Press Conference 21 October 2005
- Japan-US-Australia Strategic Dialogue and the Japan-US Strategic Dialogue
- Dispatch of a second Disaster Relief Medical Team to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
- The Fourth Japan-Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Summit Meeting
- Visit to Japan by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Antonio Guterres
- Visit to Japan by Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) James Morris
- The International Convention against Doping in Sports
- Trust Fund for Human Security
- Japan's official development assistance (ODA) to the Federal Republic of Nigeria
- Cultural grant aid to the Republic of Lebanon
- Questions concerning remarks made by Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson of the United States regarding North Korea
- Questions concerning proposed Six-Party Talks
- Questions concerning the diplomatic ramifications of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine
- Question concerning the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting and the East Asia Summit
- Question concerning ongoing negotiations between Japan and the US over the issue of military bases
- Question concerning the scheduled upcoming visit to Japan by President George W. Bush of the US
- Follow-up question concerning the Japan-US-Australia Security Dialogue
- Questions concerning case involving Russian trade official
- Japan-US-Australia Strategic Dialogue and the Japan-US Strategic Dialogue
Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon, thank you very much for coming. Bear with me for 10 to 15 minutes because I have to make some announcements before taking questions. I will give you plenty of time afterwards.
First, about the Japan-US-Australia Strategic Dialogue and the Japan-US Strategic Dialogue, both at the level of senior officials, will be held in Tokyo on 23 October, this coming Sunday, and the following day, 24 October, respectively.
The Japan-US Strategic Dialogue will be attended on the Japanese side by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Tsuneo Nishida and other officials, and from the side of the United States of America by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns and other officials. There will be a discussion on matters of mutual concern and interest between Japan and the US.
The three-party Japan-US-Australia Strategic Dialogue will be attended on the Japanese side by Mr. Nishida and others, on the US side by Undersecretary Burns, and on the side of the Commonwealth of Australia by Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs Michael L'Estrange and other officials. They will talk about matters of mutual concern to Japan, the US, and Australia.
According to an article, some say that this is going to be the first such strategic meeting between these three nations, which is actually not the case. This has been going on since June 2001, if you recall when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi threw a baseball to President George W. Bush of the US, there was a decision made at that time to have a series of security dialogues between Japan and the US, and since then Australia has continued to join these two countries for this dialogue. It is now a two-storied structure; upstairs there is a ministerial level involving the Secretary of State from the US and ministers of foreign offices from Japan and Australia. On the ground level, if you like, there is an official-to-official level, and that is the one that we are going to have on Sunday and Monday.
- Dispatch of a second Disaster Relief Medical Team to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
Mr. Taniguchi: Secondly, the devastating situation in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been getting worse and worse, and Japan has been quick in sending support and human resources to Pakistan. On Wednesday, 19 October Japan decided on the dispatch of a second Disaster Relief Medical Team comprising 21 persons, taking into consideration the still very high medical needs in the areas affected by the large-scale earthquake that occurred on 8 October.
Briefly, so far Japan sent a 21 member medical team on 10 October, and they started to operate on 12 October. So far this team has seen 930 patients as of 19 October, and this second medical team is going to be added to the first team that is already operating. As you may know, the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) have sent three helicopters, and on 20 October, which was yesterday, the Government of Japan decided to send another squadron of three helicopters to Pakistan. In terms of aid and non-governmental organization (NGO) activities I can give you more details later on.
- The Fourth Japan-Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Summit Meeting
Mr. Taniguchi: The third announcement is about what is called the Fourth Japan-Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Summit Meeting. The Pacific Islands are these countries which I can show you on this map of the Pacific Island nations, such as the Federated States of Micronesia, Polynesia, and so on. This is actually a place to honestly show Japan's goodwill, as Japan has been trying hard to be good friends to each and every one of these island nations. There is a set of interests commonly held by these nations such as how to preserve the environment or how to enhance tourism, or democracy for that matter, and Japan has been very much beside these countries to help them develop their environmental and industrial policies.
The Fourth Japan-PIF Summit Meeting will be held on Friday, 26 May, and Saturday, 27 May of next year, in Okinawa Prefecture. This is going to be a summit meeting, so heads of state from these nations will be coming to Okinawa in May of next year, and from Japan Prime Minister Koizumi will join them. But in the run-up to that summit meeting there is going to be a forum called the Post-Forum Dialogue Partners' Meeting of the PIF that will be held in Port Moresby on 28 and 29 October. So what I am saying is that there is going to be a summit meeting in Okinawa in May of next year and in order for them to talk about what sort of agendas they will be looking at next year, representatives from these island nations, Japan, and other nations will gather for discussions in Port Moresby on 28 October.
- Visit to Japan by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Antonio Guterres
Mr. Taniguchi: Number four is about the visit by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Mr. Antonio Guterres. Mr. Guterres will visit Japan from Monday, 24 October to Wednesday, 26 October. It is expected that Mr. Guterres' visit will further enhance the cooperative relationship between Japan and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, of which Ms. Sadako Ogata was a commissioner.
- Visit to Japan by Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) James Morris
Mr. Taniguchi: Following this, the fifth item is also about a visit, that of Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) James Morris. Executive Director Morris will visit Japan from Monday, 24 October to Wednesday, 26 October.
- The International Convention against Doping in Sports
Mr. Taniguchi: In terms of the United Nations (UN), the International Convention against Doping in Sports was adopted this Wednesday, 19 October at the 33rd General Conference Meeting of UNESCO in Paris. As a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Committee, Japan has proactively contributed to the elimination of doping and thus has actively made efforts in drawing up this convention.
- Trust Fund for Human Security
Mr. Taniguchi: The other one is actually rather important; it is about the Trust Fund for Human Security. You may be aware of what human security actually means as it is one of the signature issues that Japan has been pushing. Security normally refers to a military arrangement, but by human security it means enhancing the capacity of human beings as individuals by providing them with educational or health care opportunities. Human security has been an integral part of Japan's overall policy. As a footnote, Japan actually wants to pursue this policy as a member of the UN.
The Trust Fund for Human Security was established in the United Nations Secretariat in March 1999 by the initiative of the Government of Japan with total contributions of approximately 29 billion yen, which is approximately US$250 million, up to the present. The Trust Fund has assisted more than 130 UN agencies' projects and programs that address various threats to human life, livelihood, and dignity.
So that is the background, as part of this Trust Fund for Human Security, on Thursday, 20 October the Government of Japan and the UN decided to extend assistance totaling US$1.4 million through the Trust Fund for Human Security for the project "Multi-skills training and community service facilities for sustainable livelihoods and poverty prevention" in the Republic of Uganda.
Also, as part of this Trust Fund for Human Security on 20 October the Government of Japan and the UN decided to extend assistance totaling approximately US$1.5 million to the "Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN) Outreach Radio Project" to be implemented in 14 countries in Africa by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Related Information (Press Release: Assistance to Uganda)
Related Information (Press Release: Assistance to 14 African countries) - Japan's official development assistance (ODA) to the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Mr. Taniguchi: The other two items are about Japan's official development assistance (ODA). The first is non-project grant aid to the Federal Republic of Nigeria up to 500 million yen. This non-project grant aid is intended to assist Nigeria in their implementation of structural reform programs including poverty reduction and so on.
- Cultural grant aid to the Republic of Lebanon
Mr. Taniguchi: Secondly, cultural grant aid was extended to the Republic of Lebanon for the Project for the Improvement of TV Programs and Broadcasting Equipment of Lebanese National Television Station. The amount of this aid is up to 45.2 million yen, or approximately US$393,000.
- Questions concerning remarks made by Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson of the US regarding North Korea
Q: A couple of hours ago Governor of New Mexico Bill Richardson of the US had a news conference in Tokyo fresh from his visit to Pyongyang. I understand he also stopped here earlier today and spoke with Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shotaro Yachi. What did he convey to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the status of the Six-Party Talks and the status of North Korea's intentions as far as nuclear weapons?
Mr. Taniguchi: I cannot reveal the details at this point, I am sorry.
Q: He talked for about an hour, extensively, perhaps you can react then to the comments he made, basically that North Korea is willing to abide by the terms that have been previously outlined. It is willing to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors back into the country, it is willing to engage in dialogue, such as the DNA issue regarding the missing abductees from North Korea and so forth. What response do you have to the comments that he made?
Mr. Taniguchi: Frankly speaking I have not been well briefed about it. I will get back to you later if I may.
- Questions concerning Six-Party Talks
Q: It is a follow up to the North Korean issue. Governor Richardson was mentioning that North Korea has opened its channel to Japan on the abduction issue and normalization talks. What sort of status is the Japan-North Korea talks as of now? Is there a date, or do you have an idea in which month the bilateral talks will be resuming between Japan and North Korea?
Mr. Taniguchi: As you know the Six-Party Talks are going to be resumed sometime in November, and we are waiting for North Korea to come up with a schedule. We would very much like to have a bilateral talk before that, but we have heard nothing so far from North Korea yet as to a schedule, so we are still waiting.
Q: But you are not pushing it from your side that you want it at a certain time? You are waiting for them to tell you?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well it is strange; both parties have agreed on having this as soon as possible, yet North Korea has not responded. So the earlier the better, there is no dispute on it. Yet North Korea has not returned to us.
Related Information (Six Party Talks on North Korean Issues) - Questions concerning the diplomatic ramifications of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine
Q: Following Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine last week and the cancellation of visits at the ministerial level; have diplomatic exchanges at what you might call the working level also been prejudiced by this latest visit? More to the point, are any particular diplomatic initiatives being taking to offset some of the tensions that have arisen as a result of this visit?
Mr. Taniguchi: In terms of the diplomatic schedule, there have been a number of reports about whether or not the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade from the Republic of Korea (ROK) for instance is going to visit Japan, but nothing has been made official yet. It will be made official whether there is a cancellation or the implementation of the scheduled visit to Japan, but we have not heard any official statement as of yet from the ROK. You used the word "offset." We are long-termists. Diplomats are like firefighters, we operate with the assumption that nothing is insoluble if we continue to talk. Minister for Foreign Affairs MACHIMURA Nobutaka has made it clear repeatedly that especially after troubles have occurred, Japan and the People's Republic of China, or in this case Japan and the ROK and have to meet and talk with one another. That is the position that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has continued to hold, and that message has been sent many times to China, and if you look at other parts of the interaction between Japan and China those have been made wider and broader. So for instance teacher-to-teacher exchanges involving elementary, and middle and high school teachers from both nations have been going on unscathed and on schedule. Therefore people-to-people connections have not been affected at all by the visits that Prime Minister Koizumi made to Yasukuni Shrine. So overall the picture may not be as bad as some of the news articles want to depict. So that is a bit of a round-about answer to your question.
Q: One follow-up question I want to ask you: is the Japanese side planning to take any special measures for the weekend regarding possible strong reaction by the Chinese public, such as big rallies they will be having?
Mr. Taniguchi: Yes, we have been keenly watching the reactions and responses from China, of course, but so far as articles and news reports are reporting have been much more modest and reserved compared to the previous examples, such as the ones you saw in March and April of this year. In response to this, there have been no violent activities in China in direct response to Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to the Shrine.
To answer your question, there are no significant measures that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is taking for that purpose. Other than that, if I could repeat what I said before, cultural and people-to-people exchanges and public diplomacy in general from the side of the Government of Japan has been implemented on schedule, so we have seen no impediment for us to continue to do that.
- Question concerning the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting and the East Asia Summit
Q: What about meetings on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting and the East Asia Summit?
Mr. Taniguchi: Yes, one should take into consideration that the ROK is the host nation, and is in a position to encourage as many dialogues as possible. That is a general remark. Other than that, let me just repeat that nothing has been made official.
Related Information (APEC)
Related Information (Japan-Asia Relations)
- Question concerning ongoing negotiations between Japan and the US over the issue of military bases
Q: Switching to Japan and the US and the multi-lateral defense issue; Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld of the US is in the ROK today after going to China and before going to Mongolia, but he is not coming to Japan. Minister of State for Defense Yoshinori Ohno, his counterpart in Japan, had a news conference this morning indicating that there were continual difficulties in reaching a resolution on the base issue. Do you have anything new for us on the state of those negotiations, or what sort of dialogue is going on between Japan and the US to resolve this issue?
Mr. Taniguchi: Obviously that is one of the sensitive issues none of us are allowed to talk about at the moment. It involves Japan and the US, and local concerns as well. But there is one thing that I can tell you: I am getting more hopeful.
- Question concerning the scheduled upcoming visit to Japan President George W. Bush of the US
Q: Can you tell us anything regarding President Bush's visit such as the schedule, the agenda, or the range of subjects that will be talked about?
Mr. Taniguchi: I do not think both sides have decided yet, they are still working on it.
Q: He will be visiting Kyoto, but will he come to Tokyo as well?
Mr. Taniguchi: He will be visiting Kyoto, but I cannot say whether or not he will visit Tokyo.
- Follow-up question concerning the Japan-US-Australia Security Dialogue
Q: About the Japan-US-Australia Security Dialogue on Sunday; does this include talks about Iraq, where some Australian soldiers are right now? Regarding the security issue there, and the Japanese SDF, whether they can stay or not?
Mr. Taniguchi: The beauty of this Strategic Dialogue is to allow the participants to be as long-termist as possible. They are not focused necessarily on daily matters. We have been getting questions like that whether this dialogue is going to talk about the beef issue or base realignments.
About the agenda, we are not allowed to touch on that in order to allow them to have maximum capacity to be able to talk in a casual fashion. So I cannot tell you exactly what these dialogues are going to deal with, but there are many different mutual concerns and issues.
I have seen a report, which I cannot verify, but Undersecretary Burns gave a conference in Paris and said they are going to talk about common interests in Asia and elsewhere. If I quote what he was reported to have said, there would certainly be a lot of talk about Iraq and Afghanistan where the three countries all have military forces. Although that is actually not the case, as Japan is part of Operation Enduring Freedom, but Japan has sent no armed forces to Afghanistan. But these were the remarks by Undersecretary Burns and you can have a look at them.
Q: The trilateral summit between Japan, the US, and Australia is taking place on Sunday?
Mr. Taniguchi: No, Monday. On Sunday there will be a bilateral meeting between Japan and the US.
- Questions concerning case involving Russian trade official
Q: Does your ministry have any official position concerning the so-called "spy scandal" regarding a Russian trade minister?
Mr. Taniguchi: He has gone back to the Russian Federation already, correct?
Q: Yes, and that is one of my questions. Why did the Japanese side make all the fuss about something of several months ago?
Mr. Taniguchi: According to the police, the man involved is 35 years of age, he went back to Russia in June of this year.
Q: About one month ago.
Mr. Taniguchi: There was a request that came from a Japanese police office, and the request was conveyed to the Russian side on 5 October, so this is actually quite recent. The request originally came from the police office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs got involved in this, obviously, in order for us to send a request to the Russian side, and from then on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been involved. So that is probably the answer to your question.
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