Press Conference 17 May 2002

1. Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the speech by Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Liberation Organization
2. Questions concerning the incident at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, People's Republic of China
3. Question on Japan's refugee asylum policy
4. Request for information on new Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana

1. Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the speech by Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Liberation Organization

   Assistant Press Secretary Daisuke Matsunaga: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I have one announcement to make this afternoon. I would like to share with you the statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi issued yesterday concerning the Middle East peace process. Foreign Minister Kawaguchi's statement is on the speech by Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

   Foreign Minister Kawaguchi welcomed the fact that Chairman Arafat, in his speech delivered at the Palestinian Legislative Council on 15 May, rejected the terrorist attacks targeting ordinary civilians and expressed the will to carry out elections and reforms of the security and administrative apparatus of the Palestinian Authority.

   Japan hopes that this momentum helps the Palestinians overcome the current difficulties and proceed toward a better future. Japan will continue to watch the Middle East situation with keen interest and expresses its readiness to provide necessary and appropriate support.

   Related Information (Japan-Palestinian Authorities Relations)
   
2. Questions concerning the incident at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, People's Republic of China

   Q: About the Shenyang incident, the Chinese side says that they received a phone call from the Vice Consul in which the Vice Consul had said that the event had settled down. Do you have any comment on that?

   Mr. Matsunaga: We confirmed last night, the evening of 16 May, that the Vice Consul in charge of visa affairs telephoned the Liaoning Province external relations office and told the other party that a serious incident had occurred, and he passed the telephone to a local staff member. This telephone call was made at just past 15:00 on 8 May by the Vice Consul, but the local staff member took hold of the telephone and continued the conversation. So, what the Vice Consul said was that a serious incident had occurred that day, and then he passed the telephone receiver on to a local staff member.

   Q: Did he say that the event had settled down?

   Mr. Matsunaga: As far as I understand, he just said that, on that day, a serious incident had occurred, and then he had the local staff member take over the conversation. The Vice Consul did not express or offer any thanks for the settlement of the incident, or anything, to the Chinese side.

   Q: Regarding that question, after the local staff member took over the telephone conversation, what did he or she say to the Chinese authorities?

   Mr. Matsunaga: According to the Vice Consul, he does not know how the local staff member reported the incident to the Chinese side. However, the Vice Consul says that he never expressed his thanks to the Chinese side.

   Q: To follow up, this Vice Consul cannot speak Chinese or English?

   Mr. Matsunaga: This Vice Consul is someone else. The Vice Consul in charge of security affairs is the one who could not figure out what was written in the letter. This Vice Consul is the one in charge of visa affairs.

   Q: He can speak Chinese?

   Mr. Matsunaga: He can speak some Chinese, at least some Chinese.

   Q: He needed someone to interpret for him?

   Mr. Matsunaga: I do not know for sure, but there is a degree of proficiency. For example, I can say hello in some other language, but I cannot explain in detail what happened this morning. This is only my speculation.

   Q: I would imagine that the Vice Consul wanted to convey some kind of message to the Liaoning province authorities when he handed over the phone.

   Mr. Matsunaga: The Vice Consul discussed the matter with his colleagues, and they assumed that the Liaoning Province external affairs office might not have been aware of what had happened, and so there was a need to inform them of what had happened. As far as I understand, that is the reason why the Vice Consul in charge of visa affairs decided to make the telephone call.

   Q: Did he instruct the local staff to say this and that, or did he just simply hand the phone over?

   Mr. Matsunaga: I think his intention was to have his local staff member give an outline of what had happened to the Liaoning Province external affairs office.

   Q: Is there any possibility that the local staff conveyed to the Liaoning authorities that the whole thing had settled down, or something like that?

   Mr. Matsunaga: I cannot speculate on that.

   Q: Has the Foreign Ministry interviewed the local staff?

   Mr. Matsunaga: This is my guess, but I think that when we compiled the inquiry results, which were made public on the evening of 13 May, those results were based upon extensive interviews with Consulate General staff members, including local staff.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
3. Question on Japan's refugee asylum policy

   Q: I heard from a friend inside the Government that Japan has a limitation on accepting refugees: up to 25 persons. Is there any such kind of decision in Government?

   Mr. Matsunaga: As far as I know there is no limit expressed in terms of the number of people. Our policy is to consider each individual case on a case-by-case basis. We would like to have this matter debated in Japan; we consider it desirable to have the refugee asylum policy debated widely.

   Related Information (Refugees)
   
4. Request for information on new Ambassador of the Republic of Ghana

   Q: The Ambassador from Ghana has changed. Is it possible to get some information about the new Ambassador?

   Mr. Matsunaga: Yes, please come to the International Press Division and we will provide you with some information.

   As always, our division is always available for your inquiries, so if you have any further questions, please feel free to stop by.

   Related Information (Japan-Ghana Relations)