Press Conference by the Press Secretary 29 September, 1998

1. Comment by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi congratulating future Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Federal Republic of Germany for his victory in the German general election
2. Emergency aid from the Government of Japan to victims of hurricane Georges
3. Reported plan by the Government of Japan to the Group of Seven (G7)
4. Reports concerning Japan-United States ballistic missile defense cooperation
5. Bilateral relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea
6. Support of Japan for the Middle East peace process
7. Response of the Government of Japan to recent events in Malaysia
8. Visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the Republic of Singapore
9. Japan-Australia fishery negotiations

1. Comment by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi congratulating future Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Federal Republic of Germany for his victory in the German general election

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Good afternoon. I have two announcements to make. The first is on the German general election. Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi issued a comment on the outcome of the German general election yesterday in which he congratulated the Social Democratic Party (SDP) led by Mr. Gerhard Schroeder on his victory in the general election and he also stated in his comment that since the Federal Republic of Germany is an important partner of Japan, he would make every effort for the further development of Japanese-German relations in close cooperation with the new German Chancellor. He also paid sincere tribute to Chancellor Helmut Kohl of the Federal Republic of Germany who has served in his post for 16 years, during which he has made historic achievements such as the unification of Germany and the promotion of European integration. Prime Minister Obuchi reiterated his gratitude to Chancellor Kohl for his contribution to Japan-Germany relations which have evolved into a very close partnership during his tenure. Prime Minister Obuchi has also sent his messages to Chancellor Kohl and future Chancellor Schroeder, basically repeating the sort of points that I have just mentioned. As it has been stated in his messages, Japan and Germany are now global partners in the international community and we on the part of the Japanese Government look forward to working closely with the German Government to build an even closer cooperative partnership.

2. Emergency aid from the Government of Japan to victims of hurricane Georges

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My second announcement is about Hurricane Georges. I wonder since when they have changed the genders of the names of the hurricanes? Equality of the genders seems to apply in this case as well, either in its constructive sense or in its destructive sense. That is not a part of my announcement. As this male hurricane has wrought considerable havoc in the Caribbean, especially in the Dominican Republic, the Republic of Cuba, the Republic of Haiti, the Federation of Saint Christopher and Nevis, and Antigua and Barbuda and in the light of these heavy damages in these countries, our Government has decided to extend emergency aid to those countries that have been afflicted by the hurricane. I think you have with you a table indicating the extent of the casualties in each of the five countries that I mentioned and as you can see, it has taken a very heavy human toll. We are extending emergency assistance comprising goods such as blankets, sleeping mats, medicines, medical equipment, soaps, towels and so forth, depending on the needs and requests of the country concerned. The emergency assistance in the form of these goods amount in value to 66.92 million yen and at the same time we are extending grant aid amounting in total to US $ 250, 000.

3. Reported plan by the Government of Japan to the Group of Seven (G7)

   Q: Regarding the G7 meeting on Saturday, we heard today Mr. Miyazawa saying that Japan is going to take a proposal about controlling the activities of hedge funds. There is also a report in the Wall Street Journal this morning saying that there is a Miyazawa plan for a new aid package for Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea and Malaysia. Can you comment on those two?

   Mr. Numata: I am afraid that the question can best be addressed to Finance Minister Kiichi Miyazawa. He does not happen to be my minister, so in that sense I am somewhat constrained. The Group of Seven (G7) Meeting of finance ministers and Central Bank governors itself, I do not think the host government, the United States Government, has announced that meeting, although there are extensive reports suggesting that it will be taking place very soon, that will probably be true. I do not want to sort of pre-empt whatever may be announced, but let me simply say this, that this G7 Meeting is taking place against the backdrop of -- the people in general focusing on a whole set of problems that are affecting the global economy in general and the global financial situation in particular, including the situations in Asia, the Russian Federation and other countries, what you might call the emerging markets. In the course of the past week or two, there have been pronouncements made by several leaders, for example President William Clinton of the United States, Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom and President Jacques Chirac of the French Republic, each suggesting his own ideas about how to tackle the problems facing the global economy, so the G7 Finance Ministers' Meeting, when it takes place, will in some way or other be addressing these problems. Exactly what sort of proposals might be made by each of the participants, including Finance Minister Miyazawa, I believe is still under active consideration, so I do not think I am in a position to elaborate on any further detail about it.

4. Reports concerning Japan-United States ballistic missile defense cooperation

   Q: Mr. Nonaka, the Government spokesman, said that the Foreign Ministry has been inquiring about the news reports that Japan and the United States decided to make an agreement concerning research of TMD, the missile defense system. Can you comment?

   Mr. Numata: There is no such agreement signed. That is the short answer. When the so-called 2+2 meeting, which is the meeting of Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura, Minister of State for Defense, Director-General Fukushiro Nukaga of the Defense Agency of Japan, Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright of the United States and Secretary of Defense William Cohen of the United States, took place in New York under the rubric of the Japan-US Security Consultative Committee, there was a discussion of what we call ballistic missile defense and at the end of that meeting there was issued a joint statement in which both sides emphasized the importance of ballistic missile defense. I quote, "The ministers reviewed the progress of bilateral studies and they will proceed with further work in the direction of conducting cooperative research." So, there was this meeting of minds that Japan and the United States will proceed with further work in the direction of conducting cooperative research. That is where we are. There are procedures to be gone though, within Japan as well, in following up this announcement and in that sense, the Government of Japan has not yet come to the actual decision of conducting cooperative research with the Government of the United States from FY1999. That is where the matter stands and the report is erroneous in the sense that there was no memorandum of agreement or any other document that was signed. What we have is simply a joint statement and the reference to the ballistic missile defense that I have just made.

   Q: So does that mean that the Government of Japan has not yet made up its mind concerning this research?

   Mr. Numata: It is not quite true to say that we have not made up our mind. We have made up our mind to, again I quote, "proceed with further work in the direction of conducting cooperative research." However, in actually conducting cooperative research, there will be the need for funding in the budget and so forth and we have not come to that stage. That will require some further consideration within the Government of Japan. We are looking in a certain direction where there are some more steps to be taken before we get to the actual stage of cooperative research.

5. Bilateral relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea

   Q: Regarding the Republic of Korea, you have got President Kim Dae Jung coming next week. Could you tell us what you hope to get out of that meeting? Would you describe the bilateral relationship at the moment, in light of recent disputes over fishing and other matters, not being as stable as it should be?

   Mr. Numata: No, I do not think I would necessarily characterize our relationship as being "unstable." We have been in close contact with the Government of the Republic of Korea under the leadership of President Kim Dae Jung since he was elected earlier this year. We have had pending issues, for example the fisheries issue that you mentioned, but as you are no doubt aware, we did come to this basic agreement on the fisheries agreement last week. We have this firm basis on which to establish a new fisheries order based on the spirit on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. We feel confident that this basic agreement which had been reached after very intensive negotiations, in which both sides worked very hard to reconcile the various interests of the two countries including, in particular, the interests of the fisheries industries of the two countries, lays the foundation for the fisheries of the two countries to coexist for years to come. So that is one example of a long-standing issue being resolved. The other point is that President Kim has been emphasizing since his assumption of office, that Japan and the Republic of Korea should be building a future-orientated partnership as we move into the 21st century and that is also the direction that we do share and we would hope very much to develop our relationship in that direction. So the visit is taking place against the backdrop of these developments that I have just mentioned and I think we have very good grounds on which to hope that the visit will be a very significant one in marking the beginning of this new future-orientated relationship between our two countries.

   Q: In the Korean media there has been talk about pressure on Japan to make some ultimate apology for the occupation of Korea from 1910-1945. Is there any plan by the Government of Japan to respond to those sort of pressures or is there something you wish to do of your own volition?

   Mr. Numata: In developing our relations with the Republic of Korea, there are two important elements. One is to come to terms with the past, given the history of our relations with the Republic of Korea, and second, on the basis of coming to terms with the past, to build our relationship towards the future, what I was referring to earlier as a future-orientated partnership in the 21st century. There is shared recognition between our two countries that these are two important points that we should be addressing. Exactly how we do this is currently under discussion between us and the Government of the Republic of Korea. However, I will also add that one important element in Japan's process of coming to terms with its own past was the statement by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, issued on 15 August 1995 in which, on behalf of the Government and people of Japan, he clearly expressed the remorse and apology of Japan regarding Japan's past actions. That kind of sentiment may be an important element in our formulation of whatever statements may be made in the course of President Kim's visit.

   Q: Do you mean a restatement of that previous intention of remorse and apology or a new thing?

   Mr. Numata: The statement of former Prime Minister Murayama of 15 August 1995 was a statement directed to a number of countries. It was directed to many countries in Asia and elsewhere. In that sense it was a general statement. This time, if we are to make some kind of statement, it may be the case that that statement may be directed more directly, more specifically, to the people in the Republic of Korea but all of this is under consideration, still under coordination, so I do not think I will try to second guess whatever may be coming out in a relatively short time.

6. Support of Japan for the Middle East peace process

   Q: A lot of efforts have been made to revive the Middle East peace process. There was this meeting in Washington, D.C., with Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Netanyahu. I would like to know where Japan stands on this process.

   Mr. Numata: We certainly would like to see the peace process move forward and we have been concerned by what seems to have been a sort of, how shall I put it, an appearance of relative lack of activity on that front. However, perhaps there are some encouraging signs in the sense that the three leaders, President Clinton, Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu of the State of Israel and President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority, met in New York on 28 September, although they do not seem to have come to a comprehensive agreement yet. We strongly hope that the two parties concerned will continue their negotiations with patience and persistence and without resorting to unilateral actions so that an agreement can be reached when the three meet again next month. We highly appreciate the earnest and sincere efforts on the part of the United States to mediate this peace process and we would like in our way to do what we can to assist that peace process. We are not a direct party to the peace process but I have referred on several previous occasions to our efforts to contribute to the multilateral negotiations relating to the Middle East peace process in which we have been hosting seminars and chairing working groups and so forth to help build the underpinning of peace once it is achieved.

7. Response of the Government of Japan to recent events in Malaysia

   Q: Australian Prime Minister John Howard has expressed concern about developments in Malaysia, particularly the arrest of Anwar Ibrahim. Is Japan concerned about that? As you probably know, it is the worst social upheaval there in about 30 years. Are you concerned about developments in Malaysia?

   Mr. Numata: Let me say that having spent some time in Australia, I am very much aware of Australia's interest in what happens in other Asian countries, including Malaysia. Concerning this particular development in Malaysia, I gather you are referring to the arrest of former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. We feel that that is an internal Malaysian matter and as such I will refrain from commenting on that but at the same time we do have a very close relationship with Malaysia and we do hope that the political situation in Malaysia will be stabilized so as to enable it to grapple with the rather serious economic difficulties that the country is faced with. With that in mind, we will continue to monitor the situation there with keen interest.

8. Visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the Republic of Singapore

   Q: Lee Hsien Loong is currently in Japan today from Singapore. He is on the board of the Monetary Authority of Singapore. I am wondering if you have any comments to make on this visit on what is to be accomplished by this?

   Mr. Numata: I should be honest and say that I am without brief about the visit of Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of the Republic of Singapore. However I am sure in the course of his conversations with his counterparts in Japan, they will be talking about what is obviously of mutual interest to Japan and the Republic of Singapore, the Asian economic situation in general and those sort of points that I mentioned in the context of a possible G7 Finance Ministers' Meeting and so forth. If there is anything to add to that, I will let you know later.

9. Japan-Australia fishery negotiations

   Q: Regarding fisheries and the tuna problem, apparently Australia has issued a very strong statement disputing comments made by the Government of Japan. Australia has apparently requested negotiations to try and resolve this issue before the end of September. Is there any progress?

   Mr. Numata: Not that I am aware of. I think I have referred to our own position regarding that issue in the past so I do not think I will repeat it at length. It is a question of whether or not we need to look at the stock situation and we happen to believe that we need to look at the stock situation to assess the stock situation. There should be an experimental fishing program. With that in mind, I think the matter will continue to be a subject of discussion between our two governments. Is there any other part of the world which we have not covered or which we would like to revisit?