Press Conference, 27 February 2007

Visit to Japan by President Nanbaryn Enkhbayar of Mongolia
Visit to Japan by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nitya Pibulsonggram of the Kingdom of Thailand
Questions concerning the upcoming meeting to be hosted by Japan of representatives from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian territories
Questions concerning the upcoming working group meeting between Japan and North Korea
Follow-up questions concerning the upcoming meeting to be hosted by Japan of representatives from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian territories

I. Visit to Japan by President Nanbaryn Enkhbayar of Mongolia

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Thank you for coming.

I should touch first on the ongoing visit of President Nanbaryn Enkhbayar of Mongolia, who addressed the House of Councillors a short while ago, becoming the first ever leader of the country to have addressed Japan's Diet.

Looking at his itinerary; he finished meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe yesterday evening, is scheduled to get granted an Imperial audience by Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan tomorrow, 28 February, as well as an honorary doctoral degree by Waseda University, also tomorrow. The day after tomorrow, 1 March, the President, a faithful Buddhist himself, is visiting two Buddhist temples; one in Fujisawa, the other in Yokohama.

In Fujisawa there is a temple named Joritsu-ji. It is an old temple whose history dates back to the 16th century, but not as old as the unwelcome visit made in 1275 by the Mongolian ruler Kublai Khan's representatives, who came to urge Japan to make an unconditional surrender. The then-regent Hojo Tokimune did not give in, and the fate of the five representatives was doomed. Interestingly though, people in the Taisho era remembered the tale and chose the temple Joritsu-ji as the place to pay homage to the fallen five men from Mongolia, so, by visiting the temple, President Enkhbayar is hoping to demonstrate that no grudge divides the two nations anymore, and that he is even appreciative of the care the temple and its congregants have continued to give to this day to the ancient diplomats from his own country.

Following the visit President Enkhbayar is stopping at another temple called Soji-ji, which is well known internationally as a place to practice Zen, which, by the way, I have learned is of the President's interest.

I should also introduce that Prime Minister Abe and President Enkhbayar signed a joint communiqué and launched something called the Japan-Mongolia Basic Action Program for the Next Ten Years.

Of special note is that the Government of Japan has been thankful to the Mongolian Government for its continued support in many respects. Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso will surely say the same to the President when he meets President Enkhbayar in the late afternoon of 1 March.

Related Information (Press Release)

II. Visit to Japan by Minister of Foreign Affairs Nitya Pibulsonggram of the Kingdom of Thailand

Mr. Taniguchi: Yesterday, on 26 February, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Nitya Pibulsonggram of the Kingdom of Thailand met both Foreign Minister Aso and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihisa Shiozaki. Foreign Minister Aso told Foreign Minister Pibulsonggram that further democratization of the Thai political process is desirable, and briefed him on the latest development of the Six-Party Talks. Foreign Minister Pibulsonggram told Foreign Minister Aso of how things should develop in terms of the country's constitutional democracy and about the Japan-Thailand Economic Partnership Agreement. He also said that the development of the Six-Party Talks was of ASEAN's interest as well.

Related Information (Press Release)

III. Questions concerning the upcoming meeting to be hosted by Japan of representatives from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian territories

Q: Foreign Minister Taro Aso made a comment that Japan plans to host a meeting next month, inviting officials from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian territories. Can you talk more about that meeting? Who will be participating? When would that be?

Mr. Taniguchi: On the 14 March the Government of Japan is inviting the representatives from three governments; the Palestinian Authority, Israel, and Jordan. This is pretty much in line with the proposal that Japan made when former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited the region last summer, proposing an initiative called the Corridor of Peace and Prosperity. The Corridor is going to develop the Jordan Gorge along the Jordan River as a place to grow agro-centric industries, and then connect the area with the Gulf states, which are supposed to be the area where the agro-products are going to be consumed. To push this initiative the Government of Japan is going to invite people from those three countries and governments.

Q: What level representatives?

Mr. Taniguchi: Let me be a bit more precise. I should say it is subject to change, but if I look at the list of the people; Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres of the State of Israel, Chief Negotiator Saeb Erekat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and a chief representative of the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's office, and other people from these three governments will be coming. From the Japanese side, Dr. Tatsuo Arima, Special Envoy of the Government of Japan for the Middle East Peace Process and other academics, as well as representatives from organizations like the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will be joining the meeting.

Sorry, I should have made it clear; there are going to be two meetings: One, to push on a governmental level the Corridor of Peace and Prosperity, which people like Deputy Prime Minister Peres are certainly going to join. There is another meeting to build confidence among the parties concerned and to that meeting, which is rather like a second-track meeting, the people that I just introduced would be joining together with Mr. Peres and others.

Q: I see, so the gentlemen that you just named, they would be on the second section of the meeting?

Mr. Taniguchi: Government officials will participate not only in the governmental level meeting, but also in the track two meeting, in which others like academics will take part.

Q: For the confidence building and the stability of the region, is that right?

Mr. Taniguchi: Yes.

Q: Would it be specifically linked to Quartet meetings that happened recently?

Mr. Taniguchi: Certainly there has to be an interrelation between this confidence building exercise and the Quartet meeting, but not necessarily, because the Japanese Government has been doing a lot of things in terms of fostering confidence among the parties concerned.

IV. Questions concerning the upcoming working group meeting between Japan and North Korea

Q: Thank you very much. Can I also ask a separate question? Do you have any dates for the working group meeting between the North Koreans and the Japanese? The 30 days is coming up pretty soon.

Mr. Taniguchi: Right. The due date is coming soon, so it should definitely happen in the first half of March, but beyond that no concrete date has yet been settled.

Q: Would they be held here in Tokyo?

Mr. Taniguchi: Including that, nothing concrete has been agreed. We are still working on that.

V. Follow-up questions concerning the upcoming meeting to be hosted by Japan of representatives from the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the State of Israel, and the Palestinian territories

Q: I was wondering about the 4-way talks among the Palestinians, Israelis, Japanese, and Jordanians. This concept; since when has this been planned? Since last year?

Mr. Taniguchi: Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made his visit to the region, he went to both Israel and the Palestinian territories and made a proposal to create a Corridor of Peace and Prosperity. The Corridor is supposed to stretch from the Gaza Strip to the Jordan Valley, to Jordan, and then eventually end up in the Gulf states. That has to be a sort of highway to link these nations. If you look at the map, the Jordan Gorge is the widest flat area of the region, which has got to be a place to grow agricultural industries, so the Japanese initiative is to develop the area as a center for agro-related industries. For agricultural products to be shipped abroad there has got to be an effective link that connects these regions and countries together, hence came the initiative to create the Corridor. So, the main purpose of the upcoming visit, inviting representatives from Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority will be to give a boost to this initiative.

Q: Both meetings will be held in Tokyo?

Mr. Taniguchi: Exactly. On 15 March there is going to be a session open to the members of the press, I believe. For further details I should ask you to come back to us later.

Q: Just to confirm the 15 March; that has already been finalized?

Mr. Taniguchi: There are actually two meetings scheduled to take place, one on governmental level to give a boost to the initiative, and that is slated to take place on the 14th, and on the 14th and 15th there is going to be a two-track meeting, and on the 14th there is going to be no open session, but on the 15th there seems to be a scheduled part open to members of the press.

Q: One more question about the meeting. Is there any specific goal that is expected to be reached for the two-track meeting?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not think so, because the Corridor initiative is supposed to take a long time to materialize, but it is very much important to gain commitment from the parties involved. Basically, when former Prime Minister Koizumi made this proposal to the people in the region it was very much welcomed, and this upcoming meeting is going to be an important milestone for that matter for them to renew their commitment in actually advancing the initiative. But, I do not think there is going to be any concrete goal that is in the minds of the people who are coming to Japan.

Q: That applies for both meetings?

Mr. Taniguchi: Yes.

I should perhaps add a small footnote though, that the Japanese Government is doing a lot of things; inviting journalists from both the Palestinian territories and Israel, for instance, to get them associated with each other, to better understand each other, so confidence building and trust building is very much a part of the Japanese initiative to stabilize the region.

Q: So, that would be for the 14th or 15th?

Mr. Taniguchi: Exactly. Yes.

Q: So far the only press event is only for the 15th?

Mr. Taniguchi: I think so. Related to this, I should also say that Foreign Minister Aso is going to make a speech about Japan's Middle East policy on the 28th, which is tomorrow, at 18:00 at Hotel Okura, and that is going to be organized by the Middle East Research Institute of Japan, and I believe that is going to be open for the press.

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