Top > Announcement > Press Conference by Foreign Minister > March 14, 2012

(* 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 Koichiro Gemba

Date: Wednesday, March 14, 2012, 2:10 p.m.
Place: Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Main topics:

  1. Opening Remarks - The East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Dialogue
  2. Questions concerning the reduction of the recruitment of National Public Employees
  3. Questions concerning Act on Preservation of Secrets
  4. Questions concerning the Realignment of the US Forces in Japan
  5. Questions concerning the Issue of the Name of the Sea of Japan
  6. Questions concerning Japan-China High-level Economic Dialogue

1. Opening Remarks - The East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Dialogue

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba: The East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Dialogue will be held in Tokyo on April 15. Mr. Witoelar, President’s Special Envoy for Climate Change of the Republic of Indonesia, and I will co-chair the Dialogue. Ministerial level officials of countries participating in East Asia Summit, and international organizations concerned will take part. This Dialogue embodies the East Asia Low Carbon Growth Partnership Initiative which Japan proposed at the EAS last year. And it is part of Japan’s Vision and Actions toward Low-Carbon Growth and a Climate-Resilient World announced at COP17. East Asia is a growth center of the world and also the largest greenhouse gas emitting region. To advance cooperation for realizing low carbon growth in this region is very significant in effectively addressing the climate change issue. Also, this can be a major business opportunity for the cutting-edge environment and energy technologies that Japan possesses. I hope this dialogue will push forward regional cooperation in East Asia and lead to realization of low carbon growth across the world.

2. Questions concerning the reduction of the recruitment of National Public Employees

Iwata, Tokyo Shimbun: Yesterday the prime minister called for a large reduction of the recruitment of national public employees. I believe the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also requested to reduce the number of new employees. Minister, do you think this reduction is necessary for a future tax increase, or are you strongly concerned that it would be an obstacle for diplomacy? What is your view?

Minister Gemba: With regard to the reduction of new hires or a major suppression of the number of hires, to be frank, there has to be more staffings including in the diplomatic establishments overseas. So reducing the number of new hires is not desirable, and in the case of diplomacy the resources are our staff, after all. And as you all know, in the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of 600 billion, 400 billion is ODA, so I think what is important is the staff.
However for the government as a whole, the integrated reform of social security and tax is of great interest by the people of Japan right now. And it is an unavoidable task for Japan that we must overcome and it is right in front of us. And political reform and administrative reform have to be accomplished, along with this tax reform. And I understand that it is necessary to reduce the number of new employees as well as reduction in salaries of national public employees so that we can share the pain.
So in that sense I think that, for the government as a whole, it will be necessary to suppress the number of new recruits. So I would like to coordinate with the prime minister and the relevant ministers on the number of reduction in conclusion.

Iwata, Tokyo Shimbun: If that is the case, towards the end of the month there is ongoing restoration negotiations, and what kind of instructions have you given for the negotiations? Have you instructed that the current proposal is not acceptable and a request should be made for decreasing the reduction of the number of new employees?

Minister Gemba: That has to be carried out at the working level first, but at the end of the day, some political decision needs to be made at the ministerial level, I believe.

3. Questions concerning Act on Preservation of Secrets

Kamide, Freelance: I would like to ask about Act on Preservation of Secrets. I think there has been major reporting about this. And also in this session of the Diet, Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs revision bill, on which the Japan Federation of Bar Associations is working very hard, has been presented. In this situation what is the significance of the Act for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? The information needs to be disclosed, for example in connection with the issue of Okinawa, and now this Act on Preservation of Secrets is being discussed. Do you believe this Act is really necessary? Many people say that the revision bill may contravene the constitution particularly people’s right to know, so this has been questioned. There are some views opposing that. For example, the Japan Federation of Bar Associations shows such a view.I have two questions. What is your view on the significance of it? And the other is perhaps the background of this is the deepening of the Japan-US alliance or the military cooperation. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and the National Police Agency may be working hard on this issue. How do you measure the progress?

Minister Gemba: You touched upon Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs and then Act on Preservation of Secrets. As I have mentioned in the past, for the people’s better understanding on the diplomacy, the Ministry has carried on information disclosure in terms of people’s right to know, especially after the former Foreign Minister Mr. Okada took office. And some people said that the pace of disclosure has been getting slow, so I am giving instructions so that we can accelerate the pace now so that we can have the same speed as Mr. Okada was thinking about when he was foreign minister, and that I think is the way it is right now.
Having said that, I think that the Act on Preservation of Secrets is another issue, and it is not necessarily equivalent. That is, right now, when we look at what is taking place, for example negotiations, there are things that should not be disclosed right now, or if they become disclosed, it is possible that negotiations will not go forward. And I think that often happens.
Considering the issue of intelligence, what is often said is leaking of secrets. We also hear about the information not being circulated, or not being reported but there is also the issue of leaks. And as soon as there is a leak of secrets, then it is no longer a piece of intelligence.
You talked about Japan and the US, I am not going to talk about specific countries, but naturally with different countries there are going to be various strategic dialogues taking place or information exchange taking place. And when this happens, this leakage of intelligence, if that happens, then the other party would not provide us with the information that we would really want to have. And so we need to make sure there are no excesses and still protect information and I think that we can have that kind of system. But that doesn’t mean that we have all the answers right now. I am aware that the entire cabinet right now is studying the matter.

Kamide, Freelance: Why now?

Minister Gemba: At any rate, it is one of the cumulative issues of the Government of Japan. In other words, the Japanese government needs to enhance the intelligence function and when it is enhanced, what will be necessary is the fact that we should prevent secrets being leaked if it should not be leaked.

4. Questions concerning the Realignment of the US Forces in Japan

Yokota, Mainichi Shimbun: About the realignment of the US Forces in Japan, in the Deputy Director-General level consultation in Washington, according to an evening news report, it was concurred that 4,700 personnel will be transferred to Guam and 3,300 will be transferred abroad. Could you tell us the fact? In the same article, 500 or 600 personnel will be transferred to Guam from the Iwakuni Air Station. Can you tell me the facts on this, too?

Minister Gemba: There is not the fact that there was a Deputy Director-General level consultation and I have been reported on that. As I have been saying, the US Forces will be located in geographically distributed manner in the entire Asia-Pacific region and here, we have to maintain the deterrence in Northeast Asia, and we have to also reduce the impact on Okinawa as early as possible. From that perspective, I gave instructions that the discussion needs to be actively made. I believe that officials in charge are discussing based on this instruction.
With regard to the relocation from Iwakuni, I think that was about CH-53, and I think this has already been decided. Including this point I have not received any report.

Yokota, Mainichi Shimbun: According to the 2006 roadmap, 8,000 Marines are to be transferred abroad. In the review of this time, can we understand that there can be no domestic transfer of these 8,000 Marines?

Minister Gemba: All the issues including that is what we are discussing and consulting right now. In Okinawa, 10,000 Marines need to be secured and while the impact on Okinawa has to be lessened, we need to have 10,000 Marines so that we can maintain the deterrence. I think that we can flexibly discuss what kind of variations there are. It is not that something has been decided as yet.

5. Questions concerning the Issue of the Name of the Sea of Japan

Azumi, freelance: I would like to ask about the name of the Sea of Japan. From March 7 to 9, the 18th International Seminar on the Geographical Name of “East Sea” and Sea Names was held in Vienna. Professor Hausner announced that it is decided that in the Austrian textbook, both “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan” will be used together. And in France, Larousse and Michelin published maps in which both “East Sea” and “Sea of Japan” are used together, according to news reports. These are the information coming in from the Republic of Korea. On the fourth of next month, there will be the General Assembly of the IHO and again the issue of the name of the Sea of Japan could be raised again. Do you know this fact? And if you do, do you have some kind of countermeasure that you have instructed?

Minister Gemba: If I am told to mention where and how both names are used together, I am not sure if I can do that correctly. But I am fully aware that there is such an issue. It is Japan’s position that the name Sea of Japan is the only internationally established name for the sea area concerned. I do not think that there are many opposing views to this, so naturally, it can be said that we are continuing our efforts to consolidate our position.

6. Questions concerning Japan-China High-level Economic Dialogue

Kaku, Shinkasha: It is expected that, in April, the Japan-China High -Level Economic Dialogue will take place. What specifically are the agenda items? And Japan, US and the EC have requested for consultation on the rare earth case to the WTO, will that be also discussed?

Minister Gemba: With regard to Japan-China High- level Economic Dialogue, I am aware that the schedule is not fixed as yet. And if it is decided to be held, then there will be a variety of agenda items especially with regards to the deepening of Mutually Beneficial Relationship based on Common Strategic Interests and economic relations. And there will be discussions from a broad perspective and also on details by Ministers concerned, and I think that we can have high expectations for good results. But with regards to the selection of themes, it is not fixed as yet.
And with regard to the rare earth issue that you mentioned, the Government of Japan has decided that the issue should better be solved based on the objective rules of the WTO, without making it a political issue.. China is a power, and its GDP is number two in the world right now.
So, within the international community, China should be taking a responsible action based on rules. And I think that for a stable development of Asia-Pacific region , this to be very important. And I think that Chinese Foreign Ministry told that they will properly deal with the issue in accordance with the dispute settlement procedures of the WTO. I believe that based on these objective rules, we have requested consultation and as a result this issue should be resolved.

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