Press Conference, 5 October 2007

"Global Festa Japan 2007"
Questions concerning the Maritime Self Defense Force's refueling activities
Questions concerning the Inter-Korean Summit
Question concerning the Six-Party Talks
Questions concerning the possible reduction of aid to the Union of Myanmar

I. "Global Festa Japan 2007"

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

I have one quick announcement to make before I take your questions.

Starting from tomorrow, Saturday, 6 October, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be co-hosting "Global Festa Japan 2007," the largest event on international cooperation in Japan. More than 200 organizations concerned with global cooperation including government agencies, NGOs, international organizations, and embassies, will participate in this event, which will be held until Sunday, 7 October, 2007.

Related Information (Press Release)

II. Questions concerning the Maritime Self Defense Force's refueling activities

Q: I have a question. I understand that the Government proposed an outline of the new anti-terrorism law to the ruling parties, and the proposal will be presented to the opposition parties this evening. What is your view on the prospect of what is going to happen to the refueling activities of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force?

Mr. Taniguchi: Ideally it is expected that the refueling activity in the Indian Ocean is going to continue without any discontinuation, but it seems if you look at the party dynamic in the Diet it is becoming increasingly difficult. I understand the ruling coalition of the LDP and the New Komeito Party and the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fukuda are currently working hard on first shaping the new draft bill, and then to try to convince the opposition party of the vital importance for Japan to continue to do this activity in view of the responsibility that the country bears towards the international community. So the expectation is that the newly proposed bill is actually going to pass the Diet, enabling the ships of the Maritime Self Defense Force to continue its very important activity.

Q: Another question is also related to the Maritime Self Defense Force's refueling activity.

Prime Minister Fukuda said yesterday at the parliament that the Defense Ministry will check into the situation about whether the fuel Japan supplied was used for Iraqi operations. So is that where it stands, that the Government is trying to investigate more, or the Japanese Government stance is that the fuel that Japan supplied has never been used for the Iraqi operations.

Mr. Taniguchi: What I can tell you is the following: Each and every time when the Japanese tanker ship gives fuel to the ships of the member participating navies, they are making sure about the purpose of the activities of the ships that are getting fuel from the Japanese tanker, and before all of this, exchanges of notes have been conducted between Japan and the country of which naval ships are going to get fuel from the Japanese side.

I should also add that one of the Senior Vice Ministers, Mr. Onodera, was in the Middle East lately, and visited the headquarters of the maritime operation in question, and he made sure, looking at the facilities and the equipment, there was no doubt that the activities of those ships that are getting fuel from the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force are actually engaged in the OEF (Operation Enduring Freedom). So those are, I should say, components of an arrangement that gives you a "failsafe".

So far as what is going on at the moment is concerned, there is no question that the Japanese refueling activity is being used solely to help support the activities engaged in the OEF.

Q: What about in the past?

Mr. Taniguchi: There have been reports carried by a host of Japanese news agencies and newspapers and so on that there might have been one or two occasions when Japanese refueling activities were actually conducted to the ships that would later depart from the zone in question, but that is actually one of the areas in which the Japanese Government is pledging that further investigation will be made.

Q: So the Government is conducting an investigation.

Mr. Taniguchi: To conduct an investigation is a little bit too much to say, because it sounds as if you are now looking into what happened many months ago, but there is a likelihood that the Japanese Government is going to request further information be given from the relevant countries to Japan.

Q: So Japan will enquire...

Mr. Taniguchi: There is a possibility. That is what I am saying.

Related Information (Counter Terrorism)

III. Questions concerning the Inter-Korean Summit

Q: Sorry, I arrived late, so if this has already been mentioned please forgive me. I have a question on the Inter-Korean Summit. There are reports that President Roh conveyed a message from Prime Minister Fukuda to the North Korean leader. Can you give us some details on what the message was?

Mr. Taniguchi: Well, I wish I could, but I can't, because members of the Asia-Oceania Division and the Minister for Foreign Affairs are actually waiting for President Roh's envoy to come to brief them, and they are going to ask the envoy that the South Korean Government has dispatched to Japan what actually was discussed between Kim Jong-Il and President Roh. So we will see.

Q: When do you think the Government will announce the results of this report?

Mr. Taniguchi: I would expect that as soon as possible.

Q: Like today or tomorrow?

Mr. Taniguchi: I don't know.

IV. Question concerning the Six-Party Talks

Q: In connection with the Six-Party Talks agreement that the People's Republic of China announced on the 3rd, Premier Wen has some kind of concern that the delisting of North Korea from terrorist supporting states is not mentioned.

Mr. Taniguchi: The possible delisting of North Korea from the terrorist list by the United States (of America) is an element written into the document, but at the same time, if you look at it closely it is not going to happen automatically. It is going to happen only when the United States has made sure that the North Korean side has actually fulfilled its pledge on the disablement and on the declaration.

So the principle of "action to action" is still viable here. That is what the latest document clearly states.

I should also add, as I have done repeatedly before, that the importance of the abduction issue has long been fully taken into consideration by the US side as well, as has been many times discussed between Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Japanese Foreign Ministers and top leaders of Japan and the United States.

V. Questions concerning the possible reduction of aid to the Union of Myanmar

Q: On Myanmar, Foreign Minister Komura said the other day that Japan is considering cutting down aid. Any further developments since then?

Mr. Taniguchi: I should perhaps remind you that the amount of aid to any country for the upcoming year is going to be decided sometime in the early part of the year in question, because of the accounting practice of the Japanese Government, so no decision has ever been made about any country, including (the Union of) Myanmar.

There is a strong possibility, however, that the Japanese Government is going to cut the amount of assistance to be given to Myanmar, probably by one-fourth, or something like that(Note: Japan is currently considering reducing its assistance to Myanmar, but precise figure of this reduction is still under consideration.).

I should also remind you that the amount of assistance, which stands at something like US$26 million for last year, is a small enough amount of money, because it combines both grant and technical assistance, and it has been reduced by more than 60% over the last five years. And if you look at the grant element of the US$26 million, it goes straight to the grass roots people, either through NGOs, or through UNICEF in the case of tackling infant mortality. So that much is what I can say to you at the moment.

Q: Just to confirm, you said probably by one-quarter.

Mr. Taniguchi: That is a very rough, so-called ballpark figure.

Q: Compared to the US$26 million last year.

Mr. Taniguchi: US$26 million is the amount for 2006, and it does not mean that exactly the same amount is going to be projected to be given to Myanmar for the upcoming fiscal year. So you could say that is between US$24 million and US$28 million or US$29 million, and that obviously changes subject to the exchange rate of course.

Q: But this one-fourth reduction is mostly by if Japan cuts support for establishing a Human Personnel Development Center and the related equipment for that facility, right?

Mr. Taniguchi: That is correct. The Japanese Government and the Myanmar Government have been working together so that a facility would be built on the campus of the university in Yangon -- an educational facility to teach the Japanese language and some of the academic principles about market economy, capitalist economy, and so on to the young future generation people in the country -- but in view of the current situation, the Japanese Government has made up its mind to actually have to give a second thought to the project.

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