(* This is a provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only. The original text is in Japanese.)
Press Conference by Minister for Foreign Affairs Seiji Maehara
Date: Sunday, March 6, 2011, 9:40 p.m.
Place: MOFA Press Conference Room
Main topics:
- Opening Remarks
- (1) Report on Resignation as Foreign Minister
- Report on Resignation as Foreign Minister
1. Opening Remarks
(1) Report on Resignation as Foreign Minister
Minister Maehara: Thank you for gathering here at such a late hour. Before going into the main subject, let me announce that the whereabouts of a Japanese national reported missing in the earthquake in New Zealand's South Island became clear for the first time. On March 6, while this is local time in New Zealand, Ms. Yoshiko Hirauchi, who was one of the students studying abroad at King's Education language school, was identified at slightly past 9 p.m. local time, and in the presence of Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Yamahana and Ambassador Mitamura, the New Zealand police gave a briefing to the family members currently staying there. I would like to pray for the victim once again wishing that her soul may rest in peace. To give you the facts, I received a call from Vice-Minister Yamahana around 2 p.m. Japan time, notifying me that an announcement was likely to be made regarding the first confirmation of the identity of a Japanese national (quake victim). According to the law in New Zealand, the announcement would have been made immediately, but we conveyed our intentions to the Government of New Zealand, and with their cooperation and upon confirming the will of the family members, we finally came to make this announcement. In addition, with regard to such matters, Vice-Minister Yamahana has been handling the situation properly, and we would like to continue taking appropriate measures while having him continuously stay in touch with the Foreign Ministry headquarters.
With regard to the issue over political funds in which I had received donations from a foreign national living in Japan, I repeatedly thought over this matter for the last day or two, and as a result, I have decided to resign my position as Foreign Minister. A while ago, I visited Prime Minister Kan at his official residence and conveyed my resolve. He accepted my resignation. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to the people for resigning in less than six months since my inauguration and for causing public distrust over the issue of politics and money despite aiming at clean politics. At the same time, I would like to explain how I came to decide to resign.
The South Korean resident in Japan, a foreign national, who has been pointed out, runs a barbeque restaurant in the neighborhood to near an apartment in Yamashina where my family moved at the time I was a second-year junior high school student. Ever since then, we had a close relationship for a long time both in public and private. Moreover, the person has enthusiastically supported me all this time, not wavering at all ever since the time I aspired to become a politician. However, until this issue came to light, I was completely unaware of the basic fact that I had received donations from this person. Receiving such donations has had no effect at all on my duties as Foreign Minister, and never in my political career have I given favors in return for donations. However, regardless of the amount of money, and even though I was not aware of the facts, I cannot help but seriously take to heart the fact that as a politician serving the post of Foreign Minister, I took donations from a foreign national.
It is not my intention to shake the trust in Japan's diplomacy by causing fear and suspicion in foreign governments or the Japanese people. I also feel responsibility for the failure to sufficiently grasp my political funds, such as the errors in my political funds report. Although I had left the processing of donations to my office staff, it goes without saying that my failure to sufficiently monitor this process means that I did not thoroughly manage my political funds as a politician. I believe that I am personally responsible for the management of these funds. I believed, from the perspective I have just mentioned, that I should draw the line as a politician by tendering my resignation as Minister for Foreign Affairs. I intend to refocus on my stance as a politician, and put my efforts into thoroughly rebuilding it, so that this kind of issue will not occur again. As of this time, investigations have revealed that the donations received from a foreign national, which are the issue at hand, were as follows.
Donations were received from 2005 to 2008, and in 2010 as well. Each donation was for 50,000 yen. No donations were received in 2004, or in 2009. For 2003 and earlier, the storage period of the funds report has expired, so (the status of donations) is unknown. We are also investigating the political funds reports during the storage period to learn whether funds were received from other foreign nationals. Although it would have been easier if names were clearly identifiable as foreigners’, I think that it will take considerable time to grasp an overall picture. However, I intend to have a thorough investigation continue.
Amid this situation, the deliberation by the House of Councilors is at a critical juncture for the fiscal 2011 budget that is currently a tense issue, and I must not allow the issue of my political donations to stagnate the Diet's review. The international situation is also changing at a dizzying pace, and measures for Japan's diplomatic relations and security cannot be postponed for even one day. The G8 Foreign Ministers' meeting is scheduled to be held in France from the 14th of this month, and there is a mountain of issues for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to deal with, including confirming the status of missing Japanese nationals who were victims of the New Zealand earthquake, and the situation in the Middle East, including the situation in Libya. Although I am fully aware that for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to resign at this state will cause trouble in various quarters, conversely, if I were to stay in my job, I believe that it would unavoidably delay progress on domestic and international political issues. In particular, we are in the middle of the economic diplomacy that I have aimed for, and the deepening of the Japan-US alliance, and in a way I am ashamed that I cannot finish these things myself. After much consideration, however, I have concluded that I should draw a line on this matter as soon as possible, and I ask for the understanding of everyone involved. Finally, I would like to again apologize for the great trouble and concern that I have caused to the Japanese people, my colleagues, and my supporters, including the owner of the barbeque restaurant that became the current issue.
2. Report on Resignation as Foreign Minister
Yamao, Asahi Shimbun: What did the Prime Minister say about your intention to resign? Did not he try to dissuade you from resigning?
Minister: He tried to dissuade me very graciously. However, as I said earlier, I told him that a vacuum must not be created in Diet deliberations on the budget and in diplomacy, and he eventually accepted my resignation.
Matsuyama, Jiji Press: Having spoken with the Prime Minister for a long time, I believe that you discussed necessary future actions, among other things. Please tell us whether your successor has been determined, and if so, who it is.
Minister: The decision on who will succeed me as foreign minister is up to the Prime Minister, so I did not talk about that at all. Although we talked for a long time, in the beginning, it was extensively on our response to the first case of identification of a Japanese national in the earthquake in New Zealand.
Noguchi, Nippon Television: As you said you spoke with the Prime Minister and conveyed your intention to resign, specifically what kind of words did you used to express your feelings to the Prime Minister? In addition, please tell us if there is any specific matter that you would definitely want your successor to seriously deal with as foreign minister, even if you do not know who is going to be selected as your successor.
Minister: As I explained to you earlier, I said that I apologize for causing trouble to the people as well as Diet deliberations as a result of my political donations issue. In particular, I said that I have to accept the fact that as foreign minister, I received donations from a foreigner, which is banned by the Act for the Regulation of Political Funds, regardless of whether I was aware of that, and that I did not want this to inflict damage on Japan's national interests or create a vacuum in our diplomacy by arousing suspicion among the Japanese people and foreign governments.
As for my successor, since I served as foreign minister in the Kan administration and the major policy of the Kan administration is economic diplomacy and the deepening of the Japan-US alliance, I would like my successor to work hard on these two major policies. The Prime Minister will choose an appropriate person, so I would like that person to do his or her best.
Takeuchi, Tokyo Shimbun: It is said that with your resignation, the Kan administration will face further difficulties in managing government affairs. How did you evaluate this impact when you made your decision?
Minister: I truly feel sorry that errors in my political funds report has led to this situation and caused trouble to the Kan administration and, in turn, the people. Rather than staying on as foreign minister after causing this problem and creating a vacuum in diplomacy, I judged that taking clear responsibility for this by stepping down as soon as possible would be to the advantage of the Kan administration, as the Kan administration exists not for the sake of itself but for the people.
Nagai, Nihon Keizai Shimbun: Please tell us when you made up your mind in the process of firming up your intention to resign, how you discussed the matter, and what, if any, words left an impression in you mind. Furthermore, I believe that even though it was a clerical oversight, your public image as foreign minister was damaged in a way, so in that sense, please tell us how you plan to engage in political activity in the future toward regaining trust.
Minister: As I explained earlier, I listened to the opinions of various people in making my decision before speaking with the Prime Minister. I received a lot of excellent advice. However, since they were all excellent advice, I cannot say which one was better in particular. Since I have "no one to blame but myself," I believe that it is a matter of course at any rate to ensure that at my personal office such clerical oversight would not occur again, and I intend to work hard on that.
Tanaka, JanJan: It has been pointed out that the truth behind this resignation may be donations from a front company for an organized crime syndicate. You met a certain person named Mr. S 6 or 7 years ago, and this person was arrested 6 years and 10 months ago. In that case, did you introduce this person to Minister Renho and Minister Noda, while knowing that this person had been such kind of person (a member of an organized crime syndicate)?
Minister: As I have explained during Diet interpellations, I was completely unaware of that. This is not the "truth." I have no guilty conscience about what has been said. However, it is a fact that incorrect entries were made, so I would like to apologize to everyone concerned and I plan to straighten up the setup of my office, including this matter.
Inada, NHK: You often said that you were very skeptical of Japanese diplomacy involving too quick changes of Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. This time, you said you made the decision by yourself. My first question is how you determined the balance between those points. During your press conference in Kitakyushu City yesterday, you said that it was very difficult to make judgments on such donations by foreign residents in Japan and that it was also difficult to make judgments in such cases as donations made over the Internet, and therefore, it is necessary to hold debates. Although you are stepping down on your own decision, how do you intend to consider this?
Minister: Continuity is important in diplomacy, and I also think it is extremely important, in the case of Japan, for the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to establish rapports with the leaders of each country, and people at the Foreign-Minister level, and amid this pursue Japan's national interest, and create win-win relationships with other countries. In this sense, it is extremely unfortunate that my own mistake led to this situation, and I think that in a certain sense, I have damaged Japan's national interest. In any case, the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs must serve for a long period, to a certain extent. When I went to the General Assembly of the United Nations in September of last year, I was told, "The Foreign Minister has changed again, just after I'd got to know Mister Okada?" Another Foreign Minister told me that I was Japan's sixth Foreign Minister since he served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. In that sense, my view that we must create stability in politics where the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs are not replaced one after another has not changed at all.
As to your other question, although I think that someone who has himself made a mistake should not speak too cheekily, various investigations could reveal such donations. In that sense, I think that it will be preferable to advance this overall discussion.
Takimoto, Ryukyu Shimpo: With regard to the base issue in Okinawa, and in particular the issue of Futenma, you have continually said that you would continue to ask for the understanding of Okinawa for the policy of carrying out the agreement between Japan and the United States. What are your thoughts, upon resigning, on the fact that this understanding has not progressed during this time? Also, how should the government continue to deal with this, and will your resignation have any impact on it? These are my three questions.
Minister: Since the change of administrations last year, I have served as the Minister of State for Okinawa, and now been serving as Minister of Foreign Affairs. It is my hope that my resignation now will not have a large impact, and I think that the person who succeeds me, the Defense Minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary, as well as of course the Prime Minister, will thoroughly continue with our policies to date. Although this might be cheeky for someone who has resigned to reiterate, I think that it is important to express apologies and gratitude not only with words, but with measures as well. In this sense, I think that this year will be extremely important. This is the year in which the post-Okinawa Promotion Plan will be determined, and we must create something to replace the Special Measures Law on Reversion of Military Facilities (“Guntenho”)I think that the current administration must continue to seriously consider how to promote Okinawa and enable it to achieve autonomous economic growth, without linking this to the bases, and in collaboration with the people of Okinawa, in particular with the major figures in Okinawa, especially Governor Nakaima. I intend to provide solid support as a member of the ruling party.
Mukai, Yomiuri Shimbun: Since your inauguration, I think that you have dealt with difficulties of Japanese foreign affairs. Looking back, what is your overall view of the diplomatic accomplishments during your tenure, and the challenges for Japan's diplomacy looking forward?
Minister: I do not think that it is appropriate for a leaving person to make any comments on what has been done, including the accomplishments. However, it has been about half a year full of occurrences. With the issue of Senkaku in particular, and also with the issue of the Northern Territories, one thing I left through doing my job is this, Japan-US relation is no exception for that matter; before the change of government, Chinese government, U.S. government, and Russian government each had worked basically with the government led by the Liberal Democratic Party, and I think that the change of Japanese governments caused a period of time when those foreign partners feel uncertain of what policy the Democratic Party of Japan government was pursuing on diplomacy, and security, and including human relations. I think that this may have affected the Senkaku issue and the Futenma issue as well. Fortunately, although there were some tensions for a time in our relations with China and the United states at the change of governments, with the issues of the Senkaku Islands and Futenma, I think that a relationship of mutual trust with the United States has been fully reestablished, and that as China has also taken the broad view of a Mutually Beneficial Relationship based on Common Strategic Interests, we have fully fomented an atmosphere of advancing these bilateral relations. Thus, I think that the question left here would be how these principles will be reflected in policy making. Also, although Russia was fairly uncompromising on territorial issues, I think that they are aware that Japan-Russia relations are extremely important. In other words, Russia also believes that Japan's technical capabilities, support for modernization, and cooperation in the international arena are necessary, so in this sense, if we wait for the correct timing to resolve the territorial issue, while cooperating on other issues, and without changing our basic principles on territorial issues, then I think that Japan-Russia relations will also develop as a matter of course. I think that we have come from a situation in which both sides were searching for a way forward at the time of the change of governments, to an atmosphere now in which the Democratic Party government is recognized to be completely capable of supporting relationships of trust, and Japan-US relations. In this sense, I think that it is of great importance that the DPF government should show that a change of governments would make few differences in terms of diplomacy and security with Japan’s national interests prioritized.
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