Press Conference 7 June 2005
- Visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura to the State of Brunei Darussalam, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Kingdom of Cambodia
- Japanese grant assistance
- Japan-Canada Peace and Security Symposium
- Questions concerning G8 Summit
- Question concerning reform of the United Nations (UN)
- Question concerning telephone conversation between Foreign Minister Machimura and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of the US
- Question concerning possibility of Japan-People's Republic of China summit meeting at the G8 Summit
- Questions concerning East Asia Summit
- Visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura to the State of Brunei Darussalam, the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and the Kingdom of Cambodia
Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming to the briefing. Today, I would like to make a few announcements before I take questions.
First, Minister for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura will leave Tokyo today for a five-day tour of three Southeast Asian nations. The first leg of the trip will be the State of Brunei Darussalam, where he will meet Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Bolkiah to discuss bilateral issues as well as United Nations (UN) reform, including the draft resolution proposed by the Group of Four (G4) nations including Japan. The second leg of his trip will be the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, where Foreign Minister Machimura will meet with Prime Minister Phan Van Khai and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Dy Nien to discuss bilateral issues and also UN reform. The third leg of his trip will be the Kingdom of Cambodia, where Foreign Minister Machimura will meet Prime Minister Hun Sen and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Hor Namhong. Foreign Minister Machimura will discuss again bilateral issues and UN reform. He will return to Tokyo on 11 June.
Related Information (Japan-Brunei Relations)
Related Information (Japan-Viet Nam Relations)
Related Information (Japan-Cambodia Relations)
- Japanese grant assistance
Mr. Takashima: The second announcement is about Japanese grant assistance to various countries.
The Government of Japan decided to provide grant assistance to the following nations.
First, a grant assistance of 2.5 billion yen or US$23.0 million will be provided to the Republic of Nicaragua for the construction of schools, procurement of education equipments and the installation of fishery-related equipments.
Secondly, a grant assistance of up to 1.04 billion yen or US$9.2 million will be provided to the People's Republic of China for the Project for Human Resource Development, which is to enable young government officials to obtain advanced study at graduate schools in Japan. At the same time, the assistance would include the project for afforestation or tree planting for the conservation of the middle stream of Huang He or Yellow River.
Thirdly, a grant assistance of 706 million yen or US$6.5 million will be provided to the Solomon Islands to finance the project for improving the electric power supply in this city, including enhancement of electricity generation capability and improvement of the distribution system.
Fourthly, a grant assistance of 561 million yen or US$5.24 million will be provided to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to implement the universal vaccination program to eradicate polio, which would give vaccination to children of ages five or less.
Fifthly, a grant assistance of 474 million yen or US$4.43 million will be provided to the Kingdom of Bhutan for the construction of educational facilities including two middle schools.
Lastly, a grant assistance of 45 million yen or US$400,000 will be provided to the Republic of Poland to purchase audio visual equipments for the University of Warsaw.
- Japan-Canada Peace and Security Symposium
Mr. Takashima: The third announcement is about the Japan-Canada Peace and Security Symposium. It will be held from 10 to 12 June in Tokyo. This is the fourth round of meetings for this symposium, which will be attended by government officials and intellectuals of Japan and Canada. They will discuss the security issues facing both nations and will have a wide range of dialogue on related subjects.
- Questions concerning G8 Summit
Q: I want to ask you something about the coming Group of Eight (G8) Summit regarding the proposal of the United Kingdom (UK) on debt forgiveness and other official development assistance (ODA)-related initiatives. I asked you this question a few months ago. Has Japan's policy remained the same as that of several months ago? I do not quite remember what exactly Japan's policy was as you described it back then. Can you explain what was the thinking or what was the basic policy back then and update what has been changed or revised over those months?
Mr. Takashima: Our current policy is, as stipulated by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in his speech at the Asian-African Summit 2005, that Japan intends to double assistance to Africa in three years time, which is the main thrust of our policy towards Africa and overall ODA. The trend so far has been a decrease because of the financial restraint and also Japan's poor economic performance. However, Foreign Minister Machimura and Prime Minister Koizumi are making utmost efforts to reverse the trend and try to increase the ODA in order to match the efforts of advanced democratic countries in the world headed by the United States of America (US) and other European Union (EU) countries.
The Japanese Government is fully aware of the recommendations made by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs and his committee to Secretary General of the UN Kofi Annan on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), in which a recommendation was made to increase the level of ODA provided by the possible new permanent members of the Security Council to 0.7% of gross national income (GNI) by the year 2015. Although the goal is very difficult to achieve in light of the current economic and fiscal conditions of Japan, the Japanese Government is determined to make as much effort as possible to come close to the achievement of that goal. These are the main thrust of the Japanese policy so far on assistance to developing countries.
Whether or not writing off of existing debt will be included, that simply remains to be seen because it varies case-by-case or country-by-country. Japan has been making effort to eradicate those outstanding or existing debt held by the very poor countries mostly in Africa, and we have been doing our most on doing so. This might be included in future implementation of the plan or project to increase ODA to those less fortunate countries in Africa and other parts of the world.
To respond to your latter part of the question, that is, what was our basic position then, actually there were so many uncertainties and unknown factors in the Japanese economic condition as well as financial situation at that time. Gradually the Government finds it more confident that the Japanese economic recovery is on course so that there will be better prospect for future increase of ODA.
Q: To follow up with a question regarding what you said, in between the lines, you seem to be suggesting that Japan might become amenable, become a little bit more conciliatory or tilt towards UK's approach. Is that the correct reading?
Mr. Takashima: I would use the words "willing to do more for the assistance of poor nations." For example, we have no plan for the setting up of the new fund, it is not our plan to do so. Other than that, the writing off of debt, as I have said, we will do as much as we can. That sort of answer can be given to your questions. So if you take it to be conciliatory, that will be your understanding. I would rather use the term that we are willing to do more for poor nations.
- Question concerning reform of the United Nations (UN)
Q: I have a question about the Government of Japan's position on UN reforms. This morning, Foreign Minister Machimura mentioned the possibility that the G4 nations may submit a draft resolution to the UN next month although Foreign Minister Machimura said earlier that the G4 nations would hopefully submit the resolution by the end of this month. Does this mean that the G4 has recognized that it is taking longer than expected to prepare for the submission of the draft resolution including a possible revision?
Mr. Takashima: Actually we have not decided when to present that draft resolution to the General Assembly on the issue of the expansion of the Security Council. There was a thought that it would be appropriate or timely to present it sometime in June at one time. However, judging from the general circumstances surrounding the discussion on UN reform, Foreign Minister Machimura said that the Government of Japan would see the outcome of the African Union (AU) summit meeting or the summit meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) before we decide what sort of actions we would take vis-à-vis the draft resolution. It is not a matter of delay but a matter of a kind of adjustment to reality and things happening within the context of the movement towards UN reform in general.
- Question concerning telephone conversation between Foreign Minister Machimura and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of the U.S.
Q: There are reports that during a phone conversation between Foreign Minister Machimura and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of the U.S. last week, the issue of the Government of Japan's bid was brought up. As we know now, Secretary of State Rice expressed that the U.S. cannot support the current proposal. Do you have any details regarding that phone call conversation?
Mr. Takashima: Foreign Minister Machimura had a phone conversation with Secretary of State Rice last Friday, and they discussed issues such as UN reform. I cannot make any further comments on the details of the discussion. It is a kind of ongoing diplomatic discussion, and nothing conclusive has been discussed.
- Question concerning possibility of Japan-People's Republic of China summit meeting at the G8 Summit
Q: I think I read somewhere in Japanese newspapers that China is going to be invited to attend the G8 Summit. If so, has the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or Kantei prepared to arrange a one-on-one summit between the two countries?
Mr. Takashima: My understanding is that President Hu Jintao of China will attend the G8 Summit to be held in Gleneagles, UK next month. However, his stay in Gleneagles would be rather short, and his itinerary is rather tight. Prime Minister Koizumi's itinerary is also very tight. Therefore, we do not think that there would be any chance to have a direct meeting between Prime Minister Koizumi and President Jintao at the Gleneagles Summit.
However, the Government of Japan is thinking about making arrangements for a meeting between the two leaders, Prime Minister Koizumi and President Jintao, at other occasions such as the UN General Assembly to be held in September or other meetings scheduled for this year in various places.
- Questions concerning East Asia Summit
Q: At the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade at Jeju Island, I think I heard that there were discussions as to what the difference was between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Three (ASEAN+3) and the East Asia co-prosperity arrangement. The countries that are in those two arrangements are exactly the same countries. What is the difference between the two, ASEAN+3 and the East Asia Summit? Is there any difference?
Mr. Takashima: The discussion is still going on among members of ASEAN and also Japan, China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on this issue of how to define the difference between the East Asia Summit and ASEAN+3 meeting.
One difference is that all members of ASEAN+3 have already agreed to have the Republic of India invited to the East Asia Summit. There is also a good possibility that the Commonwealth of Australia and New Zealand will be included in some form to the summit meeting. This shows that the East Asia Summit meeting will be in the nature of openness and inclusiveness. Those who are interested in joining will be able to participate in whatever the form may be. Japan is much interested in inviting the US in some form to this gathering so that inclusiveness will be readily achieved through US participation and also others. For example, Minister for Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation, when he visited Tokyo recently, showed some interest in joining the East Asia Summit meeting. Mongolia has already expressed its desire to participate. It is much wider in scope and range than the ASEAN+3 meetings.
Q: For clarification's sake, can you comment on the reason why Japan wants the US to participate in the East Asia Summit? Asian countries, although not all, oppose US participation. The question is rather hypothetical but if Malaysia changes course, would it be possible to speculate that US can come over?
Mr. Takashima: Of course membership has to be decided on consensus basis, in other words, its original members should agree on who is to be invited and who is not to be invited. As far as Japan is concerned, we believe the US has a lot to do with Asia. It is a Pacific nation and its relations with Asia are strong traditionally and historically. We believe that US participation would do some good for the promotion of solidarity among the East Asian community.
Q: What kind of conditionality will be required for US participation?
Mr. Takashima: This is first to be discussed and decided by the member countries. The original member countries of the East Asia Summit will be as you said ASEAN+3, and they will have to come to a conclusion on who to invite and who not to invite. Conditionality is something that should be decided by the members. But as far as we are concerned, those who have interest and some functional relations with Asia should have some sort of a connection or relations with the East Asia Summit in whatever form, as observers or whatever.
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