcement concerning additional sanctions.

Nishioka, Mainichi Newspapers: With regard to the situation in North Korea, General Secretary Kim Jong Il visited China until yesterday and held talks with President Hu Jintao. There are various views on this, such as that he requested Chinese support for his successor regime, among other things. Please tell us how you have analyzed the latest China-North Korea summit.

Minister: There were no explanations on what they discussed this time. I asked Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi about this, and he said that he would provide a detailed explanation at some point, but there was no further explanation then. Likewise, there was no further response from Mr. Wu Dawei today.
There are some things that we are not quite sure about, so we do want an explanation of the situation. I find it rather difficult to understand the significance of (General Secretary Kim Jong Il’s) meeting (with President Hu Jintao) under these circumstances. I do not know whether he left North Korea ostentatiously to avoid meeting with former US President Carter, even though President Carter did not necessarily go to North Korea to hold negotiations in the first place.

4. Natural Resources Diplomacy in Central Asia

Yamamoto, Sekainippo: Over the past two months, you have visited eight countries, mostly in Central Asia. It is believed that it has become more important to secure sources of rare earths in Central Asia and Mongolia, in part because China has refused to lift its restrictions on the export of rare earths.
Mongolia is said to have the world’s largest uranium deposits as well. Meanwhile, Russia does not look kindly on Japan securing rights to natural resources within the former Soviet Union. There is also information that it is obstructing Japan in various ways. Russia has a great deal of power in Central Asia. Please tell us your outlook on how Japan will secure natural resources in Central Asia amid these circumstances.

Minister: Firstly, China has explained the matter in many ways, but they are not saying that they will not allow rare earths to be exported; they are saying that they will greatly reduce them. As I also told Premier Wen Jiabao, although we understand that there are many reasons for China’s decision, if the exports are decreased suddenly, it will affect the predictability of business. We would thus like China to consider this carefully.
Japan is also active in Kazakhstan, in terms of uranium and rare earths. As for Mongolia, I do not necessarily think that Russia is interfering in Mongolia. The UK and other countries are doing it. From Mongolia’s point of view, they are exporting these resources to China or Russia in raw form, without processing, so they have very little negotiating power. I think that they would like Japan to come in for this reason. Consequently, I intend to discuss this at length with concerned parties in Japan. We can be more proactive in this area.
Also, I forgot to mention this earlier: although the topic of rare earths between Japan and China has been highlighted quite a bit, that is only one of about 100 issues. What I would like to highlight are the various obstacles put in the way of private enterprises doing business there. One issue is the rule of law. Japanese companies have a very hard time winning court cases. For various reasons, they cannot win. Although I do not want to say unilaterally that this is unfair, I hear quite often that companies cannot win, or even if they do win that the court’s decision is not carried out, or that they cannot even obtain precedent cases. I spoke frankly about this, and also about the issue of intellectual property rights. As I have said here previously, even Matsuzaka beef is registered. There are many cases like that, like registrations derived from the names of places, or registered trademarks. China also has an interest in such matters, and they said that they were looking into it, but I said that more action is necessary.
There are also labor issues. During Japan’s period of high economic growth, there were various strikes and other labor disputes, but there were also laws, frameworks, and regulations set up in relation to labor law, and talks took place within that framework. But in China, there are times when it is unclear who one can negotiate with. China does have labor unions, which serve as a sort of representative for employees, but there are places where the labor unions do not function. Or when you think that an issue has been resolved, there might be another strike over the same issue immediately, and that of course makes it impossible to make business forecasts. I therefore said that we would like this issue of labor to be considered seriously.
I spoke fairly clearly to Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi about this, and I spoke to Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and the Premier as well. I believe that they recognized that these issues exist. Although I think that this is an issue that was difficult to respond to immediately, I intend to continue to bring up this issue persistently.

5. Visit to Germany

Minister: I have just been asked by my staff to state clearly that I will be making a trip to Germany “if it is approved in the Cabinet meeting.” It has not yet been approved by the cabinet, so remains to be the status is still upon cabinet approval.

6. Objection to Newspaper Article

Minister: I forgot to say this earlier. This may be unpleasant for you to hear, but when I was skimming through a Japanese newspaper while overseas, there was an article that made me concerned. The article was called World View, and was written by the Yomiuri Shimbun’s Washington bureau on August 29th. The article discussed the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) held in Hanoi, making many statements attributed to “Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials” or “sources familiar with the Japanese Embassy in the United States.” But that article was completely divorced from the actual facts of what was discussed at the ARF. You should be able to know that these were not true if you cover the meeting a little more. Despite this fact, the newspaper published that article, and the article concluded that the ASEAN related meetings showed that how these diplomatic principles –the article discusses at length about diplomatic principles- were divorced from reality. Japan’s presence was weak.” This is what was written in the article. I believe that the mass media is a public organ of society, so I have no problem with criticism. But I also think that when an article is contrary to the facts, it should be addressed properly. It is my intent to raise an objection with this newspaper. As an article was already carried, I would like to say it should find out what investigation the reporter based his or her article on.

Ida, Shukan Kinyobi: In relation to your response to this matter, you said earlier that you objected, or said that it should be investigated. Will this be limited to a statement here (at this press conference), or do you intend to take some kind of further action?

Minister: I currently intend to have the Press Secretary send a written statement to the editor in charge.

7. Entry of Visiting Aircraft to Kadena Air Base

Nakaima, Ryukyu Shimpo: I have a question about visiting aircraft coming to Kadena Air Base. You said that you intended to ask the United States to abide by the noise abatement agreement. I understand this to mean that you will tell them to comply with the rules for flight and takeoff times and the like, but do you have no intention of asking visiting aircraft to not go to Kadena in the first place? The local community wants the arrival of visiting aircraft itself to end.

Minister: I think that there will of course be a discussion on whether to stop them completely. I therefore intend to discuss thoroughly how much this is actually necessary, and whether, with some minor adjustments, it is possible to ensure that all aircrafts fly only during allowed hours.

8. Assistance to Afghanistan

Yamao, Asahi Shimbun: I have a question about assistance to Afghanistan. Just today a meeting in support of Afghanistan took place at the Prime Minister’s office, but on the 17th of this month, President Karzai of Afghanistan made a presidential decree demanding that private security contractors who are active in the country be disbanded. The Government of Japan intends to proceed with support for Afghanistan by collaborating with NGOs, but it is expected that security will become extremely difficult to ensure. In light of this, does the Government of Japan intend to work to influence the Government of Afghanistan in some way?

Minister: We are proceeding with discussions on having NGOs act with a 1.5 billion yen budget from us, but in the current situation, I think that it is quite difficult for Japanese people to enter the country. They will operate projects indirectly from the surrounding countries. Of course, it is possible that local Afghan staff members will be in danger, but we essentially want Japanese people to avoid entering Afghanistan, and we are currently having them do so. Still, we have Embassy staff members there, and many JICA staff as well. We are also seriously concerned with ensuring the safety of those people, and I intend to discuss thoroughly with the Government of Afghanistan whether it is feasible to ensure their safety.

9. Monetary Policy (Yen Appreciation)

Ida, Shukan Kinyobi: I would like to ask you about your awareness of the current world situation in relation to the strong yen. I have the feeling that the current strong yen is a repetition of what happened in the 1930s. At the time it was the pound and the dollar, and now it is the euro instead of the pound. In other words, with more and more economic blocs, it appears that the same situation as the 1930s is about to occur. If the yen continues to trade strongly, I think that it will cause a fairly severe blow to Japan’s economy, including the manufacturing industry. The American company, GM has been re-listed, for example. If the strong yen was created with a fair amount of consideration for manufacturing by the United States, then I think that we are seeing a repetition of the 30s, creating something akin to imperialism. As Minister for Foreign Affairs, what are your views on the current world situation?

Minister: My view of the overall situation does not necessarily extend that far. However, the current strong yen is an extremely serious situation, and I think that we must make a breakthrough. I essentially think that this is due to the difference in interest rates between Japan and the United States, and for this reason I think that we need measures that go a little further on monetary policy. Of course, the Bank of Japan has exclusive control over monetary policy, so I do not intend to say anything beyond this, but I certainly would like them to consider this perspective.

10. Sanctions against Iran

Yamao, Asahi Shimbun: I have a question about sanctions against Iran. There is talk that the Government of Japan is considering imposing additional, independent sanctions on Iran around the end of this month. What is the state of progress on this? Also, it has been reported in the media that the United States government told that of Japan to refer to the EU when deciding on additional sanctions. What are the facts of the matter?

Minister: When you ask about the facts, there is also the question of who said it. It has been the policy of the Government of Japan to decide on the details of the additional sanctions after carefully studying the sanctions by the United States and by the EU. As for the timeline, today is already the end of August, but I think that another two days or so will fit into the range of “month’s end.” I do not think that it will take that much time.

Back to Index