Press Conference by the Press Secretary 26 February, 1999

1. Japan's pledge of assistance at the Third Consultative Group Meeting for Cambodia in Japan
2. Emergency aid for the people of Iraq extended by the Government of Japan
3. Joint Press Statement issued on the occasion of the Official Visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Robaina Gonzalez of Cuba to Japan
4. The 27 February to 9 March visit of State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura to the Middle East
5. Bilateral relations between the Republic of Cuba and Japan
6. The possibility of a visit to Japan by President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation
7. Economic assistance extended to the Russian Federation by the Government of Japan
8. Status of the Pacific Swan, carrying radioactive waste, bound for Japan from France

1. Japan's pledge of assistance at the Third Consultative Group Meeting for Cambodia in Japan

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: Good afternoon. I would like to make a few announcements initially. The first topic is Cambodia. At the Third Consultative Group Meeting for Cambodia held on 25 February and today, 26 February, under the auspices of the World Bank and hosted by Japan in Tokyo, the Government of Japan pledged new assistance measures for Cambodia totaling about US$ 100 million. This was the first meeting since the establishment of the new Government of Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen of Cambodia at the end of last year. From the Government of Cambodia, besides Prime Minister Hun Sen, Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon of Cambodia attended the meeting as head of delegation. Participating in the Meeting were 17 countries and six international organizations including the World Bank. At this Meeting, views were exchanged on such topics as macroeconomy, structural reform, governance, forest preservation, social programs and aid coordination. The donor countries and international organizations that took part in the Meeting announced new assistance measures totaling about US$ 470 million for Cambodia.

   Since the late 1980s, Japan has played a proactive role in the process for peace and stability in Cambodia. As the long-desired stability was achieved with the establishment of the new government last year, Japan regarded the Meeting as an important step toward Cambodia's development and prosperity and pledged new assistance measures of up to a total of US$ 100 million. The details of the US$ 100 million assistance are as follows. First, grant aid and technical cooperation, which also includes development survey. In the course of 1999, a total of about US$ 100 million of grant aid and technical assistance will be extended. The assistance measures will include assistance for veterans, landmine clearance and assistance to victims, forest preservation, basic human needs and infrastructure. The second item is loan aid. This is not included in the US$ 100 million, but in light of the importance of Cambodia's economic development, Japan, keeping in mind the status of discussions between Cambodia and international financial organizations, will consider the possibility of extending loan aid for urgent rehabilitation of Sihanoukville Port, Cambodia's only deep-sea port. This project includes the renovations of the antiquated existing berth.

   Related Information (Japan-Cambodia Relations)
   
2. Emergency aid for the people of Iraq extended by the Government of Japan

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: My second topic is emergency aid for the afflicted people in the Republic of Iraq. Today, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency aid of US$ 950,000 to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and of US$ 600,000 to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) totaling US$1.55 million, to ease the plight of the people of Iraq. The economic sanctions based on United Nations Security Council resolutions have been continuing in Iraq since the Iraqi invasion of the State of Kuwait in August 1990. The plight of the Iraqi people is becoming increasingly serious because of malnutrition and worsening sanitary conditions, as well as the shortage of daily necessities such as food and medicine. Taking into account these circumstances, UNICEF and the ICRC have issued appeals for humanitarian assistance for afflicted people in Iraq this year. In response to these appeals, the Government of Japan has decided to provide this assistance to contribute to alleviating the plight of the Iraqi people. Japan has been continuously pressing the Government of Iraq to comply with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions. At the same time, Japan strongly hopes that the plight of the people in Iraq will be mitigated as soon as possible by this assistance.

   Related Information (Japan-Iraq Relations)
   
3. Joint Press Statement issued on the occasion of the Official Visit of Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Robaina Gonzalez of Cuba to Japan

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: My third topic, the Joint Press Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs Roberto Robaina Gonzalez of the Republic of Cuba and Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura, has been distributed to you. I would like to add a brief explanation to that. As you are aware, after the collapse of the former Soviet Union -- the end of the Cold War -- the environment surrounding Cuba has drastically changed. We understand there is less and less the perception that Cuba is a threat to the international community. In particular, the visit of Pope John Paul II in January 1998 was an epoch-making visit. Thereafter, a series of international measures have been implemented to enhance the friendly relations between Cuba and other countries. Against this background, in recent years, very constructive and friendly relations have been established between Cuba and Japan. On the other hand, there are still areas in which differences exist between Cuba and Japan. Foreign Minister Koumura and Foreign Minister Robaina agreed that it is important and necessary for the further development of the relations between the two countries that both countries continue dialogue. Not only in the areas where we have shared opinions, but also in the areas where we have some differences in perceptions. Based on the results of the meeting, both Foreign Ministers agreed to issue, therefore, this Joint Press Statement in order to clearly explain to the public the present standing of the bilateral relations between Cuba and Japan, as well as our fundamental thoughts in promoting bilateral relations of our two countries.

   Related Information (Japan-Cuba Relations)
   
4. The 27 February to 9 March visit of State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura to the Middle East

   Q: Mr. Machimura will visit the Middle East in a couple days. Could you tell us what will be the purpose at this time?

   Mr. Okada: I believe a press release has been distributed to you. State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura is going to visit quite a number of countries -- the Republic of Turkey, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, areas under the Palestinian Authority, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- from 27 February to 9 March. Generally speaking, the purpose is to enhance the bilateral relations through high-level exchange of views. The possible topics to be discussed between State Secretary Machimura and leaders in those countries would include human resources development, cultural exchange, energy issues, economic cooperation, the Middle East peace process and regional situations including Iraq and so on. In particular, in Israel, he intends to visit the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and would like to encourage the Japanese members of UNDOF who are stationed there. As for Jordan, we think it is very important because this is the first chance for us, after King Abdullah bin El Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan acceded to the throne, to have this high-level meeting. We would like to support Jordan in its rather difficult economic situation, and we are going to discuss our further assistance to Jordan when State Secretary Machimura visits the country. As for other countries, we do not have so many concrete issues to discuss or to solve. Therefore, we would rather like to enhance our relations -- as you know, the high-level exchanges between the Middle Eastern countries and Japan have markedly intensified in recent years and would like to further promote this trend. This is one of our latest efforts to this end.

   Q: Just to follow up, is there a certain message that Mr. Machimura will deliver from the Japanese Government to the leaders of the countries he will visit?

   Mr. Okada: I think that for individual countries, we have individual agendas or topics. For example, with Saudi Arabia, we have a kind of joint program to enhance bilateral relations. We would like to discuss that bilateral cooperation into the future. We would like to enhance our relations -- that is the somewhat cordial underlying purpose of the visits and that is the message which can be addressed to all the countries.

   Related Information (Japan-Middle East Relations)
   
5. Bilateral relations between the Republic of Cuba and Japan

   Q: As far as I understand, when Mr. Robaina came here to Japan, one of his aims was to clarify that there is no relaxation in the position of the United States against Cuba -- I am referring to your statement that there is a perception lately of there being a slightly more constructive relationship between Cuba and some areas of the world. However, Mr. Robaina disagrees with this idea. He came to explain that there has not been such relaxation. I would like to know what kind of solution Japan foresees for the embargo problem of Cuba.

   Mr. Okada: As you know, we are talking about the economic sanctions against Cuba within the context of the United Nations. We voted for the termination of the sanctions against Cuba in 1997 and again in 1998. This position of Japan was highly evaluated by the Cuban side and also this time by Foreign Minister Robaina. This partly addresses the topic of your question. However, we did not discuss the matter further. Foreign Minister Robaina just expressed his appreciation for our votes in the United Nations General Assembly.

   Q: Was there some kind of demand that Japan mediate in this problem?

   Mr. Okada: No, we have not heard about that. We are concentrating on bilateral issues. There is one area where we have a difference of opinion -- human rights. They were also ready to discuss that. Besides that, we also agreed to further enhance our cultural exchanges. In that regard, we explained that we are ready to use our cultural grant assistance in the future also for Cuba. We also wanted to normalize, or restart, our exchange of non-professional baseball teams. Unfortunately it stopped last year, but we would like to reopen it. We also received words of appreciation from Foreign Minister Robaina concerning our assistance related to the drought and Hurricane Georges. We sent emergency assistance, and they informed us that Japan was the first country which came to the assistance of Cuba. Also, in this relation, Japanese assistance of rice will reach Cuba shortly. The first portion of rice assistance amounting to 13,000 tons of rice will reach Cuba at the end of February. In total, 26,000 tons of rice will reach Cuba, and Foreign Minister Robaina expressed their appreciation for the assistance. We also discussed bilateral economic relations, the rescheduling of private debt was agreed upon in March last year, but we also must further other areas of our economic relations. In any case, these are the kinds of bilateral issues we discussed. In addition to these issues, we also discussed the possibility of concluding the investment position treaty, introduction of charter flights and exemption of visa requirements, and so on. We had very constructive talks, and I think, therefore, we can further promote this kind of dialogue with the Cuban side.

   Q: What about the difference between human rights perceptions between the two countries. Would you further explain the dialogue you have had?

   Mr. Okada: We have different opinions, for instance, concerning the treatment of prisoners in Cuba, this difference in opinions, the Cuban side is ready to discuss that further with our side. Foreign Minister Robaina's visit to Japan is the first Official Visit of a Cuban minister since 1982 when the then-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba visited Japan -- that was 17 years ago.

   Related Information (Japan-Cuba Relations)
   
6. The possibility of a visit to Japan by President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation

   Q: How strong is the possibility of Yeltsin visiting Japan this summer?

   Mr. Okada: I think in November last year, when Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi visited Moscow, we agreed that the visit of President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation would take place early this year. Recently, Prime Minister Obuchi has explained his wish that President Yeltsin's visit take place during the cherry blossom season. When Prime Minister Obuchi went to Jordan to attend the funeral of the late King Hussein bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, he also met -- not directly with President Yeltsin -- with high-ranking officials on the Russian side and we heard that there might be a possibility for President Yeltsin to visit Japan sometime this summer. That is just a possibility. We understand that the Russian side is seriously reviewing when President Yeltsin can visit Japan, in light of various factors.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
7. Economic assistance extended to the Russian Federation by the Government of Japan

   Q: Can you tell us something about Japan's aid to Russia and the conditions for that aid?

   Mr. Okada: The Russian Federation is not entitled to official development assistance (ODA) from Japan. Therefore, we have been working with the Russian Federation, utilizing other kinds of facilities such as the Export-Import Bank of Japan (JEXIM) loans to the Russian Federation. In that context we already pledged to the Russian side to extend a certain amount of credit from JEXIM and we are now consulting with the Russian side concerning its implementation. Additionally, we also extended certain amounts of grant assistance to the Russian Federation -- in particular, in areas of humanitarian assistance. We have also cooperated with the Russian side in human resources development and so on. There are many different areas of cooperation. In particular, we have special programs for the Northern Territories. We have been implementing emergency assistance to those areas. That is a summary of our cooperation.

   Q: And conditions placed on the aid?

   Mr. Okada: There are no specific conditions. As I informed you, the Russian Federation is not entitled to ODA, therefore, what I described is the usual economic cooperation between two countries. We discuss with the Russian side and whenever we find it appropriate, we extend our assistance to the Russian Federation.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
8. Status of the Pacific Swan, carrying radioactive waste, bound for Japan from France

   Q: Yesterday a ship, the Pacific Swan, carrying nuclear waste departed from France. As far as I know, no details of the route have been released yet -- either to the Japanese public or to the countries which will be on the route. Also, there is some concern about the security measures taken by Japan for this trip, after in 1992, there was a big problem with some waste that was also brought here. Would you please explain when this information will be released from the Japanese Government to the Japanese people?

   Mr. Okada: As you might understand, because of security considerations, we cannot publicize the information before it is really necessary. For the time being, I can just tell you that this ship has departed from a port in France, but I cannot tell you anything about its future plans about where it will go and what route it will take.

   Q: Do you plan to do so at some time?

   Mr. Okada: We are going to bilaterally inform the countries concerned, but we do not intend to make it public before we think it is appropriate.

   Q: When will it be appropriate?

   Mr. Okada: I cannot tell you at this time.