Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 17 June 2010

1. Situation in the Kyrgyz Republic
2. Telephone Conversation between Mr. Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
3. Telephone conversation between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and The Right Honorable Stephen Joseph Harper, Prime Minister of Canada
4. OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) peer review
5. Meeting between Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, Minister of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan
6. Questions concerning the proposal of a "bank tax" by France and Germany
7. Question concerning discussion of the sinking of the Cheonan at the UN Security Council
8. Question concerning the Visit to Japan by Mr. Kurt M. Campbell, U.S. Assistant Secretary for State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Situation in the Kyrgyz Republic

Deputy Press Secretary Hidenobu Sobashima: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I have several topics to share with you before inviting your questions.

The first, I think we have distributed some documents, is on the situation in the Kyrgyz Republic. Last Monday, we issued a statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsuya Okada expressing heartfelt sympathy for the victims of the latest armed clashes in the southern part of the Kyrgyz Republic, which left a large number of people killed or injured. The situation is still not good there, so I personally add my voice to the statement the Minister already issued to reiterate our expectation that all parties concerned will work toward a peaceful resolution of the issue through dialogue for a swift end to the situation and that democracy and constitutional order will be restored as soon as possible.

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Telephone Conversation between Mr. Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan, and Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

Mr. Sobashima: Secondly, the telephone conversation between the new Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Naoto Kan, and Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. I think we have distributed the paper. There was a conversation between Prime Minister Kan and the UN Secretary-General and there was a confirmation of the importance of global issues and the importance of the role for the United Nations to play. In this context Prime Minister Kan expressed that climate change and the nuclear disarmament issues were of vital importance among other things he mentioned, and also the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were referred to. As the Secretary-General stated that he intended to visit Japan in August to attend the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony, Prime Minister Kan welcomed his plan to visit Japan and Hiroshima.

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Telephone conversation between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and The Right Honorable Stephen Joseph Harper, Prime Minister of Canada

Mr. Sobashima: The next is similarly a telephone conversation, between Prime Minister Kan and the Canadian Prime Minister, the Right Honorable Stephen Joseph Harper. At the outset Prime Minister Harper congratulated Prime Minister Kan on his appointment as Prime Minister of Japan, and the two Prime Ministers exchanged views on their mutual interests, and looked forward to meeting with each other on the occasion of the G8 and G20 Summits. Also they referred to the Yokohama APEC Summit, and the two Prime Ministers stated that they would cooperate closely with each other for the success of both the G8 and G20 Summits and the APEC Summit.

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OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) peer review

Mr. Sobashima: The next is the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) peer review of Japan. I think we have distributed the press release of the OECD Headquarters. Japan was examined on its policy and implementation of Official Development Assistance (ODA), and the OECD DAC side made recommendations. They referred to the launch of the new JICA and the state of Japanese ODA, and then referred to the decreasing volume of ODA, and also the importance of efficiency of ODA implementation. Certainly our ministry, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is reviewing ODA by ourselves and in so doing we would take into account those recommendations by the OECD DAC as well, for the purpose of the further efficient and effective conduct of our assistance.

Just for your information, tomorrow we will have an NGO and the Foreign Ministry regular periodical plenary meeting. From the NGO side participants will include representatives of the International Cooperation NGO Center, Nagoya NGO Center, Kansai NGO Representative Group, etc., and from the Foreign Ministry side, Minister Okada, the new State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Fujimura, Parliamentary Vice-Minister Nishimura, the Director-General of the International Cooperation Bureau, and others will be participating. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a long history of cooperation with NGOs, and recently we have periodical regular plenary meetings as well as subsidiary bodies meetings between the NGOs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is the annual plenary meeting which will take place tomorrow afternoon with the participation of Foreign Minister Okada.

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Meeting between Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and Dr. Omar Zakhilwal, Minister of Finance of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

Mr. Sobashima: Finally, we have distributed the press release of the meeting between Foreign Minister Okada and the Afghan Finance Minister, which took place yesterday. The Afghan Finance Minister Zakhilwal thanked on behalf of the Afghan government for Japan’s assistance and he conveyed Afghanistan’s intention to act on its own initiative to achieve sustainable development and long-term stability utilizing the Japanese assistance. Minister Okada said the improvement of public security and strengthening of governance must be prioritized in order for Japan to provide the most effective assistance for Afghanistan’s rehabilitation and rebuilding, so as to make effective use of Japanese people’s tax money. For your information the Afghan president, President Hamid Karzai, will be having a summit meeting with Prime Minister Kan this afternoon or this evening, and after the meeting I presume there will be a joint press occasion and there will be a statement and some information that will be available on that occasion.

As I already referred to in the telephone conversation between Prime Minister Kan and Prime Minister Harper, the G8 and G20 Summit Meetings. There is no formal announcement yet for the participants from the Japanese side. As soon as there is a decision made there will be an announcement of the participants to the G8 and G20 Summits, but you can presume who will be participating because these are summit meetings. Apart from that, I don’t have any new announcement of VIP Visits. Now I would like to invite your questions.

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Questions concerning the proposal of a "bank tax" by France and Germany

Q: Regarding the G8 and G20 Summits, France and Germany proposed a bank tax so that banks should be made responsible for the financial crisis, so the bank tax is an issue for Germany. I don’t know what the official Japanese policy is regarding such an idea. Do you know?

Mr. Sobashima: Certainly the government is considering the various proposals and various ideas. However, at this point I am not able to respond to your question. In any event, if that particular issue is discussed in Canada of course the result should be forthcoming. On that occasion somebody, perhaps the Prime Minister himself or somebody accompanying the Prime Minister, may be in a better position to respond to such kind of question. I am sorry I am not able to respond precisely to your question now.

Q: Regarding the last G20 meeting, Japan was careful toward this idea or approach of the bank tax. Can you explain why?

Mr. Sobashima: If we are cautious or careful, it is because we feel it is important to consider it carefully or cautiously. So in essence I am not in a position to give you further detail. But in any event if the issue is discussed and then there is some collective agreement on the particular issue during the G8 or G20 Summit, there should be some announcement. And of course, if Japan comes to a decision of something, whether it is the tax or some other financial or fiscal measures, then we will announce it. In any event perhaps during or at the end of the summit the Japanese side may be in a better position to express our position.

Question concerning discussion of the sinking of the Cheonan at the UN Security Council

Q: May I switch topic? The UN Security Council is discussing officially at the moment the sinking of the Cheonan. The Japanese Government said that they support the South Korean government in this case. Did the Japanese Government say what they are looking for, whether a resolution at the UN Security Council or a presidential statement? Is there any such idea by the Japanese side?

Mr. Sobashima: To answer your question I have to make a couple of points. First, the Japanese Government intends to support the Republic of Korea regarding this issue of the sinking of the Cheonan. And we will communicate well on this issue with the Republic of Korea and the United States. We made these clear. And yes, there is a process started by the Republic of Korea in the UN Security Council. Under the circumstances, as I stated, we will support the Republic of Korea, and because this process is now started, we are communicating well with the Republic of Korea and the United States of America. We are doing this. Because the process in the UN Security Council is now underway, at this moment we do not have any further comment than these, that we will support the Republic of Korea, and we will continue to now communicate well with the Republic of Korea and the United States among other parties concerned. These are all I can explain to you at this stage. But of course if there is some sort of a result there may be some other comments we may be able to make, but at this moment these are all that I have.

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Question concerning the Visit to Japan by Mr. Kurt M. Campbell, U.S. Assistant Secretary for State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs

Q: Mr. Campbell is here at the moment. Will there be a press conference or something like that about the results from this meeting?

Mr. Sobashima: Yes, he is expected, today and tomorrow, but for the press conference I don’t know. When the program is over perhaps some sort of announcement will be forthcoming, either a press release or something, to inform you of the result, but at this moment we don’t have an intention to make an announcement about his schedule or current situation. After his program is over perhaps we may make some announcement.

If there are no further questions, thank you very much for coming.

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