Press Conference 27 June 2003

1. Dispatch of a governmental election observation mission for the general elections in Cambodia
2. Upcoming visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to the Russian Federation
3. Upcoming attendance by Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Shinako Tsuchiya at the United Nations Economic and Social Council Ministerial Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland
4. Questions concerning Foreign Minister Kawaguchi's upcoming visit to Russia
5. Question concerning national referendum in Taiwan
6. Question concerning Senkaku Islands

1. Dispatch of a governmental election observation mission for the general elections in Cambodia

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon, thank you very much for coming to this briefing. Today I have three announcements I would like to make.

   The first announcement is that in conjunction with the general elections in Cambodia, which are scheduled for 27 July, the Government of Japan has decided to dispatch a governmental election observation mission.

   The mission will include approximately ten observers recruited through public advertisement. The mission will be dispatched to Cambodia for about ten days and conduct observation of election campaigns and voting.

   The Government of Japan strongly hopes that the forthcoming general elections in Cambodia will be free, fair and truly democratic.

   In conjunction with these elections, the Government of Japan has already decided to contribute approximately US$2.4 million to the Government of Cambodia and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) for logistic arrangements, purchase of equipment and voter education to support these elections

   Related Information (Dispatch of a Governmental Election Observation Mission for the General Elections in Cambodia)
   
2. Upcoming visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to the Russian Federation

   Mr. Takashima: The second announcement is about the visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to the Far Eastern region of the Russian Federation.

   Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will visit Vladivostok, Russia, on 28 and 29 June. During her stay, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will hold a co-chairpersons' meeting of the Japan-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Issues with Mr. Viktor Khristenko, Vice-Chairman of the Russian Government.

   Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will also visit the shipyard in Zvezda where the dismantling work of Russian retired nuclear submarines will be done with Japanese government financial assistance under the program of elimination of nuclear weapons.

   Related Information (Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi to Visit Vladivostok)
   
3. Upcoming attendance by Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Shinako Tsuchiya at the United Nations Economic and Social Council Ministerial Meeting in Geneva, Switzerland

   Mr. Takashima: The third announcement is that the Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Ms. Shinako Tsuchiya, will visit Geneva, Switzerland from 30 June to 2 July to attend the United Nations Economic and Social Council Ministerial Meeting.

   At the meeting, Secretary Tsuchiya will deliver a speech to explain the comprehensive policy of the Government of Japan to eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development in agricultural areas of developing countries in the world.

4. Questions concerning Foreign Minister Kawaguchi's upcoming visit to Russia

   Q: Regarding Foreign Minister Kawaguchi's visit to Vladivostok, will she be discussing trade and economic issues as well as financial aid for Russian nuclear submarines?

   Mr. Takashima: The arrangement has already been made to assist the dismantling of retired nuclear submarines.

   Q: Can you substantiate, if possible, what kind of trade and economic topics she will be discussing with her Russian counterpart particularly regarding oil and oil pipeline development in the area? And also, could you tell us whether that project is going to be carried out in a tripartite fashion involving the People's Republic of China?

   Mr. Takashima: Firstly, on the topics to be discussed at the meeting with the Russian counterparts, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will certainly raise the issue of economic cooperation between Japan and Russia. Indeed, trade relations between Japan and Russia are far smaller than between Japan and China or Japan and the United States, or Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Through various meetings held between the leaders of Japan and Russia, including the January summit meeting between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Vladimir Putin, both countries have agreed to implement what we call an Action Plan to promote further exploration of wider relations both in economic trade and also in culture and people exchanges between our two countries.

   In doing so, the emphasis is put on the Far Eastern region of Russia because in this area, we understand that the population is decreasing because of slowdown of economic activities despite the fact that it has vast potential for future economic development especially its natural resources. Therefore, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will firstly discuss further Japanese cooperation with the Russians to do more, not only in energy and the natural resources area but also in logging and lumber as well as the infrastructure.

   In addition to that, there is a very extensive oil and natural gas exploration work under way with the participation of Japanese private corporations in Sakhalin, Sakhalin-1 and Sakhalin-2. Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will inform the Russian counterparts that the Japanese Government and also the Japanese private sector are eager to make this very ambitious project a successful one.

   Talking about oil pipelines, the Japanese side would urge the Russian side to build a pipeline from Eastern Siberia to the port city of Nakhodka or its vicinity in order to make that oil extracted in Eastern Siberia made available to the market of Japan and elsewhere in the Pacific area. In order to realize this project, the first thing we need is the Russian Government's decision, and we are very much hopeful that the Russian side will make the selection of what we call the Pacific route.

   Whether this will be a tripartite development still remains to be seen. We understand that the Russian side is very much interested in not only making this oil available to Japan but also to the other markets including China, and they are also conducting discussions with the Chinese side.

   Q: Is Foreign Minister Kawaguchi planning to pledge some financial aid for this project?

   Mr. Takashima: Not at this time, but she will take note that the Japanese private sector has made a decision to invest heavily in the Sakhalin project. However, since this pipeline project is still in its planning stage, no figures of financial implications have stemmed from it.

   Q: Will she possibly be taking up the matter of the Kyoto Protocol on emission reduction, since, as you and I know, Russia is a key factor for Japan to achieve the 6%-or so CO2 reduction target by 2010?

   Mr. Takashima: You are quite right that the Russian signature will put this Kyoto Protocol into force. Therefore, we have been urging the Government of Russia to sign and ratify it as quickly as possible. Certainly, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will raise this issue with Deputy Prime Minister Khristenko, and once again urge the Russian Government to sign and ratify the Kyoto Protocol and enact it as soon as possible.

   Q: Will she ask her Russian counterpart to respond to the Japanese overture by setting a kind of deadline or timeline for the Kyoto Protocol?

   Mr. Takashima: We do not have any sort of deadline or time framework for it except for asking them to do it as soon as possible. We sincerely hope that they will act very promptly.

   Q: You mentioned that the two leaders will be discussing the logging of the Siberian forest. Some NGOs, I seem to recall, have criticized this potential project as having an enormous impact on the global environment particularly because the trees in Siberia grow much slower than in tropical forests. Do you have any comment to make on that?

   Mr. Takashima: Logging is one of the major industries in Eastern Siberia. Moreover, the Russian side is also very much eager to make further use of their resources in terms of logging and lumber.

   Talking about environmental impact of logging, for example, quite recently Foreign Minister Kawaguchi signed an agreement with her counterpart from the Republic of Indonesia on the issue of illegal logging in the tropical forest of Indonesia in order to protect the environment and at the same time make use of their resources more effectively with environmental protection always kept in mind. So the same type of attitude will be applied to the Russians or any other country when we have a discussion on this issue.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
5. Question concerning national referendum in Taiwan

   Q: The national referendum was announced by President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan on the issue of construction of a nuclear power plant in Taiwan. Do you have anything to say on that?

   Mr. Takashima: I have no comment on that.

6. Question concerning Senkaku Islands

   Q: There was an incident involving an NGO from either China or Hong Kong attempting to land on the Senkaku Islands by boat. I do not recall hearing that the Government of Japan lodged a complaint to the Government of China or to Hong Kong. If you did so, can you repeat whatever Japan had to say?

   Mr. Takashima: That was an illegal entry into Japanese territorial waters by the Chinese vessel carrying members of certain groups from China and Hong Kong. Therefore, we took appropriate actions to not let them get onshore of the islands, and, in effect, they left without setting foot on the islands.

   Following that, we made the request to authorities in China and Hong Kong asking for their cooperation to not allow this kind of thing to happen again. In other words, we have been in touch with both authorities, and expressed our concern and policy. At the same time also, we reiterated that the Senkaku Islands are Japanese territory.

   Q: Have you received a response from the authorities in China or Hong Kong?

   Mr. Takashima: Not that I know of.

   Related Information (Basic View on Senkaku 1972)