Top > Announcement > Press Conference by The Press Secretary of MOFA > 27 August 2004

Press Conference 27 August 2004

  1. Opening remarks by Assistant Press Secretary Akira Chiba
  2. Visit to Japan by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail of the Republic of the Sudan
  3. Visit by Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Masatoshi Abe to Kingdom of Thailand, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Kingdom of Cambodia
  4. Visit by Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Kazunori Tanaka to Republic of Uganda, Republic of Malawi and Republic of Madagascar
  5. Message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and from Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation concerning crashes of two commercial aircraft in Russia
  6. Proposed budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  7. Press release of the meeting of the Unusual Occurrences Subcommittee of the Joint Committee concerning accident in Ginowan, Okinawa
  8. Question concerning possible visa application by Mr. Lee Teng-hui
  9. Question concerning possible reform of the United Nations Security Council
  1. Opening remarks by Assistant Press Secretary Akira Chiba

    Assistant Press Secretary Akira Chiba: Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming to today's briefing. In the absence of Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima who is accompanying Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi in Central Asia, I would like to offer today's briefing.

    Before that, by way of self-introduction I would like to make a couple of remarks. My name is Akira Chiba - Akira as in Akira Kurosawa, and Chiba as in Chiba Prefecture where my ancestors come from - and I am freshly back from the People's Republic of China. I am succeeding Mr. Jiro Okuyama who has safely landed in New York.

    After five years of absence from Tokyo, I am very happy to be back. At the same time, I know how it is to be an expat, so I would like to make your lives in Tokyo as enjoyable as possible, building up on my experience of five years abroad. As to addressing the foreign press, I have had some similar experience in this, but it has only been in the Chinese language, so when it comes to English, I might have some lapses in memory, both in content as well as vocabulary, but please bear with me.

    Having said that, I would like to go on with the briefing. I have three announcements to make, followed by three briefing materials. The three announcements all concern visits of and from high officials to and from Japan.

  2. Visit to Japan by Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail of the Republic of the Sudan

    Mr. Chiba: The first announcement is about the visit to Japan by H.E. Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Sudan.

    Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr. Ismail of the Republic of the Sudan will visit Japan from 5 to 9 September as guest of the Foreign Minister of Japan.

    During his visit, Dr. Ismail will meet with Foreign Minister Kawaguchi and other leaders of Japan to exchange views on such wide-ranging issues as the situation in Sudan and bilateral relations.

    Taking this opportunity, Japan will convey its concern shared by the international community over the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the Darfur region in the western part of Sudan and will urge the Government of the Sudan to take concrete steps in order to resolve the Darfur question. It is also expected that frank exchange of views will be conducted on Japan's constructive cooperation to encourage an early conclusion of the peace talks which are now in the final stage to put an end to the civil war.

    As you are aware, concerning the Darfur situation, the Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on 12 August and you can consult the concrete text thereof.

    This is going to be the first visit to Japan by a Sudanese Foreign Minister as well as by Dr. Ismail. From the Japanese side, Mr. Tetsuro Yano, the then Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, visited the Sudan in September 2003.

    Related Information (Visit to Japan by H.E. Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Sudan)
  3. Visit by Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Masatoshi Abe to Kingdom of Thailand, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Kingdom of Cambodia

    Mr. Chiba: The second announcement is that Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Masatoshi Abe will visit the Kingdom of Thailand, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Kingdom of Cambodia from 29 August to 7 September.

    Senior Vice-Minister Abe will attend the Conference on Biofuel hosted by the Government of Thailand and will inspect some Japanese companies there. At the same time, he will visit our Consulate-General that was opened in Chiang Mai this year and meet local officials as well as Japanese expatriates in the area.

    In Laos, he will exchange views with Laotian governmental officials in the view that this November the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 10+3 (Japan, Republic of Korea and China) Summit will be hosted in that country and next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. At the same time, he will visit some sites of Japanese official development assistance (ODA) in the countryside.

    In Cambodia, he will also exchange opinions with Cambodian officials. This is going to be the first official visit by a senior Japanese leader after the establishment of the new Government of Cambodia in July this year, and Senior Vice-Minister Abe will express his support to the Government. He will also make inspection tours to reconstruction sites of cultural relics and other relevant ODA sites.

    Related Information (Japan-Thailand Relations)
    Related Information (Japan-Laos Relations)
    Related Information (Japan-Cambodia Relations)
  4. Visit by Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Kazunori Tanaka to Republic of Uganda, Republic of Malawi and Republic of Madagascar

    Mr. Chiba: The third announcement is that Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Kazunori Tanaka will visit Africa, specifically the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Malawi and the Republic of Madagascar. He will begin his visit on 29 August and will come back on 9 September.

    The purpose of Parliamentary Secretary Tanaka's visit to these countries is as a follow-up of the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development, known as TICAD III, hosted by Japan last September.

    Parliamentary Secretary Tanaka will exchange views with government officials of the countries to be visited this time whose presidents participated in the conference and will visit places where Japan's economic cooperation is actually in action. He will also try to promote cooperative relations in the international arena on such issues as obtaining a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, Security Council reform and the International Whaling Commission, while encouraging each government to cooperate for the TICAD Trade and Investment Conference scheduled for this autumn.

    These are the three statements. Now I would like to go on to the three materials that I have ready for you.

    Related Information (Mr. Kazunori Tanaka, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs, to Visit Uganda, Malawi and Madagascar)
  5. Message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and from Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation concerning crashes of two commercial aircraft in Russia

    Mr. Chiba: The first prepared material refers to the message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation as well as the message from Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation concerning the crashes of two commercial aircraft in Russia. I will be brief on this issue.

    On 26 August Prime Minister Koizumi sent a message to President Putin expressing condolences for the people who lost their lives in the accident and his support for the efforts by President Putin to uncover the cause of these crashes.

    On the same day, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi sent a message to her counterpart of the Russian Federation offering her prayers for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in the crashes and further expressed her sincere condolences to the bereaved family members.

    Foreign Minister Kawaguchi noted her understanding that a thorough investigation is currently being conducted into the cause of the crashes considering all possibilities including that of terrorist acts. She expressed her strong support for such determined efforts by the Russian Government.

    Related Information (Message from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and from Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi to Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation concerning the Crashes of Two Commercial Aircraft in Russia)
  6. Proposed budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

    Mr. Chiba: The second material concerns the proposed budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for scrutiny by the Minister of Finance that will take place from September all the way until the end of December.

    For this year's budget, we are going to propose an increase of budget by close to 12% compared to last year's budget, and ODA growth will constitute about 15% in this proposed budget.

    It is composed of three pillars: the first one, roughly translated, would sound something like "protecting Japanese nationals at home and abroad"; the second pillar is "Japan taking the lead"; and the third one is "letting Japan's voice be heard." To attain these pillars, many new ideas are built into this proposed budget. Moreover, to support all these three pillars, a fourth pillar is also incorporated, that is to "establish solid foundations of Japanese foreign policy - strengthening diplomacy through enhancing policy instruments."

  7. Press release of the meeting of the Unusual Occurrences Subcommittee of the Joint Committee concerning accident in Ginowan, Okinawa

    Mr. Chiba: The third material concerns the press briefing that was given yesterday by our colleagues of the North American Bureau concerning the Unusual Occurrences Subcommittee of the Joint Committee which met Thursday to discuss the CH-53D accident in Ginowan, Okinawa, which took place on 13 August.

    I believe you all have the press release issued by the US authorities. This is an agreed text between the two parties, so I would rather give you some additional explanation to the press release that was given out yesterday.

    In the press release, it is stated that an overall investigation will be complete in approximately 30 days. These "thirty days" are understood as approximately 30 days from now and not as 30 days after the mishap, which occurred on 13 August. The report will be submitted to the subcommittee and a recommendation will be made to the Joint Committee after being agreed upon by both sides, to be finalized through consultation with probable participation of additional specialists if deemed necessary by both sides.

    The schedule for the next subcommittee is not decided yet and will be followed up through close contact between both sides. Japan deems it important that the report be completed as soon as possible.

    The US side clarified that the cause was unique to the helicopter in question, stating that a retaining device was found missing.

    Related Information (Japan-The United States Relations)
  8. Question concerning possible visa application by Mr. Lee Teng-hui

    Q: On the proposed visit to Japan by Mr. Lee Teng-hui of Taiwan, if a visa application is submitted by him, how will you deal with that issue?

    Mr. Chiba: We are aware of Mr. Lee Teng-hui's intention to visit Japan through press reports. However, to date no visa application has been made from Mr. Lee's side. If that is done, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will appropriately handle this case.

    Related Information (Taiwan)
  9. Question concerning possible reform of the United Nations Security Council

    Q: I would like to ask something about Japan's bid to retain permanent membership at the United Nations Security Council. Prime Minister Koizumi indicated a couple of days ago that he was positive about the idea, but at the same time he said that it is not an easy job. Up to this point, what are the things that the Government of Japan is doing or thinks could be obstacles?

    Mr. Chiba: As you have correctly stated, the question of UN reform in total is not an easy task to tackle with. Japan has continued and will continue to make efforts to promote the reform of the United Nations. In that context, we do wish that the UN Security Council will be reformed likewise. At this moment, I cannot give you any concrete examples of what Japan has been doing on this issue, but at any rate, Japan views this as a question of reform of the United Nations in total.

    Related Information (Japan and the United Nations)
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