Press Conference 7 December 2004

1. Upcoming visit to Japan by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
2. Grant assistance for Jordan
3. Emergency assistance for the election of the Ra'ees of the Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority
4. Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the adoption of the draft resolution entitled "The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects" submitted by Japan at the United Nations General Assembly
5. Dispatch of election observers for the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Republic of Ghana
6. Question concerning upcoming visit to Japan by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Federal Republic of Germany
7. Questions concerning name of Taiwan's overseas offices

1. Upcoming visit to Japan by His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming to the briefing. Today, I would like to make several announcements before I take questions.

   First, His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan will visit Japan from 12 to 14 December at the invitation of the Government of Japan. During his stay in Japan, H.M. Majesty King Abdullah will attend a dinner with Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress of Japan and meet with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura to exchange a wide range of views on Japan-Jordan bilateral relations and such regional issues as the Middle East peace process and the reconstruction of Iraq. He will also meet with the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the House of Councillors.

   As the year 2004 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Japan and Jordan, it is expected that His Majesty's forthcoming visit to Japan will further strengthen the friendly relations between Japan and Jordan.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan of His Majesty King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)
   
2. Grant assistance for Jordan

   Mr. Takashima: The Government of Japan decided to extend grant assistance of US$7.35 million to the Government of Jordan to finance the project for the improvement of solid waste management in the capital city of Amman. This project will help the residents of the city of Amman and its vicinity including the refugee camps in the area to have better living conditions by reducing the environmental pollution there.

   Related Information (Japan-Jordan Relations)
   
3. Emergency assistance for the election of the Ra'ees of the Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority

   Mr. Takashima: The next announcement is about the Japanese assistance for the Palestinian election.

   The Government of Japan today decided to provide emergency assistance of US$1.06 million to help the election of the Ra'ees or President of the Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority to be carried out in a fair and smooth manner. This election will be held on 9 January 2005 due to the passing away of Mr. Yasser Arafat on 11 November.

   Of this US$1.06 million assistance, US$690,000 will be extended for the Central Election Committee's voter education activities and US$370,000 to support United Nations (UN) liaison and assistance activities of the electoral observers.

   Related Information (Emergency Assistance for the Election of the Ra'ees of the Palestinian Interim Self-Government Authority)
   
4. Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the adoption of the draft resolution entitled "The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects" submitted by Japan at the United Nations General Assembly

   Mr. Takashima: The next announcement is about the statement of the Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the adoption of the draft resolution on the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in which it states as follows.

   The Government of Japan welcomes the adoption by consensus, without a vote, of the draft resolution entitled "The illicit trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects" jointly submitted by Japan, the Republic of Colombia and the Republic of South Africa on 3 December at the United Nations General Assembly.

   Strongly recognizing that unified efforts by the international community are needed to address small arms and light weapons (SALW) issues so that obstacles to post-conflict humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation assistance will be eliminated, the Government of Japan has demonstrated its initiatives by submitting draft resolutions on SALW to the UN General Assembly almost every year since 1995 when then UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali raised the issue of SALW to the international community. Japan has also been playing an active role in the SALW issue, as it hosted, with the Commonwealth of Australia and the United Nation's Regional Center for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific, the United Nations Regional Seminar on Small Arms and Light Weapons for the South Pacific in Nadi, Republic of the Fiji Islands, in August this year.

   Japan intends to continue its proactive efforts for the prevention of illicit trade in SALW.

   Related Information (Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the Adoption of the Draft Resolution entitled "The Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects" Submitted by Japan at the United Nations General Assembly)
   
5. Dispatch of election observers for the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Republic of Ghana

   Mr. Takashima: The last announcement I have is about the dispatch of election observers for the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Republic of Ghana.

   The Government of Japan has decided to dispatch two personnel of the Japanese Embassy in Ghana as a member of the international election observation mission for observing the presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana to be held on 7 December.

   In Ghana, a change of government took place in January 2001 as a result of the country's first democratic election in December 2000. The upcoming elections, which will be the first since the change of the government party, are extremely important in both further promoting democratization and enrooting good governance in that country.

   The Government of Japan provided US$3.5 million to the Electoral Commission of Ghana to assist such activities as voter registration-related operations, compiling informational materials for eligible voters, training electoral officials and so forth.

   Related Information (Dispatch of Election Observers for the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections in the Republic of Ghana)
   
6. Question concerning upcoming visit to Japan by Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Federal Republic of Germany

   Q: Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Federal Republic of Germany is coming to Japan very soon. Could you tell us what kind of topics the Japanese Government expects will be taken up during the meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi?

   Mr. Takashima: I responded to that question last Friday, but let me repeat some of my response. Of course, the bilateral relations between our two countries will be one of importance. Since next year marks the German Year in Japan, this will be a very good curtain-raiser for this very important event.

   In addition to that, since Japan and Germany are members of the Group of Four (G4) that is supporting each other's candidature for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, certainly German Chancellor Schroeder and Prime Minister Koizumi will discuss the issue of UN reform and their strategy to realize this very important subject of UN reform, including expansion of the Security Council.

   In addition to that, I suspect that the Iraqi situation as well as the Middle East peace process will be discussed.

   Related Information (Visit to Japan of Mr. Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany)
   
7. Questions concerning name of Taiwan's overseas offices

   Q: President Chen Shui-bian of Taiwan declared some days ago that he wants to change the name of Taiwan's representative offices all over the world, just like Japan's is called the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Japan. He wants to change the name to Taiwan. What are your comments?

   Mr. Takashima: Relations between Japan and Taiwan are non-governmental, business-oriented relations. Therefore, in accordance with that sort of principle, the Taiwan issue will be handled by the Japanese Government in due course.

   As for the change of the name, we have to wait and see what sort of changes Taiwan will make and whether or not that will affect in any way the non-governmental relations between Japan and Taiwan. We will wait and see what will happen.

   Q: The United States of America declared their stance not to support this action. How about Japan?

   Mr. Takashima: We have not decided one way or the other what to do with this change of name by Taiwanese authorities. Once a formal decision is made by Taiwanese authorities, we will then consider what the Japanese decision will be on this issue.

   Related Information (Taiwan)