Press Conference 22 November 2005
- Adoption of the resolution on the "Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" at the Third Committee, United Nations General Assembly
- Sri Lankan presidential election
- Visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso to Okinawa
- Visit to Japan by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihal-Razvan Ungureanu of Romania
- Visit to Japan by a delegation of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China
- Visit by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mitoji Yabunaka to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
- FY2005 Japan-EU Regulatory Reform Dialogue Tokyo Meeting
- Cultural grant aid to the Republic of Estonia
- Humanitarian assistance to the Republic of Guatemala through the World Food Programme (WFP)
- First meeting of the Japan-Brazil Council for the 21st Century
- Grant aid to the Republic of Malawi
- Questions concerning visit to Japan by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation
- Questions concerning oil pipeline issue
- Question concerning courtesy call by President Putin to Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress
- Follow-up question concerning visit by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Yabunaka to Viet Nam
- Adoption of the resolution on the "Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea" at the Third Committee, United Nations General Assembly
Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon.
The first item is about North Korea.
On 17 November, Thursday local time, the resolution on the "Situation of human rights in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)" was approved by a majority of 84 in favor for the first vote at the Third Committee of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York. The draft resolution had been proposed by the European Union (EU) together with Japan as one of the cosponsoring countries.
The Government of Japan highly estimates that the approval of the resolution at the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, referring explicitly to the abduction issue, shows an expression of serious concern by the majority will of the international community over the situation of human rights in the DPRK, including the abduction issue, and strongly urges its improvement.
Japan strongly hopes that North Korea will seriously accept the message of the international community shown in the resolution and take sincere action toward improving the situation of human rights including the resolution of the abduction issue and the acceptance of visit by the UN Special Rapporteur.
Related Information (Press Release)
Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations) - Sri Lankan presidential election
Mr. Taniguchi: Secondly, on the presidential election in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
The Government of Japan appreciates that the election was conducted on Thursday, 17 November in a generally peaceful manner, although there were very low voter turnouts in some parts of the North-East region and some reported cases of violation of election laws. The Government of Japan expresses its heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Mahinda Rajapakse, on his election as the next President of Sri Lanka, and hopes that existing friendly relations between Sri Lanka and Japan will be further strengthened under the new President.
- Visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso to Okinawa
Mr. Taniguchi: The third is about the visit to Okinawa by Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso.
Foreign Minister Aso will visit Okinawa on 24 and 25 November. During his stay in Okinawa, Foreign Minister Aso will exchange views with Governor of Okinawa Prefecture Keiichi Inamine and make a visit to the site where replacement facilities of Futenma Air Station will be constructed, and other places.
- Visit to Japan by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihal-Razvan Ungureanu of Romania
Mr. Taniguchi: Next, about the visit of a Romanian Minister.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Mihal-Razvan Ungureanu of Romania will visit Japan from 29 November to 1 December as Guest of the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
During his stay, Foreign Minister Ungureanu will meet with Foreign Minister Aso and officials concerned on the Japanese side to exchange views on such matters as bilateral relations and the international situation.
- Visit to Japan by a delegation of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China
Mr. Taniguchi: The next announcement is about a visit this time from the People's Republic of China.
A delegation of the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China comprising 76 people headed by Mr. Shi Taifeng, Vice President of the Central Party School, is now visiting Japan from 21 to 30 November as part of the School's exchange program.
During its stay in Japan, the delegation will exchange views with officials of ministries and agencies, and then will visit Aichi, Hyogo and Fukuoka Prefectures.
This exchange program of the Central Party School started based on an agreement in August 2000 between then-Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono and Mr. Zeng Qinghong, the School's headmaster. Under this mutual exchange program, Japan has accepted Chinese delegations five times already and dispatched Japanese delegations the same number of times.
- Visit by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mitoji Yabunaka to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Mr. Taniguchi: Next, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mitoji Yabunaka will visit the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam from 21 to 23 November. The officials concerned from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will be accompanied by Mr. Yabunaka on this visit. The economic partnership between Japan and Viet Nam has been discussed within the framework of the Japan-Viet Nam bilateral meeting as part of the negotiations of the ASEAN-Japan Economic Partnership (AJCEP). Taking into account the close economic relations between the two countries, during his visit this time, Mr. Yabunaka will have talks with the Vietnamese officials concerned on the future of the economic partnership of the two countries.
- FY2005 Japan-EU Regulatory Reform Dialogue Tokyo Meeting
Mr. Taniguchi: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will hold a FY2005 Japan-EU Regulatory Reform Dialogue Tokyo Meeting on 25 November in Tokyo here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Meeting will be co-chaired by Director General of the Economic Affairs Bureau Kaoru Ishikawa of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who leads the Japanese delegation comprising officials from ministries and agencies concerned, and by Deputy Director General of the External Relations Directorate General Karel Kovanda of the European Commission, who leads the EU side. The meeting will discuss regulations in Japan and the EU, with a view to improving the business environment including investment promotion so that Japan and the EU will enjoy strengthened economic ties.
- Cultural grant aid to the Republic of Estonia
Mr. Taniguchi: A couple of announcements about official development assistance (ODA) and the like.
The first is about a cultural grant aid to the Project for the Improvement of Equipment for Exhibition and Preservation of the Art Museum of the Republic of Estonia of up to 41.6 million yen. This is about US$352,000. The exchange of notes was done on 18 November.
- Humanitarian assistance to the Republic of Guatemala through the World Food Programme (WFP)
Mr. Taniguchi: The next one is about assistance through the World Food Programme (WFP).
The Government of Japan decided on 22 November to extend US$200,000 to support WFP's emergency food distribution project in the Republic of Guatemala for the relief of Hurricane Stan victims in Guatemala.
- First meeting of the Japan-Brazil Council for the 21st Century
Mr. Taniguchi: Also, the first meeting of the Japan-Brazil Council for the 21st Century is going to be held on 24 and 25 November in Rio de Janeiro, Federative Republic of Brazil. Details will be announced later, and you can see the handout later.
- Grant aid to the Republic of Malawi
Mr. Taniguchi: There is another announcement about ODA. Up to 38 million yen will be given to the Republic of Malawi for the Project for the Rehabilitation of the Bwanje Valley Irrigation System. This is a grant aid.
- Questions concerning visit to Japan by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation
Q: It relates to the visit of President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation. I am not up to date as much as I should be on Japan-Russia relations, but Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi was quoted as saying, "We agreed to seek ways to resolve this issue of the Northern Territories, overcome the gap through development of bilateral relations." That seems to me in itself quite a progression because before, as I recall, there was not agreement to seek development of bilateral relations unless and until the Northern Territories issue has been resolved. Is that the correct interpretation or not? Does this mark a shift to a new position by Japan?
Mr. Taniguchi: No, I actually do not think so. The Japanese position has remained very much consistent, in that before normalizing relations by having the peace treaty the territorial issue has to be solved. But there must be lots of other ways for both nations to approach this issue. During the last meeting between the two leaders, as many as 12 documents were signed by the two leaders. If you look at those areas, the width of the agreement is wider and broader than in the past. It also includes the inauguration of ministerial-level dialogue about strategic issues, which actually was briefly mentioned by Foreign Minister Aso in his last press conference. So the scope between the two nations has been greatly widened and broadened, but the basic position of the Japanese Government, when it comes to the territorial issue, has not changed at all. We have to solve the issue of the Northern Territories before moving onto the next stage for the peace treaty.
Q: What is the precise agenda of the strategic dialogue?
Mr. Taniguchi: The beauty of the strategic dialogue is that there can be a dialogue about any issue. We are not going to exclude anything. Rather than having a set of agendas for ministers to talk about, the beauty of this meeting is that ministers on both sides can talk frankly, cordially and casually to set the agendas themselves. This is basically an agenda-setting institution, and it is designed as such.
Q: Is there a fixed time table for this meeting?
Mr. Taniguchi: Not yet. The two nations will be discussing that.
Q: The meetings will be held in Tokyo and Moscow?
Mr. Taniguchi: The discussions will include the schedule and the place to meet.
- Questions concerning oil pipeline issue
Q: On the oil pipeline issue, what has been published in the press so far is that there is no specific commitment on Russia's part to build on any given schedule. It is to be decided in the future. Is that correct?
Mr. Taniguchi: This is not an official remark, but I have just checked the website of a company called Transneft, which is involved in this project. You can download a host of information from that website.
The truth of the matter is, what President Putin did during the meeting with Prime Minister Koizumi was that he drew a map on a piece of paper, saying that from a place called Taishet through Skovorodino to the Pacific Ocean, this is the route that the pipeline is supposed to take. President Putin also mentioned that there has been a degree of misleading attempts on the side of the Japanese media, saying as if the alternative route rather than the route going to the Pacific Ocean has been decided as a concrete idea and that nothing has been decided as of yet about the Pacific line. But indeed this line is called the Pacific Ocean line or something like that. The name tells itself. That is what President Putin said. He even mentioned that cost-wise, it was doubly costly to have the route that goes north of Lake Baikal to the Pacific Ocean. So you can tell from these remarks that the commitment is there, that the Russian side is very much interested in sticking to the plan to extend the pipeline to the Pacific Ocean with an aim to cater to the needs of Japan, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and other Pacific-rim nations.
Q: In the previous press conference, I think there was a mention of co-exploration or joint exploration for oil resources on the part of Russia and Japan. Did I misunderstand that?
Mr. Taniguchi: I do not think there was any mention of it.
Q: I have a question regarding the second stage of the construction of the oil pipeline from Eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast. Is Japan prepared to finance the second stage of the construction of the oil pipeline?
Mr. Taniguchi: It is going to be discussed. It involves the private sector as well, it is not only the Government that has been involved. It is also a matter involving the private sector, and that has been mentioned by both leaders.
Q: If the private sector is involved, who will be involved in this project?
Mr. Taniguchi: There are a bunch of trading companies and oil-related companies which are very much interested in getting involved in this issue.
Q: Those are Japanese traders and the financers have been informed about the possibility of constructing the pipeline in the second stage of construction?
Mr. Taniguchi: No doubt those companies and the business community that have been very much interested in this project have been keeping track of this issue for many, many months. They have been briefed by companies like Transneft, but I should refrain from making any further comments about it because that is pretty much a matter to be discussed by the private sector.
Q: Is the Japanese Government also prepared to finance it, along with the private sector and investors?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well in terms of possibility there might be a possibility for Japan to finance one way or the other, but it is too early to discuss that issue.
Q: When does Japan expect to have Russia's assessment of the oil reserves in the first stage of the construction of the oil pipeline?
Mr. Taniguchi: Are you asking about the amount of oil reserves? Is your question related to the pipeline project? Which one? Those two are separate issues.
In order for a pipeline to bring oil to the market, there must be enough resources. It is truism. President Putin and Prime Minister Koizumi discussed the pipeline issue over the last meeting, but no mention was given to the oil field, gas field or the amount of resources there.
Q: Just to follow-up on that question, if Japan were to put money into the pipeline development, it would obviously have to be satisfied that there were sufficient oil reserves to justify the investment. So is Japan satisfied that there are sufficient resources to justify investment?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well I do not think it is going to be the Japanese Government that would justify the feasibility of the project as a business concern. I think the feasibility study is going to be conducted fiercely by the private sector on both sides, I mean, in Russia and Japan.
- Question concerning courtesy call by President Putin to Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress
Q: Before leaving Japan today, President Putin went to the Imperial Palace to pay respects to Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress. Are you aware of what they talked about?
Mr. Taniguchi: I have not heard any concrete issues or points about it.
- Follow-up question concerning visit by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Yabunaka to Viet Nam
Q: This delegation to Viet Nam that you mentioned, I did not quite grasp it. It sounded quite interesting. Is this a routine thing or is this something rather special?
Mr. Taniguchi: There is a project called the AJCEP. I understand the visit of Mr. Yabunaka to Viet Nam has been part of this capacity building under the auspices of the ASEAN-Japan economic partnership. So whether this is a one time event, it is not. It is a part of an ongoing support given by the Japanese Government to nations such as Viet Nam in order for countries like Viet Nam to build up their human capacities. I will have to brief you later on more details. And they will discuss how to link two of the economies.
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