Press Conference, 2 October 2007

The situation in the Union of Myanmar
Visit to Japan by Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Karen Koning AbuZayd
Statement by the Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemning the raid on the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS)
Follow-up questions concerning the situation in Myanmar
Questions concerning North Korea and the Six-Party Talks
Questions concerning the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law

I. The situation in the Union of Myanmar

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon, and thanks for joining me for today's conference.

I have a couple of points to make for my opening statement.

Firstly, regarding the situation in (the Union of) Myanmar, yesterday, Monday, 1 October, Mr. Mitoji Yabunaka, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, met senior government officials of the Myanmar authority in the city of Naypyidaw. They were: Mr. U Maung Myint, Deputy Foreign Minister; Colonel Aye Ko, Deputy Chief, Office of Chief of the Military Security Affairs (OCMSA), Ministry of Defense; and Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan, Minister for Information, in the order that the meetings took place.

On each occasion Mr. Yabunaka requested that their Government render a full account of how and why the Japanese video-journalist had to be killed, and that they return the camera and its content to the bereaved family members.

Also as a de-facto envoy representing the G8 (Group of Eight) Foreign Ministers -- fresh out of the G8 Foreign Ministerial meeting held in New York last week -- he urged the authority to show as much self-restraint as they can towards the rallying demonstrators, release all the relevant detainees, and to have dialogues with those demanding democratization. Mr. Yabunaka also made a request that he be allowed to see Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, and that she be released from her long-continued house arrest. As of now he has remained unable to see her.

Now let me say a few words on Japan's aid, or the lack thereof, to Myanmar.

In the fiscal years of 2005 and 2006, the Government of Japan gave them grant assistance of US$14.6 million and US$11.5 million, respectively. Other than that, JICA, or the Japan International Cooperation Agency, spent for the two years US$14.0 million and US$14.6 million to give technical assistance to the country. Combined, the total amount of both grant and technical assistance was US$28.6 million and US$26.1 million for the Japanese fiscal years of 2005 and 2006, respectively. In the previous fiscal year of 2004, the amount was US$26.8 million.

We have extended to the country no loan assistance since 1987. We have also reduced the amount of assistance still given to them by more than 60 percent over the last five years. And Japan's assistance -- if compared to the DAC, or the OECD Development Assistance Committee member nations -- the amount of US$26.8 million for fiscal 2004 made up about one third of the total, which amounts to US$81.4 million. Remember that it is always very much unclear how large an amount is flowing from the non-DAC countries to Myanmar.

Plus, the grant assistance for the last five years has consisted only of three projects: to prevent deforestation from increasing; inviting about 30 future-generation government employees over to Japanese graduate schools; and to reduce the country's infant mortality rate, the last one of which for many years has been given to the country through the UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund).

II. Visit to Japan by Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) Karen Koning AbuZayd

Mr. Taniguchi: That being what I must tell you on Myanmar, as a second item, tomorrow, 3 October, Karen Koning AbuZayd, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, will be visiting Japan. She is going to stay here until Saturday, 6 October, 2007. This will be her second visit to Japan as the UNRWA Commissioner-General. I should also add that we are pushing forward the project to create the Corridor for Peace and Prosperity involving the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli, as well as the Jordanian governments.

III. Statement by the Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemning the raid on the African Union Mission in the Sudan (AMIS)

Mr. Taniguchi: Third and last, yesterday, Monday, 1 October, the Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a Statement condemning the raid on the AMIS (African Union Mission in the Sudan) base in the central Darfur region of Sudan.

Related Information (Press Release)

IV. Follow-up questions concerning the situation in Myanmar

Q: Regarding the Myanmar situation, Mr. Yabunaka is still in Myanmar, I understand. How much longer is he intending to stay and what sort of itinerary is lined up for him -- if you can release anything at this point?

Mr. Taniguchi: He is still waiting for an answer from the Myanmar authorities as to whether he can meet Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi. I believe he has left the capital city and come back to Yangon. Originally he was scheduled to depart the country within today but of course it is subject to change.

Q: Is he likely to stay on to take back with him the body of the deceased journalist or does that have nothing to do with his schedule?

Mr. Taniguchi: The body of the killed video-journalist is scheduled to be sent from the country to Japan tomorrow (3 October). Mr. Yabunaka may or may not accompany the trip but I doubt that he is going to do that.

Q: Is there any meaning that you gave us the figures of Japanese aid to Myanmar? Do you have any message behind this statement?

Mr. Taniguchi: The message? The figures are the ones that I gave you already. The message is (to let you know) how much money Japan is giving to Myanmar. And, as you can see, the amount remains very much modest.

Q: Has the Japanese Government been contemplating some kind of sanction against Myanmar because of this latest incident?

Mr. Taniguchi: That is one of the issues we have to discuss with Mr. Yabunaka upon his arrival at the Ministry.

Q: Continuing the Myanmar issue, you mentioned that Mr. Yabunaka has been meeting with officials from Myanmar. Has he already explained how they treated him? Were they sincere -- how they responded to his request?

Mr. Taniguchi: He met three people in total. On each occasion he at least heard his counterpart expressing remorse on the unfortunate death of the video-journalist. The officials of the Myanmar authority also expressed understanding of the importance of returning the video camera to the members of the bereaved family. That is what the Myanmar authorities told Mr. Yabunaka. Of course they went on to explain what the cause has been behind the societal unrest and so on, but I should refrain from getting into the details of their explanations.

Q: Any plans for Mr. Yabunaka to meet with the UN envoy, Mr. Gambari, in Myanmar?

Mr. Taniguchi: There has been no attempt made so far and I do not think he is going to be able to see him within his tight schedule.

Q: On the same topic, are there any ongoing consultations with China on how to react to this situation?

Mr. Taniguchi: When Foreign Minister Komura met his counterpart, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi of the People's Republic of China, on the margins of the UN General Assembly a couple of days ago he requested that the Chinese Government take advantage of the relationship -- a close one indeed -- it has with Myanmar to stop the Government from conducting violent acts against the rallying demonstrators, bring the situation back to normal, and proceed the democratization process. When Foreign Minister Komura met his counterpart, the Japanese Government touched on that with the Chinese Foreign Minister.

Q: That is all so far?

Mr. Taniguchi: So far, yes.

V. Questions concerning North Korea and the Six-Party Talks

Q: If I may change the subject: the Korean summit is currently taking place and I was wondering if you are carefully, cautiously keeping an eye on what is coming out of it, and what issues are of particular interest to you?

Mr. Taniguchi: Well, to say, "carefully" or "cautiously" might have a political implication but, as a close neighbor, there is no reason that Japan should not pay close attention to what is going on between the two Koreas. Our expectation of course is that the two leaders will have a very much constructive dialogue, and to talk of the immediate issue of the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, to advance the Six-Party Talks.

Let me just introduce what was talked about between the two foreign ministers of ROK and Japan, also on the margins of the UN General Assembly. The ROK Foreign Minister told Foreign Minister Komura that when the two leaders would be meeting in Pyongyang, the ROK side would be bringing the issue of abduction onto the table and touch on the fact that there are many South Korean people who have been abducted by the North Korean Government. He also mentioned that he would be addressing the issue of Japanese abductees that are still believed to be in North Korea and to push the North Korean side to solve this issue as quickly as they possibly can. So, I believe that the issue of Japanese abductees is being discussed by the two leaders.

Q: Touching on the Six-Party Talks, how does Japan evaluate the results of the latest round? I understand that there is a possibility of a two-day recess from Sunday, which means is Japan going to have its response by the end of today?

Mr. Taniguchi: That's right and our evaluation so far has been that it is much better than before; it is much better than us having nothing. The next step or second phase is supposed to comprise two important elements: the complete declaration of the nuclear facilities and nuclear capacities and to disable all the relevant facilities. No one believes that the declared items are complete and the facilities to be disabled cover all the facilities believed to be existing in North Korea, yet, as a first step, the agreement is accepted as a much more positive step forward than had been made in the past, so it is the Japanese Government's expectation that the document is going to be accepted as a formal one by all the parties as soon as possible.

Q: So from Japan's point of view you are basically accepting that the tentative deal that was --

Mr. Taniguchi: You can say so, yes.

VI. Questions concerning the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law

Q: One question on the refueling mission in the Indian Ocean. I read that the Government plans to submit the bill for discussion in the next week or so. Can you give us a little bit more detail on what the schedule is going to look like, because it seems like it is not going to make it by 1 November?

Mr. Taniguchi: Right. The Government has to do it in close consultation with the ruling coalition parties -- the New Komeito Party and the Liberal Democratic Party -a nd each one of these two parties has nominated members to have the project team to come up with the draft bill for the legislation, so the Government has given a number of ideas to the project team of the coalition ruling parties. As soon as the green light is given by these project team members to the Government, the Cabinet is going to introduce the bill to the Diet. I am not sure how soon the Cabinet is going to be able to propose the bill but they are working very hard because the Diet does not have so long a period of time for them to really discuss this issue. I cannot tell you by which date the Cabinet is going to propose this bill, but that is the sort of tempo that you are now looking at.

Q: So is it pretty much certain that it is not going to be able to get a bill passed before the current law ends, which means the mission is going to be suspended for a certain amount of time?

Mr. Taniguchi: Many experts are now predicting that it is not going to make the deadline, so to speak, of 1 November but I also believe that many members of the Japanese Government are very much working hard so that the operation of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships in the Indian Ocean could continue without any break, so it is really hard for me to give you an idea whether there is going to be a discontinuation or not.

Q: The latest news said that North Korea's representative at the Six-Party Talks, Mr. Kim Kye-Gwan, mentioned that the deadline of the US eliminating the designation of North Korea as a terror-supporting nation was mentioned in the draft or the agreement in Beijing recently. Is it a position you have confirmed in the draft document?

Mr. Taniguchi: I cannot give you any confirmation on that. On the issue of delisting North Korea from the terrorist list, when Foreign Minister Komura met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington, DC, on the 27 September, she once again reiterated the long-held position of the US Government that any action that is going to happen between North Korea and the US down the road is in no way going to jeopardize the Japan-US bilateral relationship.

On whether there is a timeline or deadline mentioned in the document that they are now looking at, I cannot give you any confirmation on that because it has not been disclosed yet and I am not in a position to talk on that.

Related Information (Counter Terrorism)

Back to Index