Press Conference by the Press Secretary 22 October 1996

Senkaku Island homepage
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hiroshi Hashimoto: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the regular Ministry of Foreign Affairs press briefing. I have one announcement today. Recently much attention has been focused both in Japan and abroad on the subject of the Senkaku Islands. We have received many inquiries regarding Japan's stance on this matter, and until now, we have responded to each inquiry by providing the appropriate explanation or documentation. To make this information more readily available, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has prepared a fact sheet on this matter in English, which we will attach to the Ministry's home page very soon. Those interested are invited to access this newly available material. The fact sheet itself has already been prepared -- it is going to be put into our machine. I hope this new material will be available in the very near future. This is the announcement that I wanted to make, and I will be delighted to respond to any questions that you might have.

Q: How soon will it be available on the Internet?

A: It will depend -- only this morning has the fact sheet been prepared. We have only one person who can put it into the Internet. We will do our best to put it into our machine as soon as possible. Probably some time this week.
Japan's election as a non-permanent member to the United Nations Security Council
Q: Do you have any comment on Japan being elected to the Security Council?

A: Yes. We are happy that we have been elected as a non-permanent member of the Security Council. We consider this as a favorable response by the international community to the various efforts of the Government of Japan in various United Nations activities. We have fully prepared ourselves for the election and we are glad that eventually we have been elected as a non-permanent member. While Japan and the Republic of India, both countries, endeavored to be elected, now that the election is over, I do not think this will affect negatively the friendly relations between the two countries. Japan, as it has been doing, would like to strengthen its cooperative relationship with India in many fields. The next two years are very important to create a new framework for international peace and stability in the 21st century, and Japan is ready to play a positive and constructive role in strengthening the various functions of the United Nations activities and solutions to various regional conflicts. That is our comment on the elections.
Japan-Australia relations
Q: Is there any comment on the failure of Australia to win a seat?

A: It is not appropriate for us to make a comment on other countries. It all depends upon how the other countries have appreciated the efforts of the candidates. But, in any case, Australia is a very important partner for Japan. Outside of the Security Council, we would like to strengthen cooperation with Australia.
Japan's role as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council
Q: Regarding the United Nations Security Council and Japan, what kind of role can we expect from Japan to play in this new position? It has been reported that the Government of Japan used yen diplomacy to get the seat.

A: Are you talking about the future activities of the Government of Japan at the Security Council? The Middle East, the Republic of Afghanistan -- those issues have been taken up at the Security Council and we would like to contribute to the progress of the issues at the Security Council. The Security Council engages in various peace-keeping operations (PKO) activities, or deals with non-proliferation, disarmament, etc. Therefore, I think Japan can contribute a lot to the activities of the Security Council. As for your second question, I think the international society appreciates Japan's efforts to strengthen official development assistance (ODA) activities in the developing countries. We are glad to know this, but, at the same time, any country that gives support to Japan does so not because Japan is extending ODA, or not only because the bilateral relationship has been good. Any country will judge the total Japanese diplomatic activities in various fields, including international peace and security. Therefore, I do not think that Japan won the elections because of Japanese money. Thank you very much.

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