Press Conference by the Press Secretary 5 March 1996

The position of the Japanese Government regarding recent acts of terrorism in the Middle East
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hiroshi Hashimoto: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. My colleague has distributed a copy of the Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yukihiko Ikeda on the terrorist bomb attacks in Jerusalem and the series of other recent terrorist acts. It was already announced yesterday. I would like to explain to you some background on the Statement. I think the Statement is self-explanatory. In view of the fact that serious terrorist incidents have been occurring recently, the Japanese Government decided yesterday to issue, on the occasion of the terrorist bomb attack on 3 March in Jerusalem, the Foreign Minister's Statement to reaffirm its resolve to fight against terrorism and to demonstrate its efforts for the promotion of international cooperation in addressing the problem of terrorism. I would just like to remind you that at the last Halifax G-7 Summit, the participants of the Summit decided to hold the P-8 Ministerial Meeting on terrorism. It was held on 12 December last year in Ottawa. The Japanese Government sent the Cabinet Minister in charge of the Public Security Committee, and others. This year, from 18-21 February, the working-level international conference on terrorism took place in the Philippines. At the last Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), the Chairman's Statement also touched on this subject. It says the Meeting participants agreed to strengthen cooperation between the two regions to deal with the elicit drug trade, money laundering, terrorism, and other international crimes, including exploitation of illegal immigration, both bilaterally and through existing multilateral initiatives. According to news reports, once again, terrorism has taken place in Israel. We would like to reiterate our resolve to fight against terrorism.

That is the announcement that I wanted to make and I will be delighted to respond to any questions that you might have.

Q: Terrorism anywhere that affects the common people is to be really condemned deeply. But, sometimes, in certain situations, things that appear as terrorism have some background behind them. This Hamas is a man who was killed in Gaza -- the chief whatever he was. So, now, instead of putting Hamas into the dialogue, or bringing peace there, he was killed. So, naturally they will take revenge -- and they took it in the old Jerusalem, the Palestinian Jerusalem. You used the words "in Israel." This is in the occupied territory area that it happened. It's not Israel. I would like you to correct that, please.

A: Thank you very much for saying so, but at the same time I must say that the status of the occupied territory has not been solved yet. Both Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Self Rule Council and Prime Minister Shimon Peres of the State of Israel have officially condemned terrorism and said that they would do their best to fight against terrorism. I think that the peace process is very important over there. We hope that terrorism will not have a fatal effect on the peace process over there.

Q: You said that the occupied territories question has not been solved. That doesn't mean it is Israel. Occupied territory.

A: Occupied territory.

Q: If you would correct your comment to occupied territory, then the other thing is, what is Japan going to do to solve this problem of dialogue between the different parties? The PLO is now one of the peace process group of parties. But, there are other groups like Hamas. Actually, this stone- throwing by children was started by Hamas. These are the people who lived in the occupied territory. So, is there a way that Japan can go with Clinton, because Clinton is taking initiative, to have dialogue with other parties of the Palestinians in the occupied area?

A: Japan's role is rather limited. Japan can probably play a role in a different area, such as in assistance to the economic infrastructure, or educational infrastructure, and other --.

Q: The Golan Heights?

A: The Golan Heights, yes. Whenever we have a chance, we talk to the relevant leaders in the Middle East about the necessity of bringing about peace, and so on. Our role is rather limited. I do not think the Japanese Government can play as big a role as the United States of America is playing.
Issue of trade openness addressed at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Bangkok
Q: During the ASEM Summit, the Prime Minister of Japan said that the European countries should be more open to non-EU countries on trade. As you know, this remark, which the Europeans cited -- they were not very happy with that remark. Could you elaborate a little bit on what the Japanese Government expects of that?

A: I do not recall that any European participant in the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) has officially reacted to the remark.

Q: No, they haven't. Off the record, they were not very happy, since they consider the European market is already more open than the average.

A: What Prime Minister Hashimoto wanted to emphasize was that the APEC is open to the outside world, and that the fruits coming from further endeavors by the APEC countries to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment will be applied to the outside world on a most-favored-nation (MFN) basis. He just wants to emphasize that if the European Union would like to continue to be open to the outside world, then the same sort of measures will be taken in the future. We can continue our discussions in other fora if the European side is interested. We have an established forum for the dialogue, and if the European side would like to elaborate on Prime Minister Hashimoto's comment, I think the Japanese side is ready to respond. Yes, Prime Minister Hashimoto made the comment, but he has not received any response from it.

Q: According to Japan, what should Europe do?

A: I do not have the official document in front of me, but some are concerned that there are several non-tariff barriers in the European Union. We hope that the European Union will reduce that kind of barrier, so that the European Union will also continue to be open to the outside world. If that openness is assured, of course, we will have no complaint about that. We always have to maintain awareness of open regionalism, so as not to be trapped by protectionism -- protectionism is naturally coming back.

Q: But, do you have any specific areas in mind?

A: Not for the moment, no. I do not know whether the Senior Official's Meeting to follow-up the Bangkok ASEM will touch on the subject, but in any case, they will talk about trade facilitation and trade liberalization between the two regions. They may talk on the subject.
Possible missile tests announced by People's Republic of China
Q: China announced today that it will conduct missile tests off Taiwan later this week. Would you give us your comments on this and is the Japanese Government planning to take action against China?

A: What I can tell you about the most recent announcement by the Government of the People's Republic of China on the missile tests is that China announced it would carry out missile tests near Taiwan. We are of the view that it is not desirable for peace and stability in East Asia if tensions over the Strait of Taiwan are heightened. In addition, the traffic on the high seas near the test area may be affected by the tests themselves. So, Japan is closely watching the situation. When Prime Minister Hashimoto met Prime Minister Li Pen of the People's Republic of China in Bangkok, he also raised these questions. He also said there are an increasing number of Japanese who are worried about the situation over there. At the same time, Prime Minister Hashimoto said that the Japanese Government wants to have any problem concerning Taiwan and China solved peacefully, and the two parties over the Strait are requested to act on the basis of this peaceful settlement. Prime Minister Li Pen replied that it is true that some kind of tension is developing on both sides of the Strait, but that their fundamental policy on the peaceful reunification and the "one country, two systems" principle will not change. For the time being, the Japanese Government is closely watching the situation, but if you ask, for example, whether military confrontation is imminent or not, we have not received that kind of information.
Issues regarding Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) membership
Q: As I see, the ASEM is called an Asia-Europe Meeting, but the Asia definition is very limited there. I hear that the Malaysian Prime Minister was on record that India and Pakistan may also be included. Is some ASEM committee or something going to that region to meet those two countries for the next meeting in London?

A: As for the membership issue, at the last ASEM, the participants did not talk about this in a real sense. But, some members, as you rightly pointed out, said that the Republic of India and Islamic Republic of Pakistan should be invited to participate. Some members said that New Zealand and Australia should be invited to participate. This time, they did not discuss this matter. I am sure that in due course, before the next London Meeting, this issue will be discussed among the countries concerned.
Developments concerning the Government's investigation into the blood transfusion issue
Q: About the blood transfusion thing which was on the lax side of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Minister is on record and everything leads to the laxness of the Ministry and one person from there who personally took this matter into his hands and recommended unheated blood be used. Why is it taking such a long time to get the culprits and pay the people? They cannot be paid; they have the disease now and for sure they are going to face death. Why is such laxness allowed?

A: The Ministry of Health and Welfare itself is now under investigation. In any case, Minister for Health and Welfare Naoto Kan officially apologized for the fact that the situation has been unresolved for a long time. It really is a pity that is the case. Since it is related to the lives and destinies of many people, we hope that the Ministry of Health and Welfare will continue to determine the truth.

Q: This doesn't give a satisfactory thing. If you have a person who has stolen something, he's a thief. If you go on discussing in academic ways or theoretical ways, but he's a thief, and the court gives a judgement.

A: I think your comparison is irrelevant. However, I think each Government has this kind of problem. Unfortunately, the Japanese Government is no exception to this. We have to find out the truth. Already, Minister for Health and Welfare Kan has apologized, and the Japanese Government is going to take appropriate measures. At the same time, many things are still under investigation.
Issues regarding the International Labour Organization (ILO) report on the subject of comfort women
Q: This is about the ILO report on the comfort women. I want to know your comment or the Japanese Government Position this.

A: We understand that an expert committee under the International Labour Organization (ILO) stated that this agenda should be formally included in the upcoming ILO conference. However, the ILO itself has not decided whether it should be included in the formal agenda of the upcoming conference. This is one point. The other point is that the Japanese Government has been dealing with this problem and other issues related to repatriations, claims, etc., in accordance with the San Francisco Peace Treaty, the other bilateral peace treaties, and the relevant treaties. On top of that, the Government set up the Asia Fund for Women, and we are now doing our best to let the Fund attain its objective. For the time being, we will explain the principle position of the Japanese Government to the ILO.

Q: So, the Women's Fund -- is that an Asian fund?

A: Yes.

Q: Is it addressed specifically to the victims and relatives, or is it applicable to the general treatment of women? If it is general, could you name a few projects, especially in South Korea and China?

A: The previous Japanese Government, the former Murayama Government, proposed two basic measures for this purpose. One was to carry out projects to study past history, organizing seminars, and so on. This is one type of project, and we can probably add that we would invite scholars to come to Japan to exchange views, and so on. The other one is the establishment of the Asia Fund for Women. This money -- the Fund itself is now doing its best to collect money from various parts of Japan -- is going to be used solely for the comfort women, not for the other victims of the war.

Q: Will the Fund be applicable to Japan? The reason I ask this question is because there were many Japanese comfort women.

A: Yes, there were many Japanese comfort women, but none of them has ever raised the question; none of them has ever made a claim to the Japanese Government. We understand that regarding Koreans and Philippinos, some have made official claims. We have to wait to see how the Chinese women will react. In any case, this fund is principally for those victims during the war. After the fund collects the money, how the money is handed over to the women will be a very delicate and difficult task. But, for the time being, they are in the process of collecting money.

Q: Referring to the Japanese comfort women. I think there were some women who were left behind in southeast Asian countries. I remember meeting one in Malaysia many years ago. She wanted something to be done for her, but she said nobody listens to her. Maybe they don't have the means or other things -- they are not being reached. There is a famous novel in Japanese, "Sandakan" in Malaysia.

A: "Sandakan" -- those women are different from the comfort women during the war.

Q: Whatever. During the war, women were misused.

A: "Sandakan" -- those women went to Asia long before the beginning of the second world war. In any case, after the Korean and other comfort women raised this issue, this issue was widely known in Japan. Up until now, not a single Japanese woman has made a claim to the Japanese Government.

Q: Face saving, maybe? Shame, maybe?

A: I have no comment.

Q: If they are known, then their children would suffer or something?

A: I do not want to intervene in any private matters. Thank you very much.

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