Press Conference by the Press Secretary October 17, 1997
- Press conference announcements
- Visit to Japan by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
- Japan-U.S. shipping industry dispute
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emission
- Press conference announcements
- Recommendation for Director-General Hiroshi Oki of the Environment Agency to Chair the Third Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nobuaki Tanaka: The Government of Japan has decided to ask Director-General Hiroshi Oki of the Environment Agency to be the Chairperson of the Third Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto. It has been customary that a minister from the host country should be elected as the Chairman for this kind of meeting. Certainly, this is a matter that the Conference itself should decide, but Japan recommends Director-General Oki.
- Ministerial meeting on the environment
Spokesman Tanaka: This morning the ministerial meeting concerning environmental issues was convened for the first time among Chief Cabinet Secretary Kanezo Muraoka, Minister for Foreign Affairs Keizo Obuchi, Minister Mitsuo Horiuchi of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry and officials of the Environment Agency. They reviewed the situation, recent developments concerning, among others, the Japanese proposal. Thirdly, within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a task force was established with the Vice-Minister as the Chairperson and Ambassador for Global Economic Affairs Toshiaki Tanabe of the Global Issues Division in charge of COP3, in order for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to prepare for the success of the COP3 Meeting in Kyoto.
- Recommendation for Director-General Hiroshi Oki of the Environment Agency to Chair the Third Conference of the Parties (COP3) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto
- Visit to Japan by Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Q: Regarding Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa's visit, could you briefly give us the Japanese Government's reaction to those high-level meetings with the Chief Executive? Also, were the issues surrounding either the Senkaku Islands or the alleged overcharging of Japanese tourists brought up by either party?
Spokesman Tanaka: Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region visited Japan and met with Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and Minister for Foreign Affairs Keizo Obuchi yesterday. His visit to Japan was from 15-17 October, which was a first for the Head of this Special Administrative Region. In the meeting with Prime Minister Hashimoto, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa basically stressed the bright future for Hong Kong and he also stressed the importance of the relationship between Japan and Hong Kong which has been the major partner for Hong Kong, with more than 3,000 Japanese corporations and more than 25,000 Japanese nationals residing in Hong Kong. Prime Minister Hashimoto said that Hong Kong is very important to Japan and we have done a lot, for example, by concluding the aviation agreement, the investment protection agreement and so forth. In the future as well, our friendship with Hong Kong will remain unchanged. Secondly, it is important for Hong Kong to transfer the knowledge of a market-oriented economy, which Hong Kong has been experiencing in the past, for the benefit of national enterprises of China. Also, in the meeting with Foreign Minister Obuchi, the issue of tourists was mentioned. Foreign Minister Obuchi said that we hope to see the number of tourists pick up again in the future. However, there was no discussion following that. Basically, that is what these meetings were about. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa came to Japan to convey the message that Hong Kong would remain important in the future for Japan and also, for Hong Kong, ties with Japan are very important. Both Prime Minister Hashimoto and Foreign Minister Obuchi concurred with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa on that, and that we will continue our collaboration and continue to pay attention to Hong Kong.
Q: Was the Senkaku Islands issue brought up by either party at all?
Spokesman Tanaka: No, there was no mention about the Senkaku Islands.
Q: As an overall impression of the visit, has there been any change at all -- positive or negative -- in the relationship?
Spokesman Tanaka: It was a very positive tone with which the two leaders met. I think that this is assuring for us as well as for the people of Hong Kong that the business we have done in the past would continue. We certainly hope that Hong Kong will be a window for mainland China in various senses. All in all, the meeting came out very positive.
- Japan-U.S. shipping industry dispute
Q: Regarding the Japan-U.S. shipping industry dispute, the United States just announced that they would bar any incoming Japanese ships or detain any Japanese ships going out of port. Can you comment on this? Do you think that this issue will damage the bilateral relationship? Will the Government of Japan consider any means of retaliation?
Spokesman Tanaka: We have to bear in mind that the negotiations are still underway in Washington right now. We are continuing to talk to the United States, and the United States is doing likewise. Therefore, it is not appropriate at this stage to get into hypothetical questions about the outcome of the negotiations, nor is it productive to get into a scenario in which there could be some irritations arising from this dispute. Therefore, for the time being, we will see if the current negotiations can produce some positive results. Certainly, this matter concerns the practices in the business sector which had been relatively unfamiliar to any outside people. Therefore, it is very difficult for either party to really understand properly the actual meaning of the technical details of how these practices have been handled. That is part of the reason why it has taken so much time and so much energy and still the negotiation goes on in Washington. However, we hope that the parties concerned would show patience and that they could produce some constructive results. By the way, these surcharges have not been paid since 15 October.
- Reduction of greenhouse gas emission
Q: Reports have stated that Japan decided already to give developing countries more support to help them combat global warming. Do you have any information on this?
Spokesman Tanaka: I have to tell you that our proposal is a very significant proposal from our point of view and we do our best to sell this package to the rest of the world. The reason why we float this proposal is that Japan is the Chair of the COP3 Meeting in December, and we have a certain responsibility to reorient this very confusing situation surrounding emission control. Having said that, I must point out that the Japanese proposal of a 5 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emission is considerable, because if we leave it as it is, then Japanese emission of these gases would naturally increase by 2010 by about 21 percent as compared to 1990. Even if we would take into account these saving factors for Japan, it would reduce by 2.5 percent. That added to this 21 percent means that we have to make an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emission by 23 percent by 2010, based on the 1990 level. That is a considerable reduction which requires all-out efforts by everybody in Japan and every industry in Japan. When the EU proposal of a 15 percent reduction is compared against the baseline of 1990, there are only two countries that make a major contribution to that 15 percent reduction. One is Germany with a 25 percent reduction, and the other is Great Britain, which has a 10 percent reduction target against the 1990 baseline. But, if you take a look at the other countries, 13 countries altogether, they intend to increase the emission of greenhouse gas by 0.7 percent. We are now in the exercise of reducing the emission gas, particularly among developed countries. These EU countries, 13 altogether, against this backdrop, are actually increasing greenhouse gas emission by 0.7 percent. Therefore, I do not believe that the Japanese proposal is a bad one. In the Cabinet, we have recently discussed a report on what kind of saving measures we have to introduce in order to curb greenhouse gas emission. These reports revealed that, by 2010, we have to increase the efficiency of gasoline by 20 percent, we have to set the summertime cooling temperature to 28 degrees Celsius and we have to set the wintertime warming temperature to 20 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, we have to increase new energy alternative resources by three times. So, these are quite significant efforts that we have to make in order to achieve even a zero reduction in greenhouse gas emission as compared to 1990. All in all, the Japanese proposal is very realistic, meaningful and equitable. We hope to persuade other countries along these lines.
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