Press Conference by the Press Secretary May 13, 1997

Press Conference Announcements
1. Situation in the Republic of Chechnya
  Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hiroshi Hashimoto: Regarding the situation in the Republic of Chechnya, the Government of Japan has been asking the parties to solve this issue peacefully through negotiations. Up until now, there has been a series of talks between the leaders of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Chechnya. Very recently, President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation and Aslan Maskhadov of the Republic of Chechnya signed a new treaty. We hope that the signing of the most recent document furthers the advance toward a final peace settlement.
2. Meeting of Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral of the Republic of India and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
  Spokesman Hashimoto: The Government of Japan welcomes the meeting between Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral of the Republic of India and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on 12 May. The Government of Japan appreciates that the meeting of the two Prime Ministers is the culmination of the series of conversations between the two countries and that the groundwork for improving the India-Pakistan relationship has been further established. The Government of Japan hopes that further progress will be made in bilateral talks in the future.
3. Situation regarding the Senkaku Islands
  Spokesman Hashimoto: It has been reported that Hong Kong and Taiwanese citizens plan to land on the Senkaku Islands on 18-19 May. Actions such as illegal landing violate Japanese law, and this will hardly contribute to furthering the relationship between Japan and Taiwan or between Japan and Hong Kong. Japan therefore requests that the relevant parties in this plan respond calmly to the series of events involving the Senkaku Islands and, in particular, requests that plans to travel to and land on the Senkaku Islands are not implemented.
Landing of Taiwanese on the Senkaku Islands
Q: Regarding the plan of Taiwanese to land on the Senkaku Islands, there have been reports that the Government of Japan is going to enforce the law much more strictly. If this is true, what kind of measures are you thinking of at this time?

Spokesman Hashimoto: If Japan's request which I mentioned is ignored, and the parties involved attempt to land illegally or take other such actions, Japan will take appropriate measures to prevent these actions in accordance with the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act. However, at this moment we will not comment on what concrete measures will be taken if an attempt to land is made, because we sincerely hope that up until the last moment those individuals will reconsider their plan and not attempt to carry out their action.

Q: Under the Japanese Immigration Control Law, the violators of this law are subject to arrest. Is this correct?

Spokesman Hashimoto: It depends -- if someone clearly violates the immigration law, then there is a possibility that those people will be arrested. But I do not want to make any pre-judgements about what actions will be taken by the Maritime Safety Agency at the time of such an event. Once again, I repeat that we would like to dissuade them from engaging in the protest near the islands.
Interim report on the Japan-United States Guidelines for Defense Cooperation
Q: Could you update us on the preparation of the interim report on the Guidelines for Japan-United States Defense Cooperation, which was originally slated to come up in May?

Spokesman Hashimoto: In the past the Government of Japan announced several times that sometime between the middle of May and the beginning of June an interim report would be published for public debate. As far as I understand, that remains the case.

Q: How will this interim report deal with controversial minesweeping operations on the high seas?

Spokesman Hashimoto: I am sorry, I do not have a prepared answer for this. But basically, before we make the interim report public, we will not make a comment on the content of the report. Therefore, we hope that you will be patient. After the release of the interim report, I shall be happy to respond to any questions that you might have.

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