Japan-South Africa Leaders' Meeting
January 9, 2001
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On January 9, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori met with President of South Africa Thabo Mbeki at the President's Office. The summit, which consisted of two parts--a small group session lasting about 50 minutes and a plenary lasting about 40 minutes--is summarized below.
1. Africa in General
President Mbeki observed that conflicts, military governments, and a variety of social problems existed in Africa but that in general things were moving in the right direction. He explained his basic policy stance, saying that he would combine forces with other African leaders to devote energy to advancing Africa's self-help reform efforts, continuing to tackle individual problems one by one based on comprehensive thinking. He appealed to Japan for as much support as possible towards such efforts.
Prime Minister Mori responded that the international community should support the self-help efforts of African leaders themselves to reform the continent and that he would pursue a role for Japan in assisting with this task. He said that there was consensus within the international community, that is to say among the United States, Europe, Asia, and international institutions, on the necessity and urgency of actively tackling Africa's problems.
2. Bilateral Relations
President Mbeki welcomed Prime Minister Mori's visit, saying he was even more pleased that former United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata was accompanying Prime Minister Mori. He said that although the South African people were somewhat quiet in their response to Prime Minister Mori's visit because it was festive season, they did understand its importance.
Prime Minister Mori responded by citing three particular reasons why he had chosen to make this visit to Africa: first, that President Mbeki had gone to the trouble of travelling to Japan at the time of the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit; second, that ever since being asked when he would able to come to Africa by President Mbeki at the U.N. Millennium Summit, he had been keen to visit at the earliest opportunity; and third, that former High Commissioner Ogata had often visited his office and spoken of the importance of visiting Africa.
Prime Minister Mori also said that he expected his first-ever visit to Africa at the opening of the twenty-first century to become a new starting point for Japan-Africa relations. He said he was particularly happy to have been able to undertake the first leg of his visit in South Africa, which, having conquered racial conflicts, holds the key to Africa's renewal. Although South Africa is very far from Japan, Prime Minister Mori pointed out that the two leaders had met three times in the past six months and expressed his desire to hold an exchange of views from a wide perspective on such issues as a blueprint for Africa's renewal, international community's support toward the continent, and the future direction of international society.
3. A Visit to Japan by President Mbeki
Prime Minister Mori invited President Mbeki to make an official visit to Japan. President Mbeki thanked Prime Minister Mori for this invitation and said he would begin preparations for such a visit.
4. African Development
President Mbeki expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Mori for having begun his African visit in South Africa, which he considered an honor. He said he wanted to continue to strengthen bilateral relations and discuss ways in which the problems Africa faces can be conquered.
President Mbeki said he, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, and President Abudulaziz Bouteflika of Algeria were preparing the Plan for Africa Development, which he mentioned might be shown to the Japanese side at a later stage. He said he considered Prime Minister Mori's very presence in Africa at this time to be the strongest possible display of Japan's commitment to its partnership with Africa. He thanked Japan again for the cooperation Africa was already receiving through the Tokyo International Conference on African Development process and expressed the desire to continue with this process.
5. Problems in Angola
President Mbeki said that the problems of Angola, could not be solved by means of force, and that negotiations would be the appropriate way to find solutions. Prime Minister Mori responded that President Mbeki's opinion, which is based on his experiences of attaining post-Apartheid racial harmony and conquering racial conflicts, carried considerable weight and that he, too, believed Angola's problems should be solved through negotiation.
6. Human Security
On the subject of human security, one of the core principles of Japan's diplomacy, Prime Minister Mori said that Japan and South Africa shared view that the concept of human security is a comprehensive one which includes freedom from fear and the freedom from want, and that he wanted to seek South Africa's cooperation in relation to the activities of the World Commission on Human Security that begins at the end of January.
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