Press Conference by the Press Secretary 9 April, 1999

1. Visit to Japan of President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority from 7 to 8 April
2. Visit to the United States of America by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji of the People's Republic of China
3. Update on incident concerning entry of North Korean vessels into territorial waters of Japan

1. Visit to Japan of President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority from 7 to 8 April

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: Good afternoon. At the beginning, I would like to take up two topics. The first one is the visit by President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority from 7 to 8 April. He held talks with Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura. I would like to brief you on those talks. At the meeting with Foreign Minister Koumura, President Arafat asked the Japanese side to explain its view on what the Palestinian Authority should do in light of the end of the interim self-government period on 4 May. He said that he is now hearing opinions from important countries such as the United States, the Russian Federation, other European countries, the People's Republic of China and Arab countries. He also explained what the European Union (EU), the United States and Russia told him and added he believes that the co-existence of Palestinians and Israelis is possible and two-thirds of the Israelis also support the co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians. Foreign Minister Koumura explained our assessment of the situation and our opinions in six points. First, Japan confirms that the basic existing principles of the Middle East peace process written in the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 242, 338 and 425 as well as the Madrid Conference and such agreements as the Oslo Accord continue to apply beyond 4 May 1999 and calls on the parties that a peaceful settlement through dialogue based on these principles is the only realistic option toward a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East. This is the first point. Second, Japan is deeply concerned that the peace process after the Oslo Accord had not made as much progress as originally planned. Japan urges both parties, in particular Israel, to implement all agreements from the Declaration of Principles through the Wye River Memorandum and to refrain from taking any unilateral action. Third, in order to maintain the basic principles of the peace process, Japan believes it is not desirable that the declaration of independence be made at the time of 4 May 1999, and requests President Arafat not to do so. Fourth, Japan hopes that the final status negotiations will be resumed as soon as possible and that the negotiations will be concluded within a target period of one year. Fifth, Japan has been continuously supporting the Palestinians people's right of self-determination, including the right to establish an independent state. This is the inalienable right of the Palestinian people which cannot be restricted by anyone else. The future of the Palestinians rests with their own choice and the Palestinians maintain the right to establish an independent state. It is Japan's strong hope that an independent Palestinian state will be established through peaceful means in the near future in accordance with the basic principles referred to in the series of documents I already quoted before. The last point is that Japan has extended as much economic assistance as possible to support the peace process and will continue to provide its economic assistance which will be conducive to the establishment of a Palestinian state.

   As for the assistance to the Palestinians, Foreign Minister Koumura explained that the next session of the Ad hoc Liaison Committee will be held in September in Tokyo and he will co-chair the meeting and invited President Arafat to participate in the meeting. Foreign Minister Koumura further explained that an expert team will be dispatched in May to Palestine Authority to undertake surveys concerning the Khan Yuris sewerage system project. Foreign Minister Koumura also explained about the Palestinian-Israeli Youth Program which Japan implements as a part of confidence-building measures between Palestinians and Israelis. In February, ten young people respectively, from the Palestinian Authority and Israel, were invited to Japan for about a week and though there was at the outset heated discussions between the two groups, they came to be on friendly terms. After coming back home, they still communicate with each other and call this "Tokyo Spirit." President Arafat was well informed about this program and he welcomed the program and thanked Japan for the program which enables the mutual understanding of Palestinians and Israelis. As for the framework of bilateral consultations, both sides agreed to establish a Japan-Palestinian political consultation to discuss the wide range of issues related to the Middle Eastern peace process. Both sides also agreed to hold the next session of the Aid Policy Consultation at the time of the Ad hoc Liaison Committee in September. That is the topic concerning the visit of President Arafat to Japan.

   Related Information (Japan-Middle East Relations)
   
2. Visit to the United States of America by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji of the People's Republic of China

   Deputy Press Secretary Masaki Okada: I would like to also comment on the recent visit of Prime Minister Zhu Rongji of the People's Republic of China to the United States. As for the visit of Prime Minister Zhu to the United States, Japan sees the development of United States-China relations as extremely important for the peace and prosperity of Asia and the Pacific, as well as the world as a whole. From this viewpoint, though we do not know the details of the meeting yet, Japan welcomes the success of the meeting of President William Clinton of the United States and Prime Minister Zhu. We hope that US-China relations will be further deepened and widened through a close exchange of opinions between their leaders. In this context, Japan welcomes the substantial progress made in the US-China negotiations concerning China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO). Though agreement has not been reached with respect to some important issues, the United States and China commit, in the Joint Statement, to work to resolve these remaining issues through further bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a strong agreement as a basis for the accession of China to the WTO. Japan hopes that this leads to the acceleration and promotion of the negotiations on China's accession to the WTO as a whole. Japan, on its part, has been supporting the accession of China to the WTO and is willing to cooperate so that the early accession of China will be realized. As for the bilateral negotiations between Japan and China, we have already agreed on the trade of goods such as tariff and non-tariff measures. As for services, we will make further efforts with a view to reaching an early agreement while ensuring commercially-meaningful commitments from the Chinese side.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
3. Update on incident concerning entry of North Korean vessels into territorial waters of Japan

   Q: Regarding North Korea, do you have some new things to enlighten the press? What are the latest developments regarding these suspicious boats?

   Mr. Okada: After having found the ships, the Japanese have been trying to seize the ships, but unfortunately they went out of our areas so that we could not really seize the two ships. We found that the two ships went into a port of North Korea. Before that we already asked through our representative in New York and Beijing if the ships that came into the territorial water of North Korea would be seized and handed over to Japan. After we found that those two ships were in a North Korean port, we continued our efforts to appeal to the North Koreans and thereafter we drew a conclusion from all the available information to us that those two ships belong to North Korea. We protested to North Korea and conveyed our protest through our representatives in New York and Beijing. Unfortunately, until now their response has been that North Korea has nothing to do with this incident and North Korea has no reason to receive any document related to this issue. That is what the North Koreans have explained to us. We very much regret that there is no sincere response from the North Korean side. We now have to take into account this recent incident into our considerations in proceeding with our future relations with North Korea. However, in principle, our attitude to North Korea is based on two basic pillars; one is deterrence, the other is dialogue. Therefore, we think we do not have to change our basic policy vis-a-vis North Korea. Even though we have had this incident, we would like to also search for chances to really widen our possibility to have contacts with North Korean authorities and discuss all the outstanding issues between the two sides.

   Q: You mentioned that there was no answer to your messages, but they have reacted by denying it.

   Mr. Okada: There was a sort of reaction from them. If we take this as an answer or reaction, then it is up to us. We think that is a sort of answer from their side.

   Q: Since then, have there been any more investigations of this event by the United States Army or Japan or is it now just on the political level?

   Mr. Okada: As far as this incident is concerned, we are not conducting any further investigation. As far as this issue is concerned, all the investigation has already been substantially ended. However, as for the future measures, even now there are many ministries and agencies concerned and they are now considering what they should do in order to enhance the ability of our side to detect those ships which illegally invade our territorial water.

   Q: That is the latest report?

   Mr. Okada: Yes.