Press Conference by the Press Secretary 22 November 1995

Japan-Central America Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hiroshi Hashimoto: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. The first Japan-Central America Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation will be held Monday and Tuesday, 27 and 28 November, in San Salvador, the capital of the Republic of El Salvador. This Forum will be launched based on the statement signed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono and the Foreign Ministers of the respective Central American countries at the 50th Session of the United Nations General Assembly held on 26 September 1995 in New York. The meetings in San Salvador will be the first to be held under the Forum. While similar fora have already existed between Japan and the various countries of South America and the Caribbean, this is the first forum of its kind between Japan and the various countries of Central America. Japan wishes to continue to deepen its dialogues with the various countries of Central America through this Forum.

Q: How many countries will be participating in this Forum, and who will represent Japan?

A: The representative of the Japanese side is Director- General of the Latin American Affairs Bureau Shunichi Sato, and all the Central American countries will go to the meeting -- the Republic of Costa Rica, the Republic of El Salvador, the Republic of Guatemala, the Republic of Honduras, the Republic of Nicaragua, and the Republic of Panama -- those six countries plus one, Japan.
First meeting of the Special Action Committee on Facilities and Areas in Okinawa
Q: I have just a couple questions regarding yesterday's bilateral security committee meeting. How many members are on the committee? Who are they? When will they meet next, and did either side make any mention of troop movements already under way?

A: First of all, yesterday, the Special Action Committee on Facilities and Areas was opened. From the Japanese side, Director-General of the North American Affairs Bureau M. Orita of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Director-General of the Bureau of Defense Policy M. Akiyama of the Defense Agency, Director-General M. Morodomi of the Defense Facilities Agency, and Chairman of the Joint Staff Council T. Nishimoto of the Japan Self-Defense Forces were there. From the United States of America side, Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord, Assistant Secretary of Defense J. Nye, Jr., Director for Plans Major General Steel of CINCPAC, Chief of Staff of the United States Forces in Japan Major General R. Myers, and Deputy Chief of Mission R. Deming of the United States Embassy to Japan were there. Apart from this, Foreign Minister Kono and Director-General of the Defense Agency Seishiro Eto of Japan were there, and Ambassador to Japan Walter F. Mondale of the United States was there. Foreign Minister Kono, Director-General Eto and Ambassador Mondale are not formal members of the Special Action Committee; however, in view of the importance of the activities, those three gentlemen were present. The Committee intends to prepare a report within a year, and submit it to the ministerial level. If the so-called Japan- United States 2+2 Meeting takes place, then it will be reported to the 2+2 Meeting. Under this Special Action Committee, a working group is going to be established, and the first working group meeting will be preferably held within this year. As for the second meeting of the Special Action Committee, it will be decided later through diplomatic channels on the basis of the process of the talks at the working group level.

Q: How many members are on the committee, and is the working group already established?

A: The first meeting of the working group will be held, preferably, by the end of this year, but the time has not been fixed yet.

Q: Has its membership been fixed?

A: Membership is at the deputy director-general level.

Q: What is the 2+2 Meeting?

A: This is a meeting between the Japanese Foreign Minister and Director-General of the Defense Agency, and the United States Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense.

Q: When is that slated for?

A: They mainly talk about the policy matters related to the security alliance.

Q: Do you know when they will meet?

A: Basically, they meet regularly, once or twice annually, and during the Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations last September, they met in New York.

Q: Could you tell us what kind of specific authority this Special Action Committee has? Is its job simply to review the pending issues -- by that I mean bases and areas that the two sides have already been talking about? Or, does it have a much broader right to discuss, for example, removal or a relocation of a very major American military facility in Okinawa?

A: First of all, I would like to tell you that, between Japan and the United States, the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) exists, and under the SOFA, there is a formal forum called the Japan-United States Joint Committee, and under that Committee there are several sub-committees. One of the sub-committees has been dealing with consolidation and realignment of the bases. But, this time, Japan and the United States decided to set up the Special Action Committee on Facilities and Areas in Okinawa under the 2+2 Meeting, and the agenda of the Special Action Committee is as follows: first, planning for realigning, consolidating, and down-scaling the facilities and areas in Okinawa; second, problems, such as training, noise, safety and the environment, relating to the facilities and the areas of United States Forces stationed on Okinawa. Those agenda items may be duplicated on the agenda of the Japan-United States Joint Committee; however, now that the issue of realignment and consolidation of the bases has become so important, during the coming one year, basically, this Special Action Committee handles all major issues related to the realignment, consolidation and down-scaling, and the problems related to training, noise, safety, and the environment.

Q: In other words, it does have the right to discuss a rather drastic change or relocation. Is that correct?

A: Yes. In any case, they will tackle the issues of realignment, consolidation and down-scaling. But we have got to wait to see how they are going to work on this. Whether they can succeed in realizing what you said -- "drastic relocation" of bases and so on -- we have yet to see.

Q: Yesterday, the Governor of Okinawa said that a lot of these kinds of organizations have been organized many times in the past, and nothing visible has happened, and that probably this again will be the case. Could you comment on this remark by the Governor of Okinawa?

A: I think Governor Masahide Ota of Okinawa Prefecture has in his mind the activities related to the Japan-United States Joint Committee under the SOFA. This is the first time for us to have established the Special Action Committee, which will deal with the two agenda items which I just explained to you. We sincerely hope that the committee can produce a report which is substantial. As Ambassador Mondale told the Committee yesterday, we do not intend just to postpone the decisions on this issue; but within the framework of one year, I am sure that the two Governments will do their best to tackle this issue, and find ways to lessen the burdens of the Okinawan people.

Q: Would it be correct to understand that not a single existing military facility in Okinawa is sacred?

A: They can, in fact, cover all the issues relating to the two agenda items. In this sense, there is no exception, but this does not necessarily mean that they will talk about all the existing facilities. Already, in the past, we have had several issues pending discussion.

Q: Is it fair to assume that Okinawa specifically in terms of the committee membership is not represented?

A: Okinawa people are not represented on the Committee. This is a Committee between the two Governments.

Q: At the first meeting, was there any discussion on either side of any form of troop movement already under way?

A: No, I don't think so. But I just would like to explain to you that, yesterday, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Sadayuki Hayashi explained to the Japanese journalists that the United States side said that it is necessary to maintain the level of forces at 47,000. However, within this context, with the reductions of bases on Okinawa, there is a possibility that U.S. military personnel in Okinawa will move to some other places within Japan. He said that the possibility is not excluded.

Q: Earlier today Kyodo News Service reported that Director- General of the Defense Agency Eto has suggested that there were five Ground Self-Defense Force locations in Japan that were being considered for the new location of a U.S. firing range currently in Okinawa. So, that report sounded to me like U.S. Forces would possibly end up in Japan Self-Defense Forces' locations.

A: I am not aware of what Director-General Eto said. I understand that the Defense Agency may have some candidate, possible sites. But, this matter has not been formally taken up at the Committee, and I cannot make any comment.
Recent unfortunate remarks by a United States military official
Q: Another related question -- the Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Forces made a rather awkward comment, and as a result, had to retire. What is the Japanese reaction to this incident? Admiral Macke.

A: I will just repeat what Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama said on the subject on 19 November. Prime Minister Murayama said that there certainly were some inappropriate contents in the remarks made by Admiral Macke, and I believe it is for that reason that he had to resign in order to take responsibility. After Admiral Macke made this statement, Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale of the United States contacted Foreign Minister Kono in Osaka, and explained to him that Admiral Macke's statement does not reflect the official position of the Clinton Administration. Therefore, the Government understood this, and we hope that the Okinawans also understand the explanation made by Ambassador Mondale. It was an unfortunate statement, but we understand that this does not reflect the policy of the Clinton Administration.

Q: Was there a request from the Japanese Government for Admiral Macke's resignation?

A: We didn't request anything. He just voluntarily resigned, and we received the information through Ambassador Mondale.

Q: But Foreign Minister Kono knew about the comments before he knew about the resignation?

A: No. When Ambassador Mondale informed Foreign Minister Kono, Foreign Minister Kono said that what Admiral Macke had said was unbelievable, but at the same time he expressed his personal appreciation to Admiral Macke, because Admiral Macke did his best to strengthen the relations in the field of security in the past.
Outcome of recent elections in the Democratic and People's Republic of Algeria
Q: Last week, there were presidential elections in Algeria, and General Zeroual has won. Could you comment on that? How does Japan evaluate these elections? Were there any Japanese observers sent?

A: We understand that the elections took place in a very difficult situation, but it was noteworthy that the elections took place smoothly. The Japanese Government sincerely hopes that this will become the first step for stability and democratization in the Democratic and People's Republic of Algeria. As far as I understand, I don't think the Japanese Government sent observers to this election in Algeria.

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