Press Conference, 30 September 2008

Welcome to special visitors from Mongolia and Bangladesh
Condemnation of terrorist bombings in Damascus
Japan's nomination of Ambassador Yukiya Amano for the position of Director-General of the IAEA
Announcement of ASEM meeting on Adaptation to Climate Change
Visit of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to Japan
Questions concerning the upcoming ASEM Seminar
Questions concerning visit of the Polish Foreign Minister to Japan
Questions concerning Chinese Taipei's involvement in the WHO
Questions concerning Japan's membership in the United Nations Security Council

I. Welcome to special visitors from Mongolia and Bangladesh

Deputy Press Secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura: Good afternoon, everybody. Welcome to the press conference.

First of all, please accept my sincere welcome to the special visitors from Asian countries, namely Mongolia and Bangladesh. We welcome your attendance and would like to have very lively discussions after the statement.

II. Condemnation of terrorist bombings in Damascus

First, let me start with a couple of announcements.

First, the Foreign Ministry's Press Secretary issued a statement on the terrorist bombings in Damascus, Syria. I reiterate Japan's strong condemnation of any type of terrorism for any reason and reaffirm its position that no act of terrorism can be justified.

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III. Japan's nomination of Ambassador Yukiya Amano for the position of Director-General of the IAEA

Second, Japan has decided to nominate Mr. Yukiya Amano, Permanent Representative and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, as a candidate to succeed Dr. Elbaradei, as Director-General of the IAEA. As you can see from his CV, which I have just handed out, Japan is confident that Ambassador Amano is an ideally-suited candidate to take on the duties and responsibilities of the Director-General of the IAEA, and intends to make the utmost effort to gain the support of the international community.

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IV. Announcement of ASEM meeting on Adaptation to Climate Change

Third, Japan and other countries concerned will host the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) Seminar on Adaptation to Climate Change from this Thursday, the 2nd to Friday, the 3rd in Tokyo. The parties will discuss "adaptation" to negative effects caused by climate change, by focusing on five fields, namely, water resources, health, agriculture, disaster prevention and biodiversity. The results of the Seminar will be reported to the Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 7) at the end of October.

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V. Visit of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski to Japan

And, fourth and last, tomorrow, Wednesday, the 1st of October, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski will visit Japan upon invitation of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. In addition to holding a bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Foreign Minister Nakasone, Mr. Sikorski is scheduled to deliver a speech entitled "Poland and Central Europe: New Security Challenge for Euro-Asia" upon his arrival. He will stay in Japan until Sunday, the 5th.

That's all I have for you as the initial announcements. Now, I will take your questions. Please.

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VI. Questions concerning the upcoming ASEM Seminar

Q: I am Masud Karim from Bangladesh. Please explain to us about the climate change meeting you are hosting. Who is joining this meeting and what are the primary foci in regards to climate change?

Mr. Kawamura: Just give me one minute to check the documents and find what the detailed programs are.

Let me start with the itinerary of the seminar. On Thursday, the 2nd of October, the seminar will start with the keynote address, then followed by three sessions. Session one is on water resources, two is on health insurance, three is about agriculture. That is for the first day, the 2nd of October.

For the second day, Friday, the 3rd, session number four will deal with disaster prevention and session number five will focus on biodiversity and then, at the final session, they are supposed to wrap up the whole discussion. The seminar will focus on the adaptations to the bad effects, which are believed to have been caused by climate change. Therefore, they picked up the five specific areas for discussions, namely water resources, health insurance, agriculture, disaster prevention and biodiversity.

As I said before the result of the seminar will be reported back to the summit meeting of the ASEM leaders which is scheduled at the end of October.

Q: Are only experts joining this meeting?

Mr. Kawamura: Government officials and experts in each area are expected to attend.

Q: How many countries are joining this meeting?

Mr. Kawamura: I do not have the final list of participants but I will get back to you later. Just for your information, ASEM, Asia-Europe Meeting comprises 43 nations and two international organizations. For this Tokyo seminar, Japan European Commission, U.K., Netherlands, Korea and Vietnam, five countries and one international organization, will jointly host the seminar.

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VII. Questions concerning visit of the Polish Foreign Minister to Japan

Q: With regard to the Polish Foreign Minister's visit, can you give us some more details on what he and Foreign Minister Nakasone will be discussing, especially given the geopolitical importance of Poland on the issues of Georgia or Russia, etc.?

Mr. Kawamura: I do not have a further detailed program for the bilateral meeting between the Japanese and Polish Foreign Ministers, but the two ministers are expected to exchange views on Japan-Poland bilateral relations as well as international situations. The Polish Foreign Minister is also going to make a statement at a forum hosted by the Japan International Institute. In addition, economic issues are going to be one of the items to be discussed. So, we will see.

Excuse me, are you following the English discussion?

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VIII. Questions concerning Chinese Taipei's involvement in the WHO

Q: Yes.

As you know, U.N. specialized organizations are high in specialization and long in politics. The WHO is one example.

As you know, in the past years Japan has supported Taiwan's observer status in the WHA and meaningful participation in the WHO. Is Japan still giving such support to Taiwan?

Mr. Kawamura: Japan's basic position regarding the status of Chinese Taipei in international organizations such as the WHO has not seen any change. Japan has continuously supported Chinese Taipei's participation as an observer at the WHA in one form or another, which other member countries could agree on. Japan also supported its increased participation with the same format at the technical special meetings under the WHO umbrella. There is no change to this fundamental stance of the Japanese government regarding Chinese Taipei's participation in WHO meetings.

Q: Taiwan is trying to become an observer in the WHA next May. How about Japan's status? Does it support Taiwan?

Mr. Kawamura: Generally speaking, attendance and participation in international organizations as a member is limited to sovereign states. When coming to the question of the WHO, Japan will support Chinese Taipei's participation as an observer at the WHA in one form or another, which other members could agree on.

Q: One more question, the U.S. and the E.U. have expressed support for Taiwan's meaningful participation in U.N. specialized agencies. Does Japan support Taiwan's observer status in the WHA and can Japan give support to Taiwan's meaningful participation in U.N. specialized agencies, not only in the WHO, but in other specialized agencies?

Mr. Kawamura: The same principle is applicable to the U.N. meetings as well. The participation of Chinese Taipei in the meetings of the U.N. specialized organizations as an observer, through a format where all other countries can agree is supported by Japan. We will apply this principle to this case in the WHO as well. Japan can support Chinese Taipei's participation in the WHA as an observer.

Q: As you know the WHO is just one example of U.N. specialized agencies. Taiwan hoped to get Japan's support in other specialized agencies.

Mr. Kawamura: This is a repetition of what I said. Our fundamental position regarding Chinese Taipei's participation in international fora has not seen any change so far, so we will keep on this stance in the coming months as well. This will be applicable to the meetings of the U.N. specialized agencies.

IX. Questions concerning Japan's membership in the United Nations Security Council

Q: For clarification, Japan is trying to become a member of the U.N. Security Council. You are moving together with India, Germany and maybe Brazil. What is your position and how will you do this in terms of the latest developments? What is the next step for you?

Mr. Kawamura: Japan would like to become a meaningful member of the Security Council as we have expressed in the past. With the support and the credit from the other United Nations partners we would like to realize that goal. At this particular moment we cannot disclose any particular, special strategy to attain that goal, but we hold high hopes that we will become and should become a member of the United Nations Security Council.

Thank you very much for your attendance.

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