Press Conference, 14 September 2007

Visit by Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Osamu Uno to the People's Republic of China
Emergency assistance to the Union of Myanmar to prevent the spread of polio
Intra-governmental meeting to propose the nomination of the National Museum of Western Art for inclusion in the World Heritage List
Question concerning the schedule of the next round of Six-Party Talks
Questions concerning possible impacts on the Six-Party Talks and on the abduction issue due to the decision by Prime Minister Abe to step down
Questions concerning the details of discussions expected at the upcoming Six-Party Talks

I. Visit by Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Osamu Uno to the People's Republic of China

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

I have three points to introduce for my opening statement.

Firstly, today, Friday, 14 September, Mr. Osamu Uno, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, will be visiting Beijing, People's Republic of China. Tomorrow, Saturday, 15 September, as the representative of the Government of Japan, Mr. Uno will attend "the Japanese and Chinese Festival in Beijing" in Wang Fu Jing, Beijing's most famous commercial district which is like Tokyo's Ginza, or Times Square in New York.

On the day of the event, Wang Fu Jing will be made into a pedestrian precinct, and a variety of Japanese performing teams will be dancing and parading through the area to show the traditional festivities associated with their local hometowns.

For instance, from Akita, a huge number of men and women will be there, carrying incredibly tall rods with dozens of paper lanterns. That is called Kanto Matsuri, matsuri meaning festival.

Other performances scheduled include Awa Odori, from Tokushima, in which a large number of dancers, young and old, men and women, all in traditional kimono-like clothing, will be making a dancing procession.

While Awa Odori is a 400 year old festive form, Yosakoi Soran from Hokkaido is a new one, something you might have expected in the streets of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. It is a good combination of flavors of both old and new.

The festivities in Wang Fu Jing will make one of the climax events for a year-long celebration of "the Japan-China Exchange Year of Culture and Sports 2007."

Related Information (Press Release)

II. Emergency assistance to the Union of Myanmar to prevent the spread of polio

Mr. Taniguchi: Secondly, today, Friday, 14 September, Japan decided to extend emergency assistance of about US$1.87 million (about 217 million yen) through UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, to the Union of Myanmar to prevent the spread of polio. This contribution provides one third of the total expenditure needed.

In 2003, Myanmar declared that polio had been eradicated. However, last year cases of polio were confirmed, and also this year yet again. Given the urgency of the matter, and in cooperation with UNICEF, Myanmar has decided to carry out vaccinations for about 7.5 million children under the age of five. They will do that across the entire nation in two stages, in November and in December this year, 2007. UNICEF has requested that the international community should come out and assist.

Cases of polio have also been confirmed, just for your information, in such Asian nations as the People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of India.

III. Intra-governmental meeting to propose the nomination of the National Museum of Western Art for inclusion in the World Heritage List

Mr. Taniguchi: Third and last, this afternoon, Friday 14 September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be hosting an intra-governmental meeting to decide that the Government of Japan will seek an entry of a building in Tokyo into the list of World Heritage. The building we are seeking to list is the main building of the National Museum of Western Art, which is in Ueno Park and is a masterpiece of the late French architect, Le Corbusier.

Related Information (World Heritage)

IV. Question concerning the schedule of the next round of Six-Party Talks

Q: There are a few media reports this week that the next round of the Six-Party Talks will be held on 19 September. Can you comment on this?

Mr. Taniguchi: I cannot actually comment on that. I am aware that many people have been saying that that will be the day, but it is still too early to give you confirmation on the schedule.

V. Questions concerning possible impacts on the Six-Party Talks and on the abduction issue due to the decision by Prime Minister Abe to step down

Q: Do you think that the resignation of the Prime Minister will somehow affect the upcoming Six-Party Talks?

Mr. Taniguchi: Well, I can say that the Six-Party Talks are among the most important discussions that Japan itself has been long engaged in, and so I should say no to your question, there cannot be any change in terms of Japanese policies about North Korea and about the Six-Party Talks.

Q: When Prime Minister Abe is gone, since Prime Minister Abe has been very assertive with regard to resolving the abduction issue, do you see any change in Japan's policy on the abduction issue now that Prime Minister Abe who has been a strong actor on the abduction issue is to resign?

Mr. Taniguchi: Certainly each Prime Minister is going to bring in his own agendas about international politics, about Japan's diplomatic policies. Therefore there will be room for the incoming new administration to bring in new initiatives and new directions to Japan's foreign policy. That said, Japan has committed itself to solving this issue, for how long?... for many, many years, since the early part of the previous Koizumi administration. Given the nature of the issue, that it is about sovereignty, that it is about the lives of Japanese nationals, including a very young girl, I do not think there is any room for Japanese policies regarding abduction to be changed.

Q: Sorry for coming in late; you may have answered this already. Following Prime Minister Abe's resignation and with the upcoming Six-Party Talks plenary session perhaps coming next week or presumably this month, how does the Japanese Government see the current situation, or what is anticipated in terms of current movements of the proceeding and preceding weeks with regard to the nuclear talks, the Japan-DPRK working-level talks and the US-DPRK working-level talks?

Mr. Taniguchi: Firstly, Prime Minister Abe has not resigned yet. He has expressed his intention to step down as Prime Minister, but he is still Prime Minister, by the way.

As for the Six-Party Talks, I already answered the question about the schedule, the answer to which is that I can say nothing to confirm the schedule. In terms of what the Japanese Government is going to do or say at the upcoming Six-Party Talks, I think that very little is going to change, and the Japanese Government is going to stick to the position that it has long held. I do not want to repeat what the Japanese Government has long said so far, but there should be no change.

Q: So Prime Minister Abe's hospitalization and so forth has no effect on Japanese policy toward the Six-Party Talks and the abductee issues.

Mr. Taniguchi: I believe that Prime Minister Abe is still well briefed about the development of the dialog, and I would say there should be, once again, no change in terms of Japanese policies.

VI. Questions concerning the details of discussions expected at the upcoming Six-Party Talks

Q: Could you outline again what Japanese policy is in regard to the Six-Party Talks.

Mr. Taniguchi: The next round is going to be an important one in terms of looking into what sort of development actually has taken place in order to make sure that denuclearization in North Korea is actually advancing. The Japanese Government separately has held a bilateral meeting with North Korea saying that the abduction issue is very important, but at the same time both nations should talk also about solving the issues associated with the unfortunate past. The Japanese Government is going to report to the other parties what they have discussed with North Korea. That is one thing.

In terms of other members, including Japan, they will have to think about what they should do in the remainder of the year in terms of the complete declaration of the nuclear capacities of North Korea, and in terms of the so-called disablement of the nuclear facilities.

So those are the points that the six nations will discuss, and Japan is going to also discuss those issues.

Q: Following up on the same subject, when you stated that the Japanese Government or the six parties described the denuclearization process as disablement of North Korea's nuclear facilities, last week the North Korean Foreign Ministry described it as neutralization of the nuclear facilities. What is the difference between the two?

Mr. Taniguchi: That is exactly the kind of question that the six parties will have to spend a lot of time to think about: to disable what; to what extent you can say that there is disablement. There are areas, I believe, in which the nations express different views, so there has got to be a common understanding for that matter shared by the six nations, including North Korea. I think it will take them time to nail down what means what.

Are there any other questions?

Q: What is Japan's stance as far as the US stance on nuclear disablement in North Korea? Japan has not taken the same stance. I believe it is a kind of partial approach, is it fair to say?

Mr. Taniguchi: First and foremost there have been two tracks that have tried to inspect what has been going on on the ground in North Korea. Obviously the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) team has been in operation there. In addition to that, as has been reported, experts from the Russian Federation, China, and the United States have been in North Korea to see and to make sure that the denuclearization process is going on. So when they are going to meet next time they are going to have to share the reports and findings of those inspectors - the IAEA's and that of the separate team of the three nations. Then they will have to spend time to really discuss what is called a roadmap for the future processes, the so-called second phase of the denuclearization process.

What I have been saying is it is not going to be such an easy task for these nations including North Korea to really share the common understanding in terms of definitions of disablement, of complete declaration of North Korean nuclear capacities. So it is much too early to say that this is Japan's position or this is the US position, etc. The fact of the matter is that they have to share the findings.

Q: So it will be the outcome of those findings which will be a base on which to discuss it?

Mr. Taniguchi: I think so, yes.

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