Philippines Meetings

Press Conference by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto

	Speaker :	H.E. Ryutaro Hashimoto
	Title :	Prime Minister of Japan
	Date:	25 November 1996
	Time :	18:30 -- 19:00
	Location :	Meeting Room 5, PICC Manila, Republic of the Philippines

On-the-Record Press Conference

25 November 1996

Opening Statement by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto
Focus for the future of APEC and Japan's role
Japan's position on the Information Technology Agreement (ITA)
United States-Japan cooperation regarding issues in Okinawa
Japan-China relations; Japan-U.S. insurance talks
Tariff reductions
Official Development Assistance (ODA) Law of the Republic of the Philippines
APEC membership and the Russian Federation
Japan-United States-People's Republic of China relations
APEC process and trade dispute arbitration

Moderator (Spokesperson for the Prime Minister of Japan Hiroshi Hashimoto): We shall now start the press conference given by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. First, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto will deliver his initial remarks. Thank you very much for coming.

Opening Statement by Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: This is the very first time I have met with foreign journalists since being reappointed as prime minister on 7 November. So, I should like to state that I am wholly determined to do my best to manage the Government properly. Now, having participated in the APEC Meetings, this time, I once again felt very strongly the dynamism here for creating a free, open and vibrant society in the Asia-Pacific, and renewed my perception that this region is now embarking on a new era. So, in this freer and open Asia-Pacific and the world, I should like to create the 21st century together with my friends. Faced with a major watershed on the eve of the 21st century, Japan has to carry through a major transformation and creation of politics and administration, economy and society. Building ourselves on a common foundation with the countries around the world with our eyes trained on the present state of Japan, we should like to build a socioeconomic system that is suitable for the 21st century -- a system that can, together, develop. With that in mind, I shall carry through and I shall grapple with five reforms: administrative reform, economic structural reform, financial system reform, fiscal structural reform, and social security structure reform. At the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting this time, I shared my basic philosophy for this transformation/creation in Japan, and spoke out very actively and made some suggestions. Briefly, my appraisal of the APEC Philippines Meetings this time -- toward the realization of this ideal of building an Asia-Pacific community, we had a very useful meeting this time, building on the vision adopted in Seattle in 1993, the Bogor goals adopted in 1994, and the Osaka Action Agenda adopted in 1995, carrying us forward toward this stage of action. I believe that, at the Ministerial Meeting, very outstanding results quite befitting this first year of action have been achieved. At the Leaders Meetings, we had discussions on four major agenda items: Asia-Pacific community-building; globalization; sustaining the dynamism of the APEC process; and infrastructure development. Amongst the APEC members with a diversity of cultures, we engage in discussions and cooperations on numerous matters in a spirit of openness, as you all know. These themes, adopted this time, indeed, were aimed at making this APEC process more active and vibrant, and with that in mind, I also participated actively in discussions. More specifically, from the vantage point of appealing for the importance of community spirit and deepening that spirit, I advocated strongly the promotion of the removal of information technology tariffs, that is the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), with a view to further developing communications. Also, I suggested to the other members to make use of the Asia-Pacific Infrastructure Center to be established in Kobe. This is, I believe, important to demonstrate to the world the progress that Kobe is making, or the Hanshin area is making, after the devastating earthquake. From the vantage point of responding to globalization, I also stressed the importance of promoting direct investment. In the area of infrastructure, I on the one hand advocated cooperation amongst export credit agencies for the purpose of promoting utilization of private-sector capital for infrastructure development, and at the same time, advocated the establishment of an infrastructure information network, or Infranet, that will promote the utilization of Internet for exchanging information related to infrastructure. For further activating or promoting the APEC process, I also advocated the need to involve the private sector in APEC activity, and also suggested the utilization of earth observation satellites, as well as cooperation for preservation of coral reefs, for the preservation of the Pacific marine environment. I mentioned, for example, that between Japan and the United States, as part of the global agenda, there already is a project to preserve the coral reefs. I also suggested that from now on we should also have to take up cross-border socioeconomic problems, such as illicit trade in narcotics and firearms. I should like to pay my tribute at this time to the outstanding Chairmanship of President Fidel Ramos of the Republic of the Philippines, which led the meeting to a great success, and also my respect to all the other officials of the Host country. Also, ahead of the Leaders Meeting, I had bilateral summits with the Heads of State of the Philippines -- the Host country of APEC -- the Republic of Korea, the United States, and the People's Republic of China. I had already known the leaders of the Philippines, Korea and the United States; this was my first time to meet President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China as leaders of governments. But, all these meetings were quite meaningful and constructive. Very briefly, these are my impressions, having participated in the APEC Meetings this time. Thank you.
Focus for the future of APEC and Japan's role

Moderator: Now, we would like to start the question and answer session.

Q: You have touched upon the results of the APEC Leaders Meeting this time, but based on this Meeting, what else do you think should be most focused on and fortified in the future, and what specific roles should Japan play in that regard?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: Since its inception, this is the eighth year for APEC, and, as I stated earlier, we are entering the stage of full-fledged action. The Philippine Meetings this time, starting with the adoption of the Manila Action Plan for APEC '96 (MAPA '96), I believe numerous concrete results have been produced, and will be hereafter as well. APEC -- enriched with diverse cultures, respecting the differing cultures, and with countries at differing stages of economic development paying due consideration to each other, going forward together -- I believe these characteristics should be respected in order to further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, as well as the promotion of economic and technical cooperation. So these should be taken as the three wheels of a vehicle that will carry us forward into this age of action. Japan certainly should capitalize on its own experiences, and, in this direction, should do its utmost. I know I sound rather abstract, but that is my true feeling. There are certainly questions of multilateral cooperation; and there certainly are areas where Japan should provide bilateral cooperation as well. I am sure that we shall be playing an ever greater role.

Moderator: Next question, please.
Japan's position on the Information Technology Agreement (ITA)

Q: What is Japan's position regarding the Information Technology Agreement (ITA)? Is Japan satisfied with how this issue was dealt with in the Ministerial Meeting?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: As for the ITA, needless to say, we are very happy that a strong message has come out of the Meeting this time, appealing for rounding up this agreement on the ITA by the World Trade Organization's Ministerial Meeting in Singapore. We certainly have been playing a strong role in this respect, playing an active leadership role, and we shall continue to do so, and work on the other members in order to carry us forward on ITA.
United States-Japan cooperation regarding issues in Okinawa

Moderator: Next please.

Q: Regarding the replacement heliport for Futenma in Okinawa, yesterday, during the Japan-U.S. leaders' meeting, you had said that you would like to find a period in the Japan-U.S. consultation, and in the 2+2 consultations in December, will the place for its replacement and its candidate be decided? Or would it just remain merely an agreement upon the direction of how this should be developed?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: Unless the Okinawan people can be truly convinced, I believe any true progress will be very difficult. That has always been my feeling, and that is why I have always paid much consideration to the feelings of all those concerned. If we can come up with a fine conclusion at the 2+2 Meeting in December, and if, as you suggested, coming up with a clear-cut conclusion is the situation -- that is, one that the Okinawan people are ready to accept -- of course, that sort of answer is conceivable. But, whatever the substance may be, I do not think that the talks on that have really boiled down to an extent that the Okinawan people can be completely persuaded by indicating an overall framework, or direction. From the vantage point of how the contents of our discussions can be persuasive to the Okinawan people, I think, will be the angle from which we will have to consider the matter. But, apart from the Futenma question, there are other questions that we have to deal with in order to discharge our responsibility vis-vis the Okinawan people, and we would very much like to count on cooperation by the media people as well. In view of the significance -- the weight -- that the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty carries, we should not put the burden solely on the Okinawan people. And, I sincerely hope that the Japanese people in general feel they are prepared to carry the burden together. Thank you.

Moderator: Next question, please.
Japan-China relations; Japan-U.S. insurance talks

Q: I have two questions. First, I would like to ask you how you were able to use this summit to improve relations with China, and whether it can expect an early lifting of the freeze in grant in aid. And, secondly, I understand that President Clinton urged you to assist in the resolution of the insurance talks debate. As a former prominent trade negotiator yourself, how and when do you see this dispute being resolved?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: Number one, with regard to China, at present we will be celebrating the 25th anniversary since the normalization of relations with China. We would like to make that year a year of major steps forward in our bilateral relations. With that in mind, we are engaged in various talks with the Chinese. The Japan-China Summit Meeting was held, and at least I participated in that meeting with that in mind. I believe that President Jiang Zemin also had a similar feeling. So, we were able to have very constructive talks. You limited your question, I believe, to grant aid. With regard to financial cooperation with China, we are currently engaged in active consideration for the resumption of that aid. In my talks with President Clinton, we also discussed insurance. What about insurance talks? -- that was also your question. Today, most probably, the insurance talks at the undersecretaries level must have already been underway for some time; they are talking in Tokyo. Building on those talks, I am sure there will be higher level talks as well. We would like to conclude these talks as early as possible. But, both of us must come to talk. One side cannot stick to the position that one's position is 100 percent correct and that the other side must give in 100 percent. If both sides stick to that position, there will be no compromise. So, in the interest of resolution of the program, both sides must try to seek out areas where cooperation is possible, and engage in talks with each other. So, from here in Manila, I sent out instructions once again to that effect to the negotiators in Tokyo. I hope that is the stance of the American side as well. In addition, we are addressing, head-on, the reform of the financial system in Japan. We shall carry out the reform of the Japanese national reserve system by the year 2001, so that the Japanese market will become a major center alongside New York and London. Of course, we cannot come up with conclusions in the insurance talks that would be counter to that objective.

Moderator: Any more questions? Please.
Tariff reductions

Q: Many of us are very perplexed as to how to interpret the reference in the Communique to a WTO agreement on the ITA that would substantially eliminate tariffs by the year 2000. We have just been told by a spokesman for Ms. Charlene Barshefsky, the U.S. Trade Representative, that "substantial elimination," in trade language, means zero tariffs. Could you please tell us, do you agree with that interpretation and do you think it is fair, from what you have heard from other leaders present at today's meeting?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: I am not in a position to liberally speak or judge whether what United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said was correct or not. Nevertheless, at our informal Leaders Meeting today, we never had any discussions on this from the vantage point that you suggested. I was not in a position to engage in discussions from that vantage point.

Moderator: Next please.
Official Development Assistance (ODA) Law of the Republic of the Philippines

Q: Can you tell us what President Ramos told you regarding the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Law. Did he assure you that there will be amendments of that law, so that some reservations of the Japanese will be accommodated?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: I did not hear any specific explanation regarding the contents of that law. But, the Philippines is one of the priority countries for Japan's official development assistance. And, in order to continue to actively support social development in the Philippines, I expressed to President Ramos our intention to provide the 21st yen loans. I do not think there is need for me to go into any further details. President Ramos and the other members of the Government of the Philippines have made great efforts to address the problem of the ODA Law, and we confirmed that there were no problems in connection with the ODA Law, and that is why we decided to provide the new yen loan. For effective utilization of ODA, or yen loans, we would like to engage in active consultations with the Government of the Philippines.

Moderator: The person in the very back, please.
APEC membership and the Russian Federation

Q: Sir, today in the meeting, your spokesman at the press conference said that Japan was ready to support immediate membership of Viet Nam and Peru in APEC, and not Russia. What reservations does the Japanese Government have against Russian membership?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: Someone who met the press on my behalf, I do not know who. At the APEC informal leaders level, what was discussed was the lifting of the moratorium, and whether new members should be accepted, and what rules should be applied if new members are to be accepted. You referred to two specific names. With regard to the Republic of Peru and the Republic of Viet Nam, we certainly would like to open up the road toward membership, if we can do so. As for the Russian Federation -- in fact, I just met Minister of Foreign Affairs Evgenii Primakov of the Russian Federation the other day. At least in my meeting with him, Foreign Minister Primakov did not bring up the subject of the Russian desire to participate in APEC. But, we certainly have been aware that Russia has been interested in the matters of the Asia-Pacific. And, the year before last, I chaired an APEC Ministerial Meeting on small and medium enterprises, and I recall that Russia indicated its desires to participate. Now, if we are to further expand the membership of APEC, then what should the conditions and qualifications be that are satisfied before new members can come in? The Ministerial Meeting of APEC came up with its conclusions just the other day, and the agreement at the leaders level has not really drawn any line beyond which new members can be accepted, and short of which new members will not be accepted. So, once these ground rules are established, I am sure that the possibility of Russia coming in will be considered. But, we are not at a time, as yet, where we can comment on specific country names.

Moderator: Next please.
Japan-United States-People's Republic of China relations

Q: In the series of conferences here, it has been reported that there have been improvements in the Japan-U.S./U.S.-China relationship, but when it comes to new developments, the relationship with China's improvement will be very important for the Asia-Pacific region. So, regarding extending grants, or yen-loan resumptions for China, do you take into consideration the state of democratization in China?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: China has a political regime that is different from ours. This you know, so I do not need to explain it to you. But, with that in mind, we have been supporting the open-door and reform policies of China. And, we have also believed that incorporating China into the international community will be very important for the purpose of further building up the Asia-Pacific community, and also for the world as a whole. That is why we believe that China should accede to the WTO early on. That is in the interest of China itself, but is necessary for the stability of the international economy. That I have been saying for some time. I do not know what the point of your question really was, but this time, while China and the United States both respectively admitted to their differences, they moved toward greater rapprochement. When I visited California in February, I suggested to President Clinton that they should try to work out better relations with China. And, I am happy that they are moving in that direction. We should recognize the differences and the similarities, and in so doing, we should be able to move toward a more constructive relationship. Of course, it is from that vantage point that we shall be working on the grant aid question as well.

Moderator: There is a time limit, so the next question will be the last one, please. The gentleman on the left.
APEC process and trade dispute arbitration

Q: Dispute mediation did not figure in the Leaders Declaration. What is your view on APEC as a dispute mediation forum for disputes that are allocated to the WTO?

Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of Japan: You see APEC as a dispute arbitration mechanism? Amongst us, needless to say -- amongst these countries and members, with our different views, and sometimes we confront each other -- I had not thought that APEC had the mechanism for being a dispute mediator or arbitrator. But, having said that, it is necessary for a third party to try and mediate differences between two parties, and that has been done in the past as well. Now, all of us have different economic circumstances, different histories; we are in different stages of development, and in different social situations as well. But, we are also a fraternity, and I do not think we have an awkward situation that would need dispute arbitration. We cooperate in APEC, recognizing our differences, and work out disputes wherever that is possible. I believe that is the process for us. I do not think there is a need for us to establish an APEC dispute settlement mechanism and provide a secretariat for that purpose. At least, I ttlement mechanism and provide of perception.

Moderator: Unfortunately, our time is up. We will have to conclude our press conference by Prime Minister Hashimoto. Thank you very much.

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