Press Conference by the Press Secretary January 27, 1998

Press conference announcements
1. Establishment of the Committee on Deregulation
  Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sadaaki Numata: It was decided yesterday by the Government of Japan to set up under the Administrative Reform Promotion Headquarters the Committee on Deregulation. One of the main tasks of the Government is to formulate a new Three-Year Plan on promoting deregulation, starting in FY1998. I believe you have the details of this in the press release that was handed out. When this decision was made, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto specifically talked about this to his ministers. I believe you also have the gist of his statement. The main points of the statement by the Prime Minister are, first, that deregulation is a continuing process. In essence, though much has been achieved, more work remains to be done. For that reason, it is necessary to go forward with the work to formulate a new Three-Year Plan on promoting deregulation. With this in mind, this new Committee on Deregulation has been set up. What it will do is to seek the views of a number of specialists on the promotion of deregulation. The Committee itself will consist of experts and well-known personalities from the private sector, for example, Mr. Yoshihiko Miyauchi, President of Orix Corporation, who has been heavily involved in the deregulation exercise of the administrative reform. Members of the Committee also include university professors, business people, a writer and a representative from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation, etc. Prime Minister Hashimoto emphasized to his ministers in his statement that, as we go on with this work, we should earnestly study opinions and requests from domestic and foreign sources. So, one of the things that the Committee will be doing will be to solicit views from those concerned, both at home and abroad. Prime Minister Hashimoto also asked every minister to exert strong leadership in encouraging their respective ministries, with a view to expediting the work of formulating this new Three-Year Plan.
2. Visit to Japan by President Heydor Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan
  Spokesman Numata: President Heydor Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan will be paying an official working visit to Japan from 24-27 February. In the course of his stay, he will make a state call on His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. His Majesty the Emperor will host a luncheon in honor of the President. President Aliyev will also have official talks with Prime Minister Hashimoto, and the Prime Minister will host a dinner in honor of the President. This visit is taking place in the context of the friendly relations between Japan and the Republic of Azerbaijan. On that point, I wish to elaborate just a little more. There are two contexts in which we place importance on the Republic of Azerbaijan. The first is in the context of the Eurasian diplomacy propounded by Prime Minister Hashimoto in his speech at the Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyu-kai) in July of last year. In his speech, Prime Minister Hashimoto expressed our desire to promote our relations with those countries in the Silk Road region, including the countries in Caucasus, in three main directions. The first direction is in the sense of promoting political dialogue for engendering trust and mutual understanding. The second direction is to promote economic cooperation and cooperation in terms of development of resources, in order to achieve prosperity. The third direction to be pursued is cooperation for peace through nuclear non-proliferation, democratization and stabilization. We see this visit by President Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan as one of the important steps in the strengthening of Japan's political dialogue with countries in the Silk Road region. The second context is the geopolitical importance of the Republic of Azerbaijan as one of the key countries in the Caucasus region. We do feel that there is a potential for Japan and the Republic of Azerbaijan to be very friendly, given our respective histories and cultures. The Republic of Azerbaijan is also endowed with oil resources. The promotion of relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan would also be in the long-term national interests of Japan, in the sense of diversifying the sources of our energy supply, and also in the sense of ensuring the stable supply of oil resources. Some of our businesses are already taking part in developing the oil resources in the Republic of Azerbaijan. Therefore, it is in this context that we attach importance to our relations with the Republic of Azerbaijan.
3. Démarche made to Iraq concerning inspections by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM)
  Spokesman Numata: This morning, Director-General Kishichiro Amae of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, who is newly appointed, called in Chargé d'Affaires Muhsin Miro Ali of the Republic of Iraq in Tokyo to make the following Démarche. The Démarche was to convey Japan's concern about the fact that tension is again heightened because of Iraq's responses on the question of the inspection by the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) on the whole question of the destruction and elimination of weapons of mass destruction, and further, to ask the Iraqi Government to cooperate fully with UNSCOM. This demarché was made in light of the discussions that had taken place in the United Nations Security Council. As you know, Chairman Richard Butler of UNSCOM was in Iraq from 19-21 January, following the decision by the Iraqi Government on 12 January not to allow the inspection activities of UNSCOM, presumably on the grounds that the composition of the UNSCOM team was heavily biased in favor of the United States of America and the United Kingdom. Japan, for its part, believes that the precondition for calming the situation and for the sanctions by the United Nations to be lifted would be for the Iraqi Government to cooperate fully with the inspection activities by UNSCOM in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions. With this in mind, we will continue to watch the developments carefully, and we will continue to exert as much diplomatic effort as possible, including our efforts to try to persuade Iraq to abide by the relevant Security Council resolutions.
Japan-Republic of Korea fishing agreement
Q: What is the reaction of Japan if Korean fishing boats continue to enter restricted areas around Japan?

Spokesman Numata: We are watching the situation very carefully. There are several elements in all of this. The Government of the Republic of Korea has announced that the voluntary restraints on the part of the Republic of Korea have been indefinitely suspended. There are some eight fishing vessels, depending on how and when you count them, that are seen in the waters around Hokkaido. I talked about voluntary restraints. Voluntary restraints are voluntary restraints, so they are not legally binding given their nature. When the Korean Government says that it will suspend or stop this voluntary restraint, there is no way we can force the Korean side not to suspend these measures. But at the same time, from the viewpoint of protecting the resources, and from the viewpoint of preserving some sort of order in the fishing operations, it is desirable for these restraints to continue. Those are the main considerations, and it is with these main considerations in mind that we will be watching the situation carefully. As we see developments, we would decide the appropriate course of action to take. In that context, we have been saying to the Korean side that, even after the termination of the existing agreement, the agreement will continue to remain in force for one year. In that period, it will continue to be necessary to give appropriate considerations to the protection and preservation of the resources in the areas concerned. If it is seen to be the case that the possible operations by Korean fishing vessels seem to be affecting the condition of resources, perhaps the need may arise for us to again point out the need to protect the resources in that area.
Japan-Republic of Korea relations
Q: The Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, in an interview with theYomiuri Shimbun, said that maybe the new President of the Republic of Korea may not visit Japan after he takes over next month. What is the reaction of the Japanese Government to that? Have there been any talks concerning the possible visit of the President to Japan?

Spokesman Numata: What is important for us is to maintain the friendly and cooperative relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea. The fisheries issue is an important issue. But at the same time, to preserve the friendly relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea is of utmost importance to us. It is with that consideration in mind that we will be talking with the Government of Korea in order to resolve the fisheries issue. We do hope that the negotiations will be resumed at an early date. Beyond that, I do not think that it would be fruitful for me to try to speculate on the kinds of issues that you have just raised. The important thing for us is to act on the basis of the consideration that the maintenance of our friendship with the Korean Government is of utmost importance.
Visit to Moscow next month by Minister for Foreign Affairs Keizo Obuchi
Q: Could you explain the details of Foreign Minister Obuchi's visit to Moscow next month?

Spokesman Numata: Minister for Foreign Affairs Keizo Obuchi will visit Moscow next month. The dates are yet to be fixed. We are trying to coordinate the dates sometime around the middle of February, assuming we can get the approval from the National Diet. The discussion will be a continuation of what has been discussed in Krasnoyarsk, and also will build on what was discussed by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Minoru Tamba and his counterpart in Moscow last week. You may remember that last week, at the Vice-Ministerial Level Consultation, we agreed to establish a Japan-Russian Federation Joint Committee on the Conclusion of the Peace Treaty, which is to be headed by the two Foreign Ministers. The two Foreign Ministers will be acting as the Co-Chairmen of this Joint Committee. These two Co-Chairmen will have an opportunity to meet when Foreign Minister Obuchi goes to Moscow. They will also likely be discussing the progress and implementation of the Hashimoto-Yeltsin Plan. Considerable details were also discussed last week in Moscow.
Japan-Russian Federation relations
Q: Can we expect a meeting with President Yeltsin?

Spokesman Numata: I think it is a bit early to tell.

Q: Do you regard the results of these Vice-Ministerial Consultations in Moscow as a success? As I understand, the two sides could not agree on who should participate in this newly established meeting.

Spokesman Numata: I think it would be misleading to see it as a sign of disagreement, because what was discussed with respect to the participants of this Committee was that the Japanese side will exercise its own judgement as to who would be the appropriate people to participate. The Russian side, on its part, will exercise its judgement as to who would be the appropriate persons to participate. It is not anticipated that either side would raise objection to whatever judgement that may be exercised by the other side. So, I do not see it as a sign of disagreement.

Q: But there is no agreement between --

Spokesman Numata: I think that is perhaps a case of, if I may say so, too much Cartesian intellectual rigorous scrutiny. I do not see it as a sign of disagreement, because we are saying that we will choose who will be on our side and the Russian side will choose who will be on their side, which may include some of the representatives which have been talked about in the newspapers from some of the regions. It is not anticipated that we will say no to that.

Q: Are there any limits?

Spokesman Numata: I do not believe that we have discussed all of these details. I think the question in your mind is whether it is at all possible for one side to propose that there may be 100 people. I think that each side has common sense in regard to this.
Visit to Japan by the Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China
Q: The Chinese Defense Minister will visit Tokyo at the beginning of next month. Can you give us the topics that will be discussed at this meeting?

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sadaaki Numata: The Minister of National Defense for the People's Republic of China is coming in the early part of February for a period of about one week. This visit is at the invitation of the Minister of State for Defense Fumio Kyuma of the Defense Agency. The Chinese Minister of National Defense is expected to have talks with Director-General Kyuma, and also to visit Japan Self Defense Forces installations. This, in fact, is the first official visit by a Chinese Defense Minister at the invitation of the Japanese Minister of State for Defense. In fact, there was one visit previously by a Chinese Defense Minister back in 1984, but that was on his way back from the United States; it was not an official visit. You may also remember that, in 1987, the then-Japanese Minister of State for Defense Kurihara paid an official visit to China. The two Ministers will discuss matters of mutual interest.
Visit to Japan by President Heydor Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan
Q: Concerning the visit to Tokyo by President Aliyev of the Republic of Azerbaijan, is it expected that any documents will be signed in the economic or political spheres?

Spokesman Numata: At this point, I have not heard of any specific plans to sign documents.
Japan-Russian Federation fishing agreement
Q: When can we expect the signing of the new agreement between Japan and Russia in regard to fishing operations in the waters near the Southern Kuril Islands? Who will sign from the Japanese side?

Spokesman Numata: We are talking about the need to enable fishing operations to start in February. That does not give us too much time, but the domestic procedures have to be followed on both sides. Both sides are working very hard to sign this agreement as soon as possible. But, I am not aware at this point of the specific timing. In regard to who is signing, this is not decided yet.

Q: There were reports that the signing will be next week.

Spokesman Numata: I am not aware of the specific timing. However, there are parameters which make it obviously desireable for the agreement to be signed as soon as possible.

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