Press Conference by the Press Secretary 4 April 1997

1. Visit of Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunji Yanai to the Middle East
2. Northern Territories issue
3. Meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda and Representative of the President in the Supreme Court Sergei Shafrai of the Russian Federation

1. Visit of Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunji Yanai to the Middle East

   Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ken Shimanouchi: On 3 April, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Shunji Yanai visited the State of Israel where he had a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the State of Israel and the Deputy Foreign Minister. Later in the day he had a meeting with Chairman Arafat in Gaza. Deputy Minister Yanai handed to Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat letters from Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. He also delivered to the Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel a letter from Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda addressed to Minister of Foreign Affairs David Levy of the State of Israel. Let me give you a little bit of background to this visit. The Government of Japan is extremely concerned by the current difficulties and rising tensions between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the Israeli decision to go ahead with the Har Homa Housing Project and the more recent bombing in Tel Aviv. Against this backdrop, the Government of Japan decided to send Deputy Minister Yanai to the region to play a role, albeit modest, in helping to put the peace process back on track by: A) reaffirming Japan's determination to support the process; and B) calling on both parties to make efforts to find a way out of the current difficulties. In his meetings with the Government of Israel and with Chairman Arafat, Deputy Minister Yanai underscored the following four points: firstly, that the parties should normalize their relations with sincerity and good will so as to put the peace process back on track; secondly, that both sides should make earnest efforts to restore calm, and, that to this end, it is strongly hoped that both sides will rebuild cooperative arrangements in the security area so as to avoid an escalation of terrorism and violence; thirdly, that the two sides should make efforts to rebuild a cooperative relationship and mutual confidence at the negotiating table in order to overcome current difficulties; and fourthly, that Japan will continue to make every effort to support the peace process, including providing further economic assistance to the Palestinians. That is the announcement that I wanted to make, and I will be delighted to respond to any questions that you might have.

2. Northern Territories issue

   Q: A representative of the Russian Federation, Mr. Shafrai is visiting Japan. In a recent interview with the Japanese press, he touched upon the issue of the cooperation of Japan in the economic development of the Northern Territories. Could you comment on this?

   A: It is not all that clear what Representative of the President in the Supreme Court Sergei Shafrai of the Russian Federation had in mind when he made this comment to the press. As you know, this concept or idea was referred to by Minister of Foreign Affairs Evgenii Maksimovich Primakov last November. We see Representative Shafrai's statement as an indication that the Russian side is working on the specifics of this initiative. The Japanese position regarding this initiative is well-known. If the Russian side comes up with a detailed proposal, we will be very glad to look at it. For your information, Representative Shafrai was here in this building this morning to pay a courtesy call on Foreign Minister Ikeda. This matter was not discussed between the two. They discussed bilateral relations in general, including both the political and economic aspects.

3. Meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda and Representative of the President in the Supreme Court Sergei Shafrai of the Russian Federation

   Q: Could you elaborate in more concrete terms on discussions between Representative Shafrai and Foreign Minister Ikeda?

   A: First, Foreign Minister Ikeda told Representative Shafrai that in order to develop the bilateral relationship, it is necessary to attach importance not only to Moscow, but to the Russian Far East and other regions, as well. He said that in the bilateral relationship, it is important to resolve the territorial issue and fully normalize our ties on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration. At the same time, he said we have been discussing, since Foreign Minister Primakov's visit to Japan last year, the need to move forward economic exchanges and people-to-people exchanges. Furthermore, he said that he would like to visit Moscow in order to maintain the momentum in the bilateral ties which has been building up since last year and to give further impetus to these ties. Representative Shafrai referred to the negotiations between the two countries on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration. He told Foreign Minister Ikeda that the bilateral relations will continue to develop dynamically. In addition, he told Foreign Minister Ikeda that, before leaving Moscow, he had met the President and Prime Minister and that both attached importance to ties with Japan. He also referred to the inter-governmental Committee on Trade and Economic Matters, saying he believed that the Russian Chairman would be named soon and that he hoped that the next meeting would be a success. Foreign Minister Ikeda said that the first meeting was held in Moscow last year, and that he would like to hold the second round soon and to move forward the cooperation in the economic area. He also said that Japan would like to make preparations so that we would be able to hold this meeting soon. They also discussed administrative reform. In a nutshell, that is what the two discussed. It was a brief meeting; it lasted for about 20 minutes.

   Q: Could you inform us of the status of Representative Shafrai's visit to Japan, and on whose invitation he came? And, there was a report saying that the main purpose of his visit is to study the experience of Japan in the post-war restoration of its economy, the experience of the judicial sphere, etc. Is the Foreign Ministry cooperating in some way with Representative Shafrai in these studies?

   A: I will have to have my colleagues assist you in getting that information. Thank you very much.