Press Conference, 26 September 2006

Invitation of participants of the United Nations Programme of Fellowship on Disarmament
Questions concerning the Vice-Ministerial Level Meeting between Japan and the People's Republic of China

I. Invitation of participants of the United Nations Programme of Fellowship on Disarmament

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon.

I have just one announcement to make for this afternoon's press conference. It is about the United Nations Programme of Fellowship on Disarmament. It is going to be the 24th year this year for the Government of Japan to invite the Fellows to get them exposed to discussions about disarmament, non-proliferation, trips to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and so on. This is part of the UN Fellowship on Disarmament, and there are actually three segments that constitute the program, about which you can learn more at http://disarmament.un.org/fellowship.htm. Japan and the Federal Republic of Germany are the two Governments that have continued to invite fellows, mostly from developing nations, but also from countries such as the Russian Federation and the United States, at the invitation of the respective Governments. The Government of Japan is doing this from Thursday, 28 September until Wednesday, 4 October. As I said, during their stay, the 30 participants from the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Republic of India, Russia, and the United States, all young diplomats and so on, are going to go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and get engaged in discussions in many parts of Japan.

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II. Questions concerning the Vice-Ministerial Level Meeting between Japan and the People's Republic of China

Q: About the Japan-People's Republic of China policy dialogue. Is this going to be held today? Do you have any schedule?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not know. Nothing is scheduled concretely, but it does not mean that there is not going to be a dialogue; there may or may not be.

Q: It is not even sure that there is going to be one today?

Mr. Taniguchi: I am not sure if there is going to be one today. I know that the Chinese delegation is still in Tokyo, but I am not sure whether there is going to be another round today or not.

Q: Do you have any idea how long they are staying here?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not know. I know that is the "beef" for today, but I cannot say much about it.

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