Press Conference by the Press Secretary 16 October, 1998

1. The 16-18 October Visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura to the Russian Federation
2. Announcement of resumption of Foreign Secretary-level talks between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
3. The extension of the cease-fire in the civil war in the Republic of the Sudan
4. Resumption of talks between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan
5. Upcoming visit of President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China
6. The possibility of a G8 Meeting in November
7. The current session of the Parliament of the Japanese Government
8. Involvement of Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir in the upcoming Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) meeting
9. Japan's relations with Asian neighbors

1. The 16-18 October Visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura to the Russian Federation

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I have a few announcements to make. Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura is visiting Moscow. He will be leaving in another few hours' time and he will be coming back on Sunday. In the course of his stay, he will be meeting Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of the Russian Federation. With Foreign Minister Ivanov, he will be conducting this co-chairman's meeting of the Japan-Russia Joint Committee on the conclusion of a peace treaty. He will also have this regular consultation between the Foreign Ministers of the two governments. And he will be making a courtesy call on Prime Minister Evgenii Primakov of the Russian Federation. He will also have an opportunity to have a co-chairman's meeting of the Japan-Russian Federation Inter-Governmental Committee on Trade and Economic Affairs. The Russian co-chairman will be First Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Maslyukov who has been appointed as co-chairman of the Russian part of this Joint Committee. There are several points about this visit. Firstly, that this is a part of the continuing dialogue which has been taking place between the two Governments. In fact, if you look at the Foreign Ministerial-level consultations over the past three years, there have been two Foreign Ministerial consultations a year, over the past three years. This happens to be the second one this year.

   Secondly, this visit is taking place as we are preparing for the official visit by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to the Russian Federation in November. Hence, this visit is partly designed to prepare the ground for the Prime Ministerial visit, and let us say, to sort of draw the road map for that visit.

   Thirdly, we on our side, feel it important that, on the occasion of the Foreign Minister's visit, we stress the following points to the Russian side. Firstly, that there is no change in our basic policy vis-a-vis the Russian Federation, which is to try to develop further our relations in all areas, including the peace treaty negotiation. Secondly, it is our intention to continue to support Russia's reform efforts in the strong expectation that the Government of the Russian Federation will continue its reform efforts both in the political and economic fields as they face the rather challenging political and economic situation. Those are the points that I wanted to mention with respect to Minister for Foreign Affairs Koumura's visit to the Russian Federation.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
2. Announcement of resumption of Foreign Secretary-level talks between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Secondly, about the announced resumption of Foreign Secretary-level talks between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. We welcome that these talks were resumed on 15 October in Islamabad. Those Foreign Secretary-level talks are being held for the first time since May, when India and Pakistan conducted nuclear tests. We hope that the talks will solidify the process of dialogue which is aimed at achieving detente between the two countries and promoting mutual understanding and improving their bilateral relationship and we do hope that further progress will be seen.

   Related Information (Response of the Government of Japan to the Nuclear Tests Conducted by India and Pakistan)
   
3. The extension of the cease-fire in the civil war in the Republic of the Sudan

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My next announcement concerns the fact that the parties concerned in the civil war in the Republic of the Sudan, including the Government of the Sudan, have agreed to extend the cease-fire in the southern part of the Sudan which was to have expired on 15 October and we do welcome this extension of the cease-fire. We also highly commend the role played by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Partners Forum (IPF) -- there is a surfeit of acronyms, I note -- in the cease-fire process. Now, I am sure you have seen the harrowing scenes of the famine afflicting the Sudan partly as a result of the civil strife there. We have been very much concerned, together with the other members of the international community, that the aid to these most severely afflicted areas in the Sudan -- Bahr el-Ghazal Province -- be transported properly, but the civil strife there has been hampering the transport of such aid material. This cease-fire is designed to facilitate the transport of relief materials to the refugees in the afflicted areas. Now, we strongly hope that the parties concerned in the civil war will build on the results achieved so far by the cease-fire and continue serious efforts to achieve peace. I might also mention that we have been extending humanitarian assistance which directly benefits the refugees and other afflicted people. One recent example of this sort of emergency aid to the Sudan is our emergency aid to that country for flood disaster relief. That country has been suffering from dual problems -- in the northern part there was flooding and in the southern part, it is famine, partly arising from very dry conditions, what you might call drought. Going back a few weeks, last month on 22 September, we extended emergency material aid, that is tents and other items, worth 18.24 million yen to the Sudan, for the purpose of flood relief.

4. Resumption of talks between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan

   Q: You know that the People's Republic of China and Taiwan are resuming their talks for the first time in five years. What does the Japanese Government think about the talks and what kind of expectations do they have regarding these top-level talks.

   Mr. Numata: We do welcome the fact that these non-governmental organizations on both sides have resumed their talks at the very top level, after an interval of five and a half years, as I understand it. It has always been our strong hope that the issues relating to Taiwan be resolved peacefully through talks between the parties directly concerned on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. We also understand that the Taiwanese representative Mr. Koo Chen-Fu is to meet the Chinese leaders, that is, President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China and also, the Deputy Prime Minister, who is the former Foreign Minister, and we do hope that through this visit, the talks between the People's Republic of China and Taiwan will progress further and will contribute to the resolution of the problems that exist. In a way, the visit is still going on. The Beijing part I think is starting today. I think he is going to Beijing this afternoon, so we are watching it with very keen interest.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
5. Upcoming visit of President Jiang Zemin of the People's Republic of China

   Q: On the other hand, we know the Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin will be visiting Japan in a month.

   Mr. Numata: Yes, I will come to that in a moment.

   Q: Actually, the Chinese side was saying that they hope the joint communique will mention the Taiwan issue. In other words, they would like to encourage the Japanese Government to say something, not in support of Taiwanese independence, but in support of Chinese policy. I am wondering if the Japanese Government is preparing to mention Taiwan?

   Mr. Numata: Firstly, about the visit of President Jiang. We are still in the process of coordinating the schedule, with a view to the visit taking place sometime in the latter part of November, but the dates are not fixed yet. We are still intensively coordinating their schedule. With respect to your second question about a possible reference to Taiwan in a possible document of some kind -- that again, is under coordination between us and the Government of the People's Republic of China. There may be a possibility of the thinkings of both sides being embodied in some sort of document or other, but we have not really come to any firm decision on that. With respect to the question of how the Taiwan issue may be addressed on the occasion of President Jiang Zemin's visit, again, nothing is decided at this point yet, including the question of whether or how that might be incorporated in some sort of document. What I would like to stress at this point is that Japan's policy regarding the People's Republic of China and Taiwan has already been embodied in the Joint Communique between Japan and the People's Republic of China on the occasion of the normalization of relations in 1972 and also in the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1978 which basically repeated the basic reference to the Joint Communique of 1972. That policy had been formulated on the basis of the historical background and a number of other factors. And there is no change in that policy and it is on the basis of that unchanged policy that we will be addressing the question of Taiwan on the occasion of the visit of President Jiang.

   Q: Earlier you talked about a joint communique -- first I want to make sure that there will be a joint communique with China --

   Mr. Numata: I have not said that. What I said is that the question of how, and in what sort of form, the question of Taiwan may be addressed is not decided yet. There may be some kind of document, but --

   Q: So there is a possibility --

   Mr. Numata: There is a possibility that there may be some kind of document, but it is not decided yet.

   Q: We have seen reports that say that the Japanese Government actually refused to mention the Taiwan--

   Mr. Numata: Sometimes your colleagues in the media are very good at prescribing the courses of action for us to take, but it is not true to say that we have decided to issue a joint communique. There remains a possibility that it may be the case.

   Q: Could you just elaborate on Japan's basic policy with regard to Taiwan and if there is to be any discussion during Jiang Zemin's visit to Japan?

   Mr. Numata: As I said, we have this consistent policy with respect to Taiwan that has already been reflected in the Joint Communique with the People's Republic of China on the occasion of normalization. And we do not expect change from that position. For your benefit, perhaps I should read to you the relevant paragraphs of the Joint Communique of 1972. Paragraph two of the Joint Communique states, "the Government of Japan recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China." Paragraph three states, "The Government of the People's Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part the territory of the People's Republic of China. The Government of Japan fully understands and respects this stand of the Government of the People's Republic of China and it firmly maintains its stand under Article VIII of the Potsdam Declaration." The last part means that, after the war, we gave Taiwan up under the Potsdam Declaration. We were not in a position to say where it belongs, so that is just as a historical reminder.

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6. The possibility of a G8 Meeting in November

   Q: I have a few questions. Two questions would be -- there are some reports from London that Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom is considering calling a G8 Summit Meeting at the end of November to discuss the global economy. Has Japan been contacted about the possibility of such a Summit and does Japan feel a Summit on the global economy is needed at this time?　

   Mr. Numata: We are aware of certain reports emerging from London and possibly from elsewhere, that somebody might be contemplating the possibility of such a Summit, but we have not been contacted by the current chair of the G7 or G8, that is, the British Government. Therefore, I think it is a bit premature for us to be commenting further on that.

   Related Information (G7/G8)
   
7. The current session of the Parliament of the Japanese Government

   Q: My second question is -- as Parliament is drawing to a close after a very tumultuous couple of months, how do you feel the image of Japan on the global economic stage stands at this moment?

   Mr. Numata: Well, that is a big question. Let me see how I can take a crack at it. You described the parliamentary session as being tumultuous. That may very much be a question or judgment, obviously, which really is in the eyes of the beholder. It depends on how you look at it. The way I tend to see it is that it may have been tumultuous or it may have given the impression of being tumultuous, but in other words, it has been a very productive parliamentary session in the sense that there was this political process in which the Government party and the opposition parties really sat down together to hammer out a set of policies in the form of legislation with respect to financial revitalization, with respect to failed banks, as well as with respect to building a sounder financial system in the sense of formulating a legislation on the question of weak, but still viable banks. That process, I think, has been a novel one in the sense that it was not the case of the Government party just ramming its idea through, but there was in fact, a very productive, and what turned out to be a constructive, sort of negotiation which actually resulted in important pieces of legislation. That, I think also shows that the sense of urgency about tackling this very tough set of problems before us has in fact permeated the body politic of our country, that it has indeed been shared, not only by the Government and the Government party, but also by the opposition parties. So, my hope is that the people who are watching this in the outside world, would duly recognize the value of this process for what it is

8. Involvement of Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir in the upcoming Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) meeting

   Q: My final few are on the involvement of Prime Minister Mahathir in the Africa conference. To summarize my questions, as you know, Prime Minister Mahathir is going to be the keynote speaker at the Japan Government-organized conference on Africa next week. One question would be, was Prime Minister Mahathir invited to be the keynote speaker -- and I stress "keynote speaker" -- at this conference before the start of the reformasi protests that were set off by the arrest of his deputy? Two, why was Prime Minister Mahathir chosen as the keynote speaker for a conference that is organized by Japan and about Africa -- it has raised a couple of eyebrows, I think. Everybody knows that Mr. Mahathir is an expert on many things, but Africa is not one of them. Third would be, given the criticism that has come Prime Minister Mahathir's way since the arrest of Mr. Anwar Ibrahim, has his high-profile role at this conference organized by Japan become something of a diplomatic embarrassment for the Japanese Government, in the sense that you are giving him a podium at this time, when his views are quite controversial in a number of ways? And in the same vein of criticism -- by the United States and the Philippines in particular -- what is the Japanese Government's position on the Anwar issue? And in particular, under what circumstances will Prime Minister Obuchi attend the APEC Summit Meeting in Kuala Lumpur next month, given that the United States' Assistant Secretary of State has made very clear that President Clinton will in no way be making an "official" visit to Malaysia, but simply for the APEC gathering. Again, does Japan find itself in something of an awkward position caught between its support for or backing of -- they are the wrong words -- Prime Minister Mahathir and close allies like the United States and the Philippines on this issue?

   Mr. Numata: Well, that is quite a handful. Let me see if I can dissect into bits and pieces and if I can handle it by morsel and morsel, as it were. Firstly, Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir of Malaysia was invited to be one of the keynote speakers at this Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II) meeting. By that I mean there will first be the opening ceremony and the keynote speech. There will be this opening keynote speech by Prime Minister Obuchi, then there will be speeches by the core organizers and so forth and then when it comes to the plenary meeting, Prime Minister Mahathir will be one of the three people who will be giving the sort of speeches that will set the tone for the deliberations to follow. So he will be one of the three, the other two being President Jerry John Rawlings of the Republic of Ghana and Secretary for International Development Clare Short of the United Kingdom, who will be representing the donor countries.

   The invitation was extended to Prime Minister Mahathir in mid-May, considerably before the start of the reformasi -- that is a Malay word -- reformation protests in Malaysia. Why did we ask Prime Minister Mahathir to speak at this conference? In fact, Prime Minister Mahathir, and Malaysia, has been a very active participant in this whole idea and practice of south-and-south cooperation. That is, as one of the more advanced developing countries helping the less advanced developing countries, for example, some of the developing countries in Asia helping the less developed developing countries in Africa. This kind of sharing of the experience among the developing countries is something which is an important element in the TICAD II exercise.

   In particular, one of the themes that have been taken up in the TICAD II context is this idea of how the Asian experience in the sense of community-based participatory development and economy can possibly set some -- examples may be too strong a word -- but how these experiences may possibly be emulated by African countries and it is in that context that we have attached considerable importance to this one form of south-and-south cooperation, which is Asia-Africa cooperation. Malaysia has been a very active practitioner of Asia-Africa cooperation. In fact, there has been trilateral cooperation going on between Japan, France and Malaysia with respect to supporting Africa. So, Malaysia has also been, in that context, extending technical cooperation to African countries and Malaysian businesses have actually been contributing to the economies of such countries as Namibia and the Republic of South Africa. It was on the basis of that sort of consideration that we invited Prime Minister Mahathir. So therefore, there is no reason for us to feel embarassment at having extended that invitation. We look forward to Prime Minister Mahathir's participation and his active contribution to the proceedings of the TICAD II conference.

   With respect to what has been happening in Malaysia in terms of its internal politics, we do hope that the political situation in their country will evolve in a stable manner. Their country is now grappling with rather serious economic difficulties and in order for them to tackle their economic difficulties, it is important that there be political stability. So we do hope that there will be political stability there and we will be watching the developments with keen interest.

   Your next question I think had to do, if I remember correctly, with the participation in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Meeting. The APEC Meeting is taking place in Kuala Lumpur and they have officially informed us that this informal -- well, firstly, there will be the Ministerial Meeting on 14 and 15 November and the formal Summit Meeting on 17 and 18. We have been officially notified of these meetings, and so we naturally expect the meeting to take place and in view of the importance that we attach to the APEC process, it would be only natural if Japan participated in the Meeting, and I do expect Prime Minister Obuchi to participate. Have I answered all your questions?

   Related Information (African Development: TICAD and Japanese ODA)
   
9. Japan's relations with Asian neighbors

   Q: Yes. I just have one follow-up. Is there any sort of uneasiness about -- you know, you have a situation where the Phippine's Ambassador has now been recalled twice by the Malaysian Foreign Ministry and that those are the utterances on the internal situation in Malaysia. And you have these statements out of Washington that have thoroughly criticized the action. Is there any concern in Japan about this -- not so much Japan getting caught in the middle -- but while this is going on, that dealing with or tackling the economic problems of Asia could be disrupted in any way?

   Mr. Numata: Well, it continues to be our intention to help our Asian neighbors although we have our own difficulties. We have been extending very sizeable assistance to our neighbors, firstly in the form of some US$43 billion assistance including assistance under the rubric of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Minister of Finance Kiichi Miyazawa recently announced that we are contemplating another very substantial set of measures amounting to about US$30 billion. It is our intention to continue doing that. At the same time, it is important that political stability be maintained in each of the Asian countries and we do have an interest in seeing political stability maintained. The main point is that we are very much interested in seeing our Asian neighbors tide over the economic difficulties and at the same time, keep the political situations stable. It is in that context that we will continue to monitor the developments. Some other countries may choose some other way of expressing their concerns, but it is not necessarily the case that we have to follow exactly the same approach.