Press Conference, 5 December 2006

Emergency Assistance for the Mudslides Disaster in Southern Luzon Island, the Republic of the Philippines
Statement by the Press Secretary on the Conflict between the Government and the Military Forces in the Republic of the Fiji Islands
The Sixth Meeting of the Trilateral Consultations on the Possible Trilateral Investment Agreement between Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea
Non-Project Grant Aid of 100 million yen to the Republic of Nauru
Question concerning Diplomatic Schedules with Chinese Government Officials
Question concerning the Report of the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission
Question concerning the Possibility of Statements regarding North Korea at the ASEAN Summit

I. Emergency Assistance for the Mudslides Disaster in Southern Luzon Island, the Republic of the Philippines

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon. Thank you very much for coming. Let me start the conference by introducing some of the items already available on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, starting with the emergency assistance for the mudslides disaster caused by a typhoon hitting Southern Luzon Island, the Republic of the Philippines.

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II. Statement by the Press Secretary on the Conflict between the Government and the Military Forces in the Republic of the Fiji Islands

Mr. Taniguchi: Also there is a statement by the Press Secretary on the conflict between the government and the military forces in the Republic of the Fiji Islands.

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III. The Sixth Meeting of the Trilateral Consultations on the Possible Trilateral Investment Agreement between Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea

Mr. Taniguchi: Finally, there is an announcement about the Sixth Meeting of the Trilateral Consultations on the possible Trilateral Investment Agreement and on the improvement of business environment concerning investment between Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea.

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IV. Non-Project Grant Aid of 100 million yen to the Republic of Nauru

Mr. Taniguchi: Other than that there is an item on non-project grant aid to the Republic of Nauru. This is a non-project grant aid, so it is up to the Nauru government to decide for which project they are going to use the amount of money, which is 100 million Japanese yen.

V. Question concerning Diplomatic Schedules with Chinese Government Officials

Q: It is nothing urgent, but things have been relatively quiet with regard to our relationship with China. I was wondering if there are any possible diplomatic schedules with Chinese leaders or Chinese government officials.

Mr. Taniguchi: There is nothing that I can tell you of at the moment, except that the both governments are scheduling to make that happen some time early next year. That would be as much as I can say. No news is good news, perhaps.

VI. Question concerning the Report of the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission

Q: Also, along similar lines, the congressional subcommittee came out with a report in terms of reassessing its relations with China both in terms of national security and economics; the reassessment report.

Mr. Taniguchi: What kind of report are you talking about? I was not with you in the first part of that question.

Q: I cannot recall the actual name of the subcommittee.

Mr. Taniguchi: A subcommittee of the US Congress?

Q: Yes.

Mr. Taniguchi: Oh, the Security Review Commission?

Q: Yes. Does the Japanese Government have anything to add to that, following the release of the report?

Mr. Taniguchi: No, nothing. I am sure many people within and out of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have taken a look at it, but (there is) no official statement.

VII. Question concerning the Possibility of Statements regarding North Korea at the ASEAN Summit

Q: A series of ASEAN-related Summit Meetings are coming up at the end of the week. During APEC they issued a declaration or statement which mentioned North Korea, so I was wondering if during the ASEAN Summit, I believe they are going to issue a statement of some sort mentioning North Korea, so what would be the importance of issuing again another kind of statement?

Mr. Taniguchi: I really should refrain from making any speculation on that, except that, as you may have learned already, the Japanese Government is interested in bringing this issue to the discussion table, and it still remains the case that North Korea and the abduction issue are among the most important issues for the Japanese Government. Other than that it is really hard to make any prediction on that.

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