Press Conference by the Press Secretary April 14, 1998

1. Attendance by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura at the ASEAN Troika and Friends of Cambodia Meeting
2. Attendance by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura at the 54th General Meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
3. Status of visit of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation to Japan
4. Possibility of visit by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to the Russian Federation
5. Results of meeting between State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura and Executive Director Catherine Bertini of the World Food Programme
6. Public debate of government policy
7. Expectations of the Government of Russia and the Government of Japan to the visit of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation to Japan

1. Attendance by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura at the ASEAN Troika and Friends of Cambodia Meeting

   Mr. Shimanouchi: State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura will be participating as the head of the Japanese delegation to the ASEAN Troika and Friends of Cambodia Meeting which will be held in Bangkok on 19 April. This meeting will be attended by the foreign ministers of the member countries of the ASEAN Troika, that is the Republic of Indonesia, the Republic of the Philippines and the Kingdom of Thailand as well as high government officials of the European Union (EU), the French Republic, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Russian Federation, the United States of America and other countries. At this meeting the present situation in the Kingdom of Cambodia will be reviewed, bearing in mind the importance that a free and fair election be held this year in Cambodia. The members will also look at future actions that the international community might take to this end.

2. Attendance by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura at the 54th General Meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

   Mr. Shimanouchi: State Secretary Koumura will be attending the 54th General Meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). This meeting will be held in Bangkok from 16 to 22 April. The General Meeting will be attended by a total of about 700 representatives from 56 ESCAP member and associate member countries and four non-regional member countries. The Japanese delegation will be headed by State Secretary Koumura. At this ESCAP Meeting there will discussions on the prospects for social development in the Asia-Pacific region as we approach the 21st century. There will be discussions on ESCAP reform and on the impact of the present financial crisis on social development and regional cooperation strategies in the region.

3. Status of visit of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation to Japan

   Q: Will the visit of President Yeltsin to Japan take place on schedule?

   Mr. Shimanouchi: On the evening of 13 April, Tokyo time, we sought confirmation from the Russian side through our embassy in Moscow regarding the visit to Japan by President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation. The Russian side confirmed once again that the visit by President Yeltsin will take place as planned. Presently the two sides are discussing President Yeltsin's schedule and other specifics of the visit.

4. Possibility of visit by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to the Russian Federation

   Q: Can you confirm a report that Prime Minister Hashimoto will be visiting Russia this September?

   Ms. Shimanouchi: With regard to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto's official visit to Russia, I have seen the media report on this possible visit. We will be looking at the Prime Minister's official visit to Russia taking into account the outcomes of the dialogue between the two countries in the weeks and months to come. This of course includes the upcoming visit of President Yeltsin to Japan, scheduled for the weekend of 18 to 19 April. At this moment, no decisions have been made regarding the Prime Minister's official visit to Russia. You may recall that in June last year at the time of the Denver Summit Meeting, Prime Minister Hashimoto and President Yeltsin agreed that, aside from the meetings that may take place on the sidelines of international meetings, that the top leaders of the two countries should exchange visits at least once a year. We believe that it is important to maintain the momentum between the two countries for political dialogue.

5. Results of meeting between State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura and Executive Director Catherine Bertini of the World Food Programme

   Q: State Secretary Koumura met with the Executive Director of the WFP. Were requests made to Japan to provide food assistance to North Korea and Indonesia and has Japan made a commitment to provide more assistance to these two countries?

   Mr. Shimanouchi: The meeting between State Secretary Koumura and Executive Director Catherine Bertini of the World Food Programme (WFP) took place this morning. They discussed food assistance to both North Korea and Indonesia. Executive Director Bertini told State Secretary Koumura that the situation regarding small children in North Korea was somewhat better than it was before, but the situation remained serious and that international support was still necessary. In response to this, State Secretary Koumura explained to Executive Director Bertini that Japan is still in the process of steadily implementing the assistance that Japan announced in October last year. He said that he understood the humanitarian situation in North Korea and that he also understood the need for the international community to do something about this. He said however, that in Japan there existed very strong public sentiment regarding the suspected kidnappings of Japanese nationals. Such being the case, what Japan could do right now was to steadily implement the assistance that Japan decided on last year. In the part of the meeting regarding Indonesia, State Secretary Koumura explained what Japan was doing right now. We are now accelerating our consideration of the supply of rice to Indonesia in light of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and WFP Report issued a few days ago. State Secretary Koumura explained the current situation to Executive Director Bertini. The decision has already been made that Japan will be sending food assistance to Indonesia. Currently we are considering the volume and modality of the assistance. We are still in the process of considering these details.

6. Public debate of government policy

   Q: Several Japanese politicians have expressed irritation lately over the amount of advice Japan has been receiving on how to manage its economy from other countries, especially from the United States. With the G-7 meetings later this week, maybe it would be good to get the official reaction of the Foreign Ministry to this type of sentiment. Has the advice crossed the line?

   Mr. Shimanouchi: The basic position of the Government of Japan regarding that question is that it is a normal practice, particularly among G-7 members, to hold consultations on or to discuss each other's economic policies. There is nothing wrong with that and this is something that we expect to continue. But at the same time, if another government makes its views in specific terms regarding Japan's economic policy, and if this is done publicly, we believe there exists the risk that it might undermine a healthy discussion of these matters here in Japan. That is our position. We do not find anything wrong with governments advising other governments regarding their domestic policies, but we believe that this should not be done in the public arena. I am saying that such public statements run the risk of undermining public discussion here in Japan. I am not saying that it has happened. We do not perceive these statements as intervention in the domestic affairs of Japan. We are concerned about the risk of that happening.

7. Expectations of the Government of Russia and the Government of Japan to the visit of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation to Japan

   Q: Regarding the upcoming visit of President Yeltsin, there seems to be a perception gap on what Russia and Japan would like to come from these talks. Can you give us any idea that this perception is right or wrong that there is a gap in what the two parties expect?

   Mr. Shimanouchi: I am not going to predict the outcome of the discussions scheduled to be held this coming weekend. The two leaders had a very good meeting in Krasnoyarsk. They agreed on the Hashimoto-Yeltsin Plan. The two sides also agreed to make utmost efforts to conclude a peace treaty by the year 2000 based on the Tokyo Declaration. A lot of work between the Government of Japan and the Government of Russia in terms of follow-up to the Krasnoyarsk meeting has been done. A lot of progress has been made regarding the implementation of the Hashimoto-Yeltsin Plan. I explained this to you in detail a few weeks ago, so I will not repeat what I said. With regard to the conclusion of the peace treaty, meetings have been held at the level of ministers; a meeting of the Joint Committee on the Conclusion of the Peace Treaty at the ministerial level was held in Moscow in February and more recently a meeting of the sub-committee of this committee at the vice-ministerial level was held. In this most recent meeting at the vice-ministerial level, the two sides discussed what might be contained in the peace treaty with a view to moving forward the process set in motion at Krasnoyarsk. We are certainly hopeful that the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Hashimoto and President Yeltsin will help to add momentum to this very positive process.