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Japan-United States Joint Press Remarks
by Prime Minister Hashimoto and Vice-President Al Gore

March 24, 1997

1. Japan-U.S. bilateral issues

   Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto: We have enjoyed a very substantial and good discussion right after we fed the carp in the pond together. We have also enjoyed the luncheon as well. In our discussion today, I was able to get the conviction that we can further expand our broad cooperative relationship with the second Clinton Administration. The first item of discussion was the bilateral relationship, especially on the Japan-U.S. Security Arrangements, which is the foundation of the broad cooperative relationship between our two countries. We agreed that it is very important to further accelerate our cooperation based on the Joint Declaration on Security issued last year, 1996. In this context, we reaffirmed the importance of continued serious efforts to deal with the issue concerning the bases in Okinawa as one of the priority issues for the two countries while paying close attention to the feelings of the people of Okinawa. The second item concerns the Asia-Pacific re! gion. The Japan-U.S. alliance provides the foundation for the stability and prosperity for the whole region. Vice-President Al Gore of the United States of America is scheduled to visit the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea after visiting Japan, and we were able to exchange our views on the main issues concerning this region and we are very pleased that we were able to confirm the very close coordination between our two countries. The third item is the bilateral cooperation for a better global society starting with the Common Agenda. This is an area that Vice-President Gore has been particularly stressing and he has also been engaging himself in an earnest effort for this issue. We have been cooperating together since 1993 on a variety of global issues and we have achieved remarkable results in our cooperation. Today, in our discussion, we agreed that we have to cooperate together in order to tackle such areas of common agenda for the two countries ! and also for mankind in the 21st century, for the environment, research and prediction of global events and changes, childrens' health, and also oil-spill response cooperation. I especially offered our cooperation to the Global Program; which has been proposed by Vice-President Gore and which has achieved remarkable results all over the world to stress the importance of the preservation of the environment, and also show our strong interest in the education of the preservation of the environment. I will have Vice-President Gore make a statement after mine and I am very pleased to announce that we share the common recognition that we have to fulfill our responsibilities for the global society and international community while joining our forces together between myself, President William Clinton of the United States of America, and Vice-President Gore.

2. U.S.-Japan bilateral issues

   Vice-President Al Gore: Thank you Prime Minister. We have had a wonderful discussion over lunch and we apologize for keeping you waiting but we had so many topics to discuss and we were making such good progress on all of them that we needed to continue the discussion. But, I would like to thank the Prime Minister for his wonderful hospitality, my wife and I are very pleased to be back here in Japan. It is a wonderful visit and I wish again to express my thanks for your efforts in making it a success Prime Minister. We were deeply honored today for the hospitality shown to us by Their Imperial Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan and we would like to express our deep gratitude. As I have said when I arrived here, the United States has no more an important partner and ally as Japan. For nearly two generations, our peoples have forged a friendship that is as durable as any in the history of nations. Now, as we look ahead to a new century and new millennium, our nations have a meaningful chance both to take stock of where we have been these past two decades and to think carefully about where we need to go in order to realize a new era of prosperity and security. I reiterated to the Prime Minister the United States' commitment to Japan's security and regional security. The United States will continue to maintain forward-deployed force levels in East Asia and we also pledge to continue our close bilateral cooperation on security issues including our joint effort to fully implement the decisions reached by the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) which I was pleased to launch here in the fall of 1995 when I attended the meetings in Osaka for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). We also discussed plans of modernizing our plans for defense cooperation. I also expressed appreciation for the partnership we have with Japan in engaging the People's Republic of China and addressing the Korean Peninsula issue, and promoting ! APEC as a forum for economic liberalization and cooperation throughout the region. I also stressed the importance we place in our economic relationship with Japan; by far our largest overseas trading partner. We hope to continue to build on the important progress we have been making together over the last several years in improving access to Japan's markets for American and other foreign firms. We are encouraged by Prime Minister Hashimoto's call to deregulate the Japanese economy which, if implemented, would stimulate economic growth. We also discussed issues such as financial services, telecommunications, transportation, and our desires to work on an open skies agreement. I took the opportunity to deepen and refine our dialogue on critical issues concerning the environment. We have reviewed the important progress we have been able to make on the Common Agenda and discussed further steps on implementation. The Common Agenda is one of the great success stories of the U.S.-Japan global partnership and I believe you will be hearing a lot more about it in the future. We also discussed jointly preparing for negotiations to reduce green-house gas emissions when nations from around the world meet in Kyoto in December of this year, 1997. I previewed the visits I will make to China and the Republic of Korea, and I shared privately with the Prime Minister the results of President Clinton's meeting with President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation in Helsinki, but my key message was also my simplest message, the United States and the Clinton Administration are and will be staunch friends and allies to Japan. Together, we will build a future of enormous possibilities for our citizens and the world. I am honored to stand here in partnership with you Prime Minister, and with you in partnership with the Japanese people. Doomo arigatoo.

3. Okinawa land-lease issue

   Q: My question concerns the land title in Okinawa for the facilities and areas. Prime Minister, you are scheduled to see Governor Ohta tomorrow and this issue will be entering a critical phase from now on. I would like to ask you what the Government's position on this issue is, and in today's discussion with the Vice-President, was this issue mentioned? Were you able to get the understanding on the U.S. side?

   Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto: As far as Vice-President Gore himself stated in his remarks earlier, we are very good partners indeed and the Japan-U.S. relationship is important in the international sense as well. At the foundation of such a wonderful relationship is the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty. As far as we maintain the current fundamental position that we do cherish the security treaty between the two countries, Japan must fulfill its own obligations under the treaty, which is to provide the facilities and areas to the United States on a smooth and stable basis -- that is our own responsibility. The title to the land will expire as far as some of the areas of the bases on 14 May, however, we cannot wake up on the morning of 15 May without title to the land use. The Expropriations Committee in Okinawa has started its official hearing since 21 February, but based on our own experiences from the past, I am fully aware that the schedule is rather tight. However, we! must do our best at this juncture. I will see Governor Masahiko Ohta of Okinawa tomorrow and I intend to have a sincere discussion on this matter as well. This concerns the obligation under the treaty of the Government of Japan so, in its nature, this is not the kind of issue that I have to consult the Vice-President on.

4. Human rights issue in China

   Q: Mr. Vice-President, you will be heading later today to China and my question is, what specific concerns will you be raising with the Chinese leaders regarding human rights and are you planning to meet with any representatives of the human rights community while you are there? Could you also explain?

   Vice-President Al Gore: I will, of course, discuss human rights in my meeting with the leaders of China and, nor will it be a surprise to them to have these matters raised. I have discussed these issues with them in the past and will again on this visit. I will do so in the context of the overall agenda that we will be discussing, but these issues are important to us Americans because of who we are. As for my meetings, there are individuals who have been invited to the reception at the American Embassy and, frankly, I do not know all of the individuals who are on that list. I have no specific separate meeting of the kind that you are asking about.

   Moderator: Due to the restraint of time, I will have to declare the press conference over. Thank you very much.