Press Conference 15 June 2001

1. Announcement on the visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Tanaka to the United States of America
2. Follow-up questions on Foreign Minister Tanaka's visit to the United States
3. Questions regarding the position of the Government of Japan toward Iraq

1. Announcement on the visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Tanaka to the United States of America

   Deputy Press Secretary Chikahito Harada: Good afternoon. I have one announcement to start with, concerning the visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Makiko Tanaka to the United States of America.

   Foreign Minister Tanaka will visit the United States from 16-19 June and meet with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on 18 June to exchange views on a wide range of issues.

   Related Information (Japan-The United States Relations)
   
2. Follow-up questions on Foreign Minister Tanaka's visit to the United States

   Q: Will the Foreign Minister meet with any other officials during her stay in the United States?

   Mr. Harada: We are coordinating with the US side on other meetings, but at the present moment no other meetings have been fixed.

   Q: With whom does she want to meet? What meetings are being arranged?

   Mr. Harada: Since we are still coordinating with our US counterparts, I think it is better for me to refrain from naming any specific names.

   Q: What is the purpose of this visit?

   Mr. Harada: Foreign Minister Tanaka is making this visit to exchange views with her US counterpart, Secretary of State Powell, which will contribute to the Japan-US Summit meeting to be held at the end of June.

   Q: Usually, the trips to the United States by Japanese Foreign Ministers are set well in advance, but this one was just decided two or three days ago. Do you think this visit was decided suddenly?

   Mr. Harada: I would not say that this visit has been decided suddenly, because after Foreign Minister Tanaka assumed her position she had a telephone conversation with Secretary of State Powell during which the two foreign ministers agreed to hold a meeting as soon as possible. However, since both Foreign Minister Tanaka and Secretary of State Powell are very busy people, it took time to find a date convenient to both sides.

   Q: I read some reports about the means by which the Foreign Minister is going to the United States. Is it on a charter flight or a commercial flight?

   Mr. Harada: As far as I know, Foreign Minister Tanaka will make the round-trip by commercial flight.

   Q: Is she planning to hold a joint press conference with Mr. Powell after their meeting?

   Mr. Harada: Again, we are still coordinating. I am sure there will be a press occasion after the meeting with Secretary of State Powell, but it has not been decided whether it will be a joint press occasion or a separate press occasion.

   Related Information (Japan-The United States Relations)
   
3. Questions regarding the position of the Government of Japan toward Iraq

   Q: I read in Kyodo this morning an interview with the Iraqi Foreign Minister. He described Japan's policy toward Iraq as being hostile. Do you have any comment on this, and how would you describe Japan's policy toward that country?

   Mr. Harada: I have not read the report to which you refer, but I do not think that this is the first time for such a qualification to come from that country. It is not our practice to qualify our relations with other countries as hostile; we do not use such a qualification. As you are aware, our approach to Iraq is that we urge that Iraq should comply with the United Nations Security Council resolution, and we will continue to take that position.

   Q: The basis of your position toward Iraq is related to Iraq's compliance with the UN resolution?

   Mr. Harada: We would like to closely watch how Iraq complies with that resolution.

   Q: There are other countries neighboring Iraq that also have not complied with UN resolutions. Are you also taking, or going to take, the same position toward this certain country?

   Mr. Harada: Basically, we take the same position toward any country that should comply with a UN resolution; we urge that they should comply with the UN resolution.

   Q: But you take a tougher attitude toward Iraq than compared to your position toward a certain other country, namely, Israel?

   Mr. Harada: We have various factors to consider surrounding the State of Israel, namely, the Middle East peace process. Of course, in addition to the UN resolution, we have a position on the Middle East peace process.

   Q: The Iraqi Foreign Minister asked Japan to normalize relations, and he asked that the Japanese Embassy be reopened on a full status. How would Japan respond to this request?

   Mr. Harada: We do not have any plan to reopen the Embassy in Iraq in full capacity at this moment.

   Q: Do you have any reasons why not?

   Mr. Harada: Well, at this point we do not see any reason to change our position on reopening the embassy in full capacity.

   Related Information (Japan-Iraq Relations)