Press Conference by the Press Secretary 12 December 1995

1. Reports of comments regarding possible cooperation between Japan and North Korea
2. Stopover in Japan by President Fidel Castro of the Republic of Cuba
3. Visit to Japan by Prime Minister Gyula Horn of the Republic of Hungary
4. Japanese investment in and assistance for eastern Europe
5. Japan's abstention from the United Nations General Assembly vote on the United States of America's embargo against the Republic of Cuba
6. Speculation about the possibility of Japan playing some mediating role between the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba
7. Upcoming elections in Palestine and the West Bank
8. Japan's possible involvement in reconstruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina
9. Possible visit to Japan by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

1. Reports of comments regarding possible cooperation between Japan and North Korea

   Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hiroshi Hashimoto: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I will be delighted to respond to any questions that you might have.

   Q: Yesterday, Secretary-General Koichi Kato of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan proposed a sort of military exchange with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and he said something about cutting down on Japanese defense spending. Is there any discussion along these lines going on?

   A: I am not aware of what Secretary-General Kato said.

   Q: He proposed that both sides open their military bases to each other.

   A: That sounds rather strange, because we don't have any diplomatic relations with North Korea, and in that case, it is simply impossible to realize any exchanges of military personnel between the two. In this context, I would just like to say that Japan has been endeavoring to normalize the relationship with North Korea; but unfortunately, still, we do not know when we can reopen the negotiations on the normalization of relations. First of all, we have got to normalize relations. Only after that, we can talk about various forms of cooperation. But before that, it is simply impossible for us to do anything concrete such as you mentioned.

   Q: Can you confirm that Mr. Kato or his party has not yet contacted the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this regard?

   A: Secretary-General Kato has not approached the Foreign Ministry regarding this issue.

2. Stopover in Japan by President Fidel Castro of the Republic of Cuba

   Q: I have a series of questions on these two visits taking place -- one is Prime Minister Gyula Horn and a possible visit of President Castro.

   A: As far as the visit to Japan by President Fidel Castro of the Republic of Cuba -- he will arrive this evening, and will meet with a representative of a Japanese private-sector group, the Japan-Cuba Economic Conference. Incidentally, several days ago, some representatives of that organization visited Cuba, and they talked about the commercial debt which Cuba owes Japan. Tomorrow, in the afternoon, Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono will meet President Castro, and after that, Chairman of the Japan-Cuba Parliamentary League Hiroshi Mitsuzuka is going to host a luncheon for him, and sometime in the afternoon President Castro is going to leave Japan. But we still do not know what time he will leave Japan.

   Q: As far as President Castro is concerned, is he meeting Prime Minister Murayama or not?

   A: I understand that there is some press speculation -- Chief Cabinet Secretary Koken Nosaka reportedly told the press this morning that there might be a meeting between Prime Minister Murayama and President Castro, but we have not yet received confirmation.

   Q: Is this the first time for President Castro to come to Japan?

   A: Yes, but he describes his visit as a technical visit.

   Q: Does it mean he is an official guest?

   A: He is not visiting Japan officially.

   Q: Technical visit means for refueling or something like that?

   A: Yes. Probably.

   Q: Why then, might he meet Prime Minister Murayama?

   A: I do not know if Prime Minister Murayama has time to meet him or not. In any case, when we received information from the Cuban Government, we were notified that he was visiting Japan just for technical reasons. So, we didn't know until last Sunday what President Castro wanted to do here. Later, we found out that, if possible, he would like to meet Prime Minister Murayama. But, Prime Minister Murayama is fully engaged in the debate at the Diet. So, we still do not know whether Prime Minister Murayama can meet him, but in any case, Foreign Minister Kono, who just came back from his trip to Europe yesterday, has decided to meet President Castro.

   Q: Would it be speculative to suggest that the Prime Minister's Office, or the Prime Minister himself, is inclined to meet him, but the Foreign Ministry is resisting?

   A: I don't think so. We don't have any intention of hindering Prime Minister Murayama from meeting President Castro. Up until last Sunday, we simply didn't know what President Castro wanted to do. At that time, we didn't know whether he wanted to come to Tokyo. At first we were told that he would stay in Narita. But since we became aware of his request, we have been doing our best -- all that we can do.

   Q: Where will President Castro be staying in Tokyo?

   A: Not in Tokyo, but in the Narita area. For security reasons, we cannot disclose the location of the hotel to the press.

   Q: So, it will be somewhere in the Narita area.

   A: Yes. In the Narita area.

   Q: Not in Iikura House?

   A: No.

3. Visit to Japan by Prime Minister Gyula Horn of the Republic of Hungary

   A: As far as the visit by Prime Minister Gyula Horn of the Republic of Hungary -- this is the second time for a Hungarian Prime Minister to visit Japan recently. Then- Prime Minister Antall visited Japan before, and this time, Prime Minister Horn has had a chance to talk to Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama yesterday. This afternoon, Prime Minister Horn is going to participate in the Investment Promotion Seminar, and Foreign Minister Kono is going to host a dinner in his honor today. There is no problem issue between the two countries, and we welcome Prime Minister Horn's visit. We would like to promote further friendly relations with Hungary, and at the same time, we welcome that Prime Minister Horn is going to participate in the Investment Promotion Seminar. As you may know, about half of our direct investments in eastern and central Europe are concentrated in Hungary. Although our investments in that area are relatively small yet, still, Hungary is the biggest market for Japanese investments. Therefore, we hope that Prime Minister Horn can contribute further to the direct investment from Japan to Hungary.

   Q: As far as Prime Minister Horn -- is this an official visit by the Hungarian Prime Minister?

   A: Prime Minister Horn is visiting Japan as a guest of the Government.

   Q: Guest of the Government? Is it an official visit? Because I see that Foreign Minister Kono is hosting the dinner -- wouldn't that be unusual for a foreign minister to host the dinner in honor of a visiting prime minister?

   A: I see. His current visit is not categorized as an Official Visit, but in the other category -- we call it a guest of the Government. On this occasion, Prime Minister Horn had an audience with Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan this morning, and Foreign Minister Kono is going to meet Prime Minister Horn, and at the same time, he will host a dinner party. So, in this sense, this is not categorized as a State Visit.

   Q: A State Visit would be something, as I understand, only by a Head of State, or a king.

   A: It can be a prime minister, too. An Official Visit -- we call that kouhin. There is a difference between kokuhin -- State Visit -- and kouhin -- Official Visit.

   Q: There is a difference?

   A: But, this visit is not kouhin -- an Official Visit. It is just on invitation by the Government of Japan. So, within this category, the Japanese Government has been extending a warm welcome within the existing invitation scheme.

   Q: Let me put it another way, just to approach this fine point. In terms of diplomatic exchanges, would Prime Minister Murayama, supposing he paid a visit to Hungary, would it be in reciprocity to Prime Minister Horn's visit?

   A: Earlier, then-Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu visited Hungary, but after that, the Japanese prime minister has not had the chance to visit Hungary.

   Q: There is a report in one of the papers today that Prime Minister Horn asked Japan for a mission to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) early next year. What is the Japanese Government's position on this?

   A: I am terribly sorry. I have not yet been briefed on this. As far as the meeting between Prime Minister Murayama and Prime Minister Horn -- could you be patient? My colleague will come.

4. Japanese investment in and assistance for eastern Europe

   Q: You mentioned the investment. I wanted to get some detailed policy on your renegotiation or debt resettlement for eastern European countries -- specifically Hungary and Poland, and even Romania.

   A: If my colleagues cannot get the information on this now, I will give it to you later, personally.

   Q: Generally speaking on east Europe, these loans which were taken from Japan are the former communist countries, practically all of them. Aren't you sort of inclined to be a little bit more charitable towards them?

   A: If I remember rightly, we extended yen loans to Bulgaria, when it was still under the communist regime. As for Poland, together with the G-7 countries, we decided to extend special aid to relieve the debt, and because of that, for a long time, Japan didn't extend any new loans to Poland. If I remember rightly, recently, Japan decided to extend new loans to Poland.

5. Japan's abstention from the United Nations General Assembly vote on the United States of America's embargo against the Republic of Cuba

   Q: Can you outline why specifically Japan abstained at the United Nations General Assembly, which voted overwhelmingly against the United States' embargo on Cuba? Japan is one of the few countries which abstained in the General Assembly resolution which proposed the United States trade embargo on Cuba. Would you go into the background of why you have abstained and do not go along with the rest?

   A: We understand that the embargo has been imposed solely by the United States against Cuba, so this matter should be solved between the two countries, and we believe that the United Nations cannot play a role in it, so we have been abstaining from the resolution.

6. Speculation about the possibility of Japan playing some mediating role between the United States of America and the Republic of Cuba

   Q: Does Japan give any overseas development assistance to Cuba?

   A: We have been receiving some trainees, as a part of a technical assistance program, but we have not extended ODA loans, for example, or grant aid, to Cuba.

   Q: On a related topic -- has there been any communication between the United States and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan concerning President Castro's visit?

   A: I'm not aware of the detail, but since the Japanese Government has been communicating with the United States very frequently on all subjects, probably our diplomats in Washington, D.C. might have mentioned this to someone at the State Department.

   Q: In the past, some academics, and even some members of Japan's Government, have suggested that one role Japan could play internationally would be as a mediator -- a mediator between the west and the east. Is there a role for Japan to play as a kind of mediator between the United States and Cuba in this particular situation?

   A: It is very easy to talk about the role of mediator, but what is completely different is how effectively one can play the role. As far as this particular subject is concerned, neither the United States nor the Cuban side has ever asked Japan to do so. I do not know the official answer to your question, but personally I doubt whether Japan can play a role when neither side has asked Japan to do so. Although we have an Ambassador in Cuba, the relationship between the two countries has been traditionally at a low level. So, our presence in Cuba is not very big. So, we do not know what President Castro is thinking vis-a-vis our role in this case.

7. Upcoming elections in Palestine and the West Bank

   Q: Elections in Palestine and the West Bank will be held soon. Will Japan send some observers?

   A: We understand that the election is going to take place in January, and we are now in the process of formulating our policy on this. When Prime Minister Murayama visited the Middle East last September, he made it clear that Japan is ready to extend personnel and material aid for the election. Still, today, we cannot tell you how many people will be sent for the election, and so on. Incidentally, there was a press report that some members of parliament also wished to go to monitor the election. We still don't know whether those MPs have decided to go there. But, if they decide to do so, we think it will be most appropriate for them to do so, and the Foreign Ministry will extend service to them.

   Q: Could you elaborate more about the Japanese assistance to the Palestinians? I understand that there is US$200 million.

   A: Yes. In 1993, the Japanese Government committed US$200 million in aid over the next two years, and Prime Minister Murayama and Foreign Minister Kono said that the Government of Japan would like to continuously extend positively the aid to the Palestinians. Still, we have not decided what we should do after that. We have not yet disbursed the entire US$200 million. In any case, Prime Minister Murayama and Foreign Minister Kono said that Japan would like to continuously extend aid as positively as in the past.

8. Japan's possible involvement in reconstruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina

   Q: Today's announcement says US$20 million is going to be donated by Japan for peace-keeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia. Are there any other efforts, particularly in terms of personnel, that Japan is considering?

   A: What Foreign Minister Kono announced at the meeting was the emergency aid which you mentioned. But, we have been contemplating extending other forms of aid to Bosnia. We are not in a position to announce that. We very much appreciate that the Japanese Government can participate in the coordination mechanism for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Once we can directly participate in the mechanism, we will be in a position to play a bigger role for the aid to Bosnia- Herzegovina. Although we are not in a position to announce it now, we are going to study the possibility of extending aid for the reconstruction of Bosnia, and when the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) sends a monitor team for the election, the Government of Japan is also going to study the possibility of extending personnel and financial contributions for the election. In order to decide what sort of aid we can extend for the reconstruction of Bosnia, we will, in due course, dispatch a Government fact-finding team for this.

   Q: The words you just used -- being directly involved in the coordination mechanism -- are you implying that some Japanese personnel should take some kind of charge in a rather responsible position in this coordination group?

   A: First of all, a peace implementation coordination committee has been set up, and we are participating in the committee, and secondly, this committee will dispatch a senior advisor to Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the Government of Japan is going to send one advisor. By doing so, we will be involved in the process of reconstruction in Bosnia.

   Q: Have you selected the advisor?

   A: Not yet.

9. Possible visit to Japan by Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

   Q: I understand that Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto will visit Japan next month.

   A: As for Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, what I can tell you now is that the Government of Japan is now arranging the visit for her, and we principally will invite her as a guest of the Government in January. But we have not yet finalized the itinerary. In 1992, then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan visited Japan, and in 1989, Prime Minister Bhutto visited Japan on the occasion of the funeral ceremony for His Imperial Majesty Emperor Showa. But, she is going to visit Japan as a guest of the Government this time.