Top > Announcement > Press Conference by the Press Secretary of MOFA > 27 October 2011

Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 27 October 2011

  1. Visit of His Imperial Highness Crown Prince and Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to Saudi Arabia
  2. Emergency Assistance to the Republic of Turkey in response to the Earthquake
  3. Study Tour to Fukushima Prefecture by Foreign Services to Japan
  4. Climate Change: Japan’s Submission on Mitigation
  5. National Constituent Assembly Election in Tunisia
  6. Declaration of Liberation by Libya
  7. Adoption of a Draft Resolution in the First Committee of the United Nations
  8. Visit to Japan by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India
  9. Question concerning a Draft Resolution on the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

  1. Visit of His Imperial Highness Crown Prince and Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to Saudi Arabia

    2. Deputy Press Secretary Naoko Saiki: Good afternoon. Today, I would like to introduce to you several topics.

    Ms. Saiki: On the demise of His Royal Highness Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on October 22, the Government of Japan has decided to request His Imperial Highness Crown Prince and Mr. Yukio Hatoyama, Former Prime Minister, as an Ambassador on Special Mission, to visit Saudi Arabia to offer condolences. In fact, they left Japan yesterday morning and will return to Tokyo today.

  2. Emergency Assistance to the Republic of Turkey in response to the Earthquake

    3. Ms. Saiki: On October 25, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency relief goods worth up to 30 million yen to the Republic of Turkey through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) following the disastrous earthquake. Japan will consider providing further assistance, while remaining in close contact with the Turkish government.

  3. Study Tour to Fukushima Prefecture by Foreign Services to Japan

    4. Ms. Saiki: From October 26 to October 27, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding a Study Tour to Fukushima Prefecture by foreign services to Japan from various countries, in conjunction with Fukushima prefecture.

    The objective of this Study Tour by the foreign services to Japan is to provide opportunities for them to appreciate regional attractions such as cultures and industries. Through this Study Tour, the foreign services to Japan are hoped to become familiar with the current situation with regard to the reconstruction of the disaster-affected areas. Additionally, in order to rediscover the appeal of the prefecture, they are scheduled to visit Aquamarine Fukushima, Hideyo Noguchi Memorial Hall, Tsuruga-jo Castle as well as holding exchanges with local high school students.

  4. Climate Change: Japan’s Submission on Mitigation

    5. Ms. Saiki: On October 25, Japan sent its submission on mitigation to the Secretariat of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change toward the COP17, which will be held in Durban, South Africa, from November 28 to December 9. In this submission, Japan pronounces its ultimate goal of expeditiously adopting a new comprehensive legally-binding document which will establish a fair and effective international framework with participation of all major economies to achieve the reduction of global GHG emissions at least 50% by 2050, recognizing the 2 degrees global goal.

  5. National Constituent Assembly Election in Tunisia

    6. Ms. Saiki: On October 23, an election was held in Tunisia for the National Constituent Assembly (NCA). We welcome this event as the first step in the country’s process of democratization. In order to support Tunisia’s reform and democratization efforts on the occasion of this election, Japan dispatched an election monitoring team headed by Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Kazuyuki Hamada. According to the team’s report, citizens at all the observation points monitored by the team participated enthusiastically in the election, and overall voting activities progressed without any major disorder.

  6. Declaration of Liberation by Libya

    7. Ms. Saiki: Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda issued a statement on the declaration of liberation by Libya, stating that on October 23, the Libyan National Transitional Council (NTC) declared the complete liberation of Libya and the construction of a state governed by the rule of law and we welcome this declaration as an important milestone in working towards Libya’s full-fledged reconstruction and strongly anticipate the early establishment of a cohesive interim government.

    Japan will continue to utilize its expertise and technology, while cooperating with the international community, in order to support the nation-building efforts of Libya. Japan is to begin making full preparations for promptly reopening the Japanese Embassy in Libya.

  7. Adoption of a Draft Resolution in the First Committee of the United Nations

    8. Ms. Saiki: A draft resolution entitled "United Action towards the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons" was adopted in the First Committee of the United Nations by an overwhelming majority early this morning (Japan time). This draft resolution, proposed and initiated by Japan and cosponsored by ninety-eight states, will be put to a vote at the United Nations General Assembly at the beginning of December.

  8. Visit to Japan by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of India

    9. Ms. Saiki: Lastly, I’d like to share with you about upcoming events and visits. In addition to what I’ve already announced, there is one more visit. Namely, the visit to Japan by the Minister of External Affairs of India as a guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from October 28 to October 30.

    I would be happy to take questions. Are there questions or observations?

  9. Question concerning a Draft Resolution on the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

    10. Q: Could you briefly explain what “eliminate” means? Does this mean that Russia and the U.S. agree to eliminate the whole of their nuclear weapons?

    Ms. Saiki: Yes. Indeed, the United States is one of the co-sponsors of this draft resolution, so it supports and commits itself to the idea contained in this draft resolution, entitled “United Action towards the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.”

    But, of course, there are quite a few pre-conditions to eliminate all the nuclear weapons in the world. It cannot happen instantly.

    The operative paragraphs of this draft resolution include the reaffirmation of the importance of all states to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) complying with their obligations under all the articles of the Treaty, the reaffirmation of the unequivocal undertaking by the nuclear weapon states to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals, leading to nuclear disarmament, to which all states party to the Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons are committed under Article 6 of the treaty, and so on and so forth. So the draft resolution, which I just explained, does reaffirm the significance of united action on the paths toward the total elimination of nuclear weapons on the part of state parties to the NPT, and furthermore will encourage the momentum in that direction.

    No more questions? So, this concludes today’s conference. Thanks for coming. See you next week.

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