Press Conference, 13 November 2007

Prime Minister Fukuda's upcoming visits to the United States and the Republic of Singapore
Attendance of Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Itsunori Onodera at the 9th meeting of the African Partnership Forum
Japan-China Consultation Meeting in Tokyo
Visit to Japan by President Kurmanbek Bakiev of the Kyrgyz Republic
Attendance of Ambassador Tatsuo Arima, Special Envoy of the Government of Japan, at the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies
Questions concerning the new Anti-Terrorism Bill and the prospects for resuming refueling activities in the Indian Ocean
Questions concerning Prime Minister Fukuda's upcoming visits to the United States and the Republic of Singapore

I. Prime Minister Fukuda's upcoming visits to the United States and the Republic of Singapore

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon, thanks very much for coming.

I have several announcements to make before I take your questions.

First, Prime Minister Fukuda will visit the US and Singapore, subject to Diet approval. The Prime Minister is scheduled to depart on Thursday, the 15th and meet President Bush to discuss "synergy of Asian diplomacy and Japan-US alliance" on Friday, the 16th in Washington D.C. After coming back to Japan on Saturday, the 17th, the Prime Minister is again scheduled to depart for Singapore on Monday, the 19th to attend the 3rd East Asia Summit (EAS) Meeting and return to Japan on Thursday, the 22nd.

II. Attendance of Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Itsunori Onodera at the 9th meeting of the African Partnership Forum

Mr. Taniguchi: Second, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Onodera is now in Algiers, Algeria attending the 9th meeting of the African Partnership Forum. He is there to discuss key issues affecting Africa including governance, financing for development, trade issues and monitoring of progress on agriculture, infrastructure and investment. The Government of Japan is going to host the next meeting in Tokyo.

III. Japan-China Consultation Meeting in Tokyo

Mr. Taniguchi: Third, tomorrow, Wednesday, the 14th, Japan and China will hold the 11th Consultation Meeting to discuss the development of natural resources in the East China Sea and other related issues in Tokyo.

Director-General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Sasae will head the Japanese side, Director-General for Asian Affairs Hu Zhengyue, the Chinese side.

Related Information (Press Release)

IV. Visit to Japan by President Kurmanbek Bakiev of the Kyrgyz Republic

Mr. Taniguchi: Fourth, also tomorrow, the 14th, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Kurmanbek Bakiev will pay a working visit to Japan. Their Majesties The Emperor and the Empress of Japan will receive the President and the First Lady, and Prime Minister Fukuda will also meet with President Bakiev.

Related Information (Press Release)

V. Attendance of Ambassador Tatsuo Arima, Special Envoy of the Government of Japan, at the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies

Mr. Taniguchi: Fifth and last, as Special Envoy of the Government of Japan, Ambassador Tatsuo Arima will attend the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies to be held from Thursday, the 15th to Saturday, the 17th in Bamako, Mali.

At the conference, reflecting upon this year's main theme of "Democracy and Development: Poverty as a Challenge to Democratic Transition," Ambassador Arima will introduce Japan's efforts in promoting democracy and development and discuss the future of international cooperation.

Related Information (Press Release)

VI. Questions concerning the new Anti-Terrorism Bill and the prospects for resuming refueling activities in the Indian Ocean

Q: If I may have your comments on the passage of the new Anti-Terrorism Law through the lower house just now, and what are the prospects of resuming the refueling activities in the Indian Ocean?

Mr. Taniguchi: The fact that the new bill passed the lower house is indeed a good indication to show to the world that Japan's commitment is firm in joining the war on terror in its own way. But it will depend obviously upon the upper house decision if indeed the new bill is going to take effect as a law.

Q: So no fixed timeframe of when we can expect the activities to resume?

Mr. Taniguchi: It is extremely difficult for anyone to see when or how soon the bill is going to be made a law, or what could happen to the proposal itself.

Related Information (Counter Terrorism)

VII. Questions concerning Prime Minister Fukuda's upcoming visits to the United States and the Republic of Singapore

Q: About the Prime Minister's overseas visits, can you elaborate a little bit more? When you talked about the meeting with President Bush about the "synergy of Asian diplomacy," what kind of achievements is Japan looking forward to through the US trip?

Mr. Taniguchi: The most important goal for his visit to the United States is to reconfirm the strong bond that connects the two nations together, Japan and the United States. It is always important to reconfirm that, but especially for Prime Minister Fukuda, who has chosen his first country to visit: the United States. He very much wants to strengthen the personal bond between President George W. Bush and himself.

He is also very much keen on laying out his views as to the US-Japan relationship, and about Asia-Japan relationship, the interrelation between the two. According to his view, both of these dimensions are reinforcing one another: if you have a very stable and strong US-Japan relationship, that would serve to enhance the bilateral relationship between Asian nations and Japan. And vise versa???, the reverse side is also true. If you have a strong relationship between Asian nations and Japan, it could also serve to further strengthen US-Japan relationship. That is the kind of thought he wants to convey to President George W. Bush.

Q: And how about his visit to Singapore for the East Asia Summit? Given that, as we all know, his father, the former Prime Minister Fukuda is well-known for his Fukuda Doctrine on Southeast Asia, is the current Prime Minister planning to give a similar kind of speech or anything while he is in Singapore?

Mr. Taniguchi: Whether or not he is going to give a speech, I cannot say much because nothing is decided yet. Whether he is interested in giving a speech at an occasion like that, my guess is that he is interested in doing that, but it will all depend on the schedule, so I cannot say if he is going to deliver a speech.

Back to the purposes of his visit to Singapore, it is obvious that he is going to join a host of important meetings. Singapore and Japan have worked together closely, first of all, to introduce the new idea of East Asia Summit, and so you could say both nations, Singapore and Japan, are founding proponents of the East Asia Summit. There is a shared expectation between the two that the EAS would develop further. That is something that both nations share. Apart from that, ASEAN is undergoing a critical period of time, when it is making a preparation for a new charter. I think it is Japan's responsibility to encourage the process, because the charter is going to stipulate that values such as democracy, human rights and rule of law should be embraced by the members, by the ASEAN nations. It resonates well with the minds of the Japanese, as well. What else? I should stop here.

Q: Is he planning to meet bilaterally, on the sidelines, with any specific leader?

Mr. Taniguchi: It is always an important occasion when the Prime Minister or Foreign Minister makes a visit to the multilateral meetings to have bilateral meetings, as many as possible on the margins of that. So I would imagine that he is going to see some, but again I cannot say when exactly he is going to meet whom.

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