Press Conference, 19 September 2006

First FTA Negotiation Meeting between the Government of Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)
Visit by Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shintaro Ito to the United States
Fifth Meeting on the Joint Study for Enhancing Economic Relations between Japan and Australia
Questions concerning the Financial Sanctions Imposed against North Korea
Questions concerning Japan-Russian Federation Relations
Questions concerning Japan's Role in the United Nations
Question concerning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website

I. First FTA negotiation Meeting between the Government of Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon. Just a couple of announcements to make this afternoon, if I may.

First, about the first negotiation meeting between the Government of Japan and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) that comprises the State of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The meeting is going to take place on Thursday and Friday this week, 21 and 22 September. From the Japanese side, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mitoji Yabunaka, together with Deputy Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Bureau Shinsuke Sugiyama will be joining the negotiations. From the GCC side, Dr. Hamad Bin Sulayman al-Bazai, the General Coordinator of the Negotiation, Head of the Delegation, who is also Deputy Minister of Finance for Economic Affairs of Saudi Arabia, will be joining the negotiations. At the first meeting they will be discussing trade in goods and services, and will exchange a wide range of views with the idea that the negotiations should end as soon as possible to create the free trade agreement (FTA) between Japan and GCC.

Related Information (Press Release)

II. Visit by Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shintaro Ito to the United States

Mr. Taniguchi: Secondly, from 17 to 22 September, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shintaro Ito is visiting the United States. The aim is to take part in the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) Ministerial Meeting on 20 September, Wednesday this week. He is also going to be joining the ministerial level meeting about Iraq chaired by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.

Related Information (Press Release)

III. Fifth Meeting on the Joint Study for Enhancing Economic Relations between Japan and Australia

Mr. Taniguchi: From Wednesday this week until Friday, 20-22 September, in Tokyo there is going to be the Fifth Meeting on the Joint Study for Enhancing Economic Relations between Japan and the Commonwealth of Australia, Including the Feasibility and Pros and Cons of a FTA between Japan and Australia.

IV. Questions concerning the Financial Sanctions Imposed against North Korea

Q: Regarding the North Korean sanctions that were imposed today, I have not gotten the entire picture of the sanctions yet, or whether it has anything to do with Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Would you mind explaining?

Mr. Taniguchi: I would be happy to. The law upon which the sanctions are going to be based is the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law, which is technically in the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but the Cabinet decision that was made this morning was issued and made public with five government organizations involved: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the National Police Agency, and the Financial Services Agency. Jointly, these five governmental bodies have announced the imposition of financial sanctions against North Korea. The plans are that the sanctions will target remittances and transfers of financial assets to North Korea by those who are supposed to be involved in its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) programs or missile programs. The list includes 15 organizations and one individual. The list has been made available already, and the sanctions will take effect today.

Q: You mention 15 companies and one individual. Would you explain a little bit more about what kinds of companies and what individuals it targets?

Mr. Taniguchi: This is a follow-up to the UN resolution that passed in July in the aftermath of the launches of the missiles. As stipulated by the UN resolution, the target companies and individual are suspected to be involved in the missile programs of the North Korean Government and the programs on WMDs. In sum, those are the companies that are believed to be part of North Korea's programs on missiles and WMDs.

Q: How many dollars do you expect have been redirected to North Korea in the last three years?

Mr. Taniguchi: It is hard to be precise on that point, and I do not have the exact figure at the moment.

Q: How did the Government of Japan pick out these companies and individuals? What was the process?

Mr. Taniguchi: That was based on various sources of information and intelligence which I cannot disclose.

Q: Was that done by the Government of Japan, or in cooperation with the US and other entities? If so, could you give me the names of the other countries?

Mr. Taniguchi: There has got to be cooperation, by the nature of the issue, between Japan and other countries, notably the United States. It is not a coincidence that the Government of Japan has announced its sanctions on the day when the Government of Australia is scheduled to make a similar attempt.

Q: It is not a coincidence?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not think it is a coincidence.

Q: In order words, those 15 companies based in Japan--

Mr. Taniguchi: No, they are not based in Japan; they are internationally active companies that are actively operating in the world and are believed to be engaged in this.

Q: Are they Japanese national companies? Or does it include foreign companies?

Mr. Taniguchi: They are all foreign companies, and you can look at the list and examine what companies they are. The list includes one individual, Mr. Jacob Steiger, and these companies and individual may or may not have been actively operating in Japan, but that does not necessarily mean that they are headquartered or primarily based in Japan.

Q: What does Japan want to achieve through the sanctions?

Mr. Taniguchi: The obvious goal is to send an even more powerful message to North Korea and tell them yet again how important it is for them to give up their missile programs and come back to the Six-Party Talks framework as soon as possible and with no conditions whatsoever.

Q: Thank you very much. Another question on the North Korean sanctions: will those companies who also do business in the United States also come under sanctions from the US towards North Korea?

Mr. Taniguchi: There is a tremendous overlap between the target companies chosen by Japan and the United States. If I can say, there are three companies added by Japan to the list of 12 companies that have already been chosen as target companies by the US Government. Those three companies are: Korea Tonghae Shipping Company, Pyongyang Informatics Center, and Ponghwa Hospital. Those are the three companies that Japan has added to the list of 12 companies that have already been chosen by the US Government.

Q: Is there any time limit for the sanctions?

Mr. Taniguchi: Good question. Obviously, given the nature of the issue, until the North Korean Government comes back to the negotiation table and follow faithfully the resolution of the UN and the missile moratorium.

Q: As for the ship Mangyongbong-92, it has been banned for six months. After six months, will there be any renewal of the sanctions or not?

Mr. Taniguchi: That will depend on the prevailing situation at the time, so I cannot make any comment on that at the moment.

V. Questions concerning Japan-Russian Federation Relations

Q: Regarding Japan-Russia relations, what is the Government of Japan's response to the Russian Federation's suspension of the Sakhalin-2 projects?

Mr. Taniguchi: It came to us as a surprise and shock, because it is very unusual for a 12-year-old program that has been going smoothly thus far to be suspended abruptly without negotiating with its most important customers, which are Japanese companies such as Mitsui and Mitsubishi. The Japanese side obviously has been deeply troubled by this, and that sense has been conveyed already to the Russian side by the Japanese Ambassador to the Russian Federation. A lot of things have been unclear, so we are checking the facts. One thing that I should say is that it goes counter to business interests of all the parties involved. Royal Dutch Shell is involved and Mitsui and Mitsubishi are involved, but the bulk of the natural gas supposed to be produced there is going to be exported to Japan. Japan is not the single, but is among the most important customers. I would hope very much that the issue is going to be resolved very soon.

Q: At the talk between Ambassador of Japan to the Russian Federation Yasuo Saito and Russia's Natural Resources Minister, Russia explained that illegal construction is taking place at the site. What is your response to those claims?

Mr. Taniguchi: As I said, this is highly unusual for a business venture that has been going on for more than 10 years. It will rid the program of a degree of predictability and transparency, which are both crucial in the steady implementation of the business venture itself. I hope the Russian side is going to come to its Japanese business partners and explain fully what caused the abrupt suspension and how soon it is going to be lifted so everything can go back to normal.

Q: So there is no such illegal construction?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not have any knowledge about that.

Q: What do you think is Russia's intention?

Mr. Taniguchi: I could speculate, but I should refrain from making any sort of speculative assumptions.

Q: How can the situation be resolved through dialogue?

Mr. Taniguchi: One can only hope that common sense will prevail; it does not necessarily mean that everything is going to be put on hold. It is in the interest of everyone involved for this business venture to start moving once again as swiftly as possible. The solution is going to be an obvious one; the Russian side is going to make itself fully accountable to its business partners and then resume the process as soon as possible.

VI. Questions concerning Japan's Role in the United Nations

Q: I would like to ask another question about Japan's diplomacy in the post-Koizumi transitional period. I understand that Japan's basic stance of seeking permanent membership on the UN Security Council will not change, but there appear to be so many obstacles. How can you help the new administration come up with a strategy that will work?

Mr. Taniguchi: It is a difficult question, and what I can tell you is that right from the beginning no one in the Japanese diplomatic corps anticipated that this would be an easy sell. Everyone had the firm belief that this would take time and it would be an uphill struggle, which has proven to be the case. But I can tell you that by our sticking to the point that Japan fully deserves a permanent seat, the world community at large has come to understand Japan's opinions and thoughts. It is fair to say, in my view, that Japan has come a long way compared to just a couple of years ago, when Japan said very little about its aspirations to become a permanent member of the Security Council. All of the attempts that Japanese diplomacy has made over the last year or two have given us a good foundation upon which further attempts should be made. So long as our belief that the Government of Japan deserves to be a permanent member of Security Council does not change, I believe that will remain one of the most important tasks for the incoming administration to carry out.

Q: To be more specific, Japan is aggressively seeking support from African countries, and at the same time is talking about increasing its development aid to those countries. Is Japan just buying votes?

Mr. Taniguchi: If we could increase the amount of official development assistance (ODA) to the extent that we could actually buy the votes of African nations, that would be terrific. The fact of the matter is, the amount of ODA that the Government of Japan is giving to those developing nations is way too small. We are doing our best to increase the amount of ODA to fulfill the pledge that the Government of Japan has given the international community. Compared to the pledge, we have far to go to fulfill it. These two agenda are unrelated to one another.

Q: Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe is leading the governmental party that wants to make Japan's overseas aid more cost-effective and more closely allied to Japan's diplomatic strategy. Assuming that Mr. Abe succeeds Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi as the Prime Minister, how do you think he will raise Japan's profile in the United Nations?

Mr. Taniguchi: There are many things that Japan can do with or without a seat on the UN Security Council. Of course, the Security Council is one of the most important bodies for the United Nations, but if you look at the areas of human security, for instance, or human rights, UNESCO, and other UN-related organizations, there are actually many areas in which Japan has been a prominent member, an initiator of new ideas. We can do a lot in those areas. Let me add a small footnote: We are not necessarily doing it simply to raise the profile of the Government of Japan in those areas. We are doing a lot of things simply because they are good things to be done.

Q: Back to the strategy for seeking a permanent seat. Support from the US is vital, but Japan has not yet received it, and China strongly opposes Japan's aspirations. How can Japan break this impasse?

Mr. Taniguchi: I am not sure that I can agree with your assumption that the US is not supporting Japan. There is actually bi-partisan support from the US Government and legislative body about the need to include Japan as a permanent member of the Security Council. China may have been opposed to that, but everything could change. Simply put, Japan has given up nothing, and there is ample room, in our belief, for Japan to pursue that goal of becoming a permanent member of the Security Council.

Q: Japan's term as a non-permanent member of the Security Council expires in December. How can Japan continue to play a major role in the UN without even non-permanent membership?

Mr. Taniguchi: That is an important question. That is exactly the reason why the Government of Japan is continuing to say that Japan has got to have a permanent seat on the Security Council. There are many things that Japan can do jointly with other members of the UN to create rules universally acceptable for the world community. The experiences of Japan show that there are many areas where Japan can make a difference and contribute a lot to the making of such rules. I have to say it will be made a little bit more difficult for Japan to lead the pack if it is not a member of the Security Council. There is a sort of a tautology here, but that is exactly the reason why Japan is seeking its goal as firmly as ever.

VII. Question concerning the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Website

Q: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs website is temporarily inaccessible at the moment. I was wondering about the cause.

Mr. Taniguchi: It has been detected for some time, and the traffic seems to be much slower than before. I am not sure at this point whether the problem has been solved or not. In terms of the cause, we are not sure; we are investigating that.

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