Press Conference by the Press Secretary 27 October, 1998

1. The 26 October Keynote Address by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura at the Phnom Penh International Forum on Demining and Victim Assistance
2. The 21-24 October meeting in Geneva of the Third Plenary Session of the Four-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula
3. Japan's welcoming of the agreements in the Middle East peace talks
4. The submission by Japan of two draft resolutions regarding arms control and disarmament to the United Nations General Assembly
5. Japan's stand under Article VIII of the Potsdam Declaration regarding Taiwan
6. The 10-13 visit by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to the Russian Federation
7. The possibility of an emergency G7 Meeting being called by the United Kingdom, the current Chair of the G7
8. Status of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of India
9. The 29-30 October Japan-Russian Federation Vice Ministerial-level Consultation
10. Details regarding the upcoming visit of President William Jefferson Clinton of the United States of America to Japan
11. Future visit to Japan by President Askar Akaev of the Kyrgyz Republic

1. The 26 October Keynote Address by State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura at the Phnom Penh International Forum on Demining and Victim Assistance

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: Good afternoon. I have several announcements to make. One is on the Phnom Penh International Forum on Demining and Victim Assistance which is being held from 26-28 October. State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Nobutaka Machimura gave a keynote speech to this conference on 26 October. The gist of his speech has been distributed to you, and I would like to refer briefly to that because it encapsulates the sort of efforts that Japan has been engaged in with respect to this whole question of anti-personnel landmines. The main point is first, that we try to approach this question of anti-personnel landmines, especially the question of helping the countries that have been afflicted by landmines, in a spirit of ownership and partnership -- you may have heard a similar expression with respect to the Second Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II). The idea being that these efforts should proceed through a combination of efforts on the part of the countries affected themselves, being helped by the international community in a spirit of partnership.

   State Secretary Machimura also referred to the efforts that we have been engaged in, in terms of helping the demining efforts as well as support to the victims. You may remember that in December last year, when then-Minister for Foreign Affairs Keizo Obuchi attended the Ottawa Conference, he announced the "Zero Victim Program," under which we are extending about 10 billion yen worth of support for these purposes over a period of five year. The new assistance that has been announced in recent days is the contribution of US$2 million to the United Nations Voluntary Trust Fund and the contribution of US$900,000 to the Cambodia Mine Action Centre (CMAC), which is organizing this particular forum, and the contribution of US$1 million to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) mine-clearance project in the Republic of Mozambique.

   State Secretary Machimura also outlined the comprehensive assistance package by Japan to Cambodia which is now under active study and which consists mainly of helping the capacity-building of Cambodia with respect to this particular area, as well as support to the victims. For details, I will refer you to the summary. This is an illustration that in addition to having become the 45th signatory to the Ottawa Convention, which prohibits the production and use and so forth of anti-personnel landmines, we are actively engaged in the efforts to help those countries that have been afflicted with landmines in terms of assistance to the victims and providing equipment and so forth for demining, and in a number of other areas.

   Related Information (Anti-Personnel Landmines)
   
2. The 21-24 October meeting in Geneva of the Third Plenary Session of the Four-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My second announcement, or rather, comment, is with respect to the Third Plenary Session of the Four-Party Talks on the Korean Peninsula. As you know, this Third Plenary Session that took place from 21-24 October in Geneva resulted in an agreement among the four parties on the establishment of two subcommittees. One subcommittee for the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and another subcommittee on tension reduction there. They also agreed to hold the next plenary meeting, that is the Fourth Plenary Session meeting, from 18-22 January 1999 in Geneva. We welcome this agreement as a positive move towards peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia. At the same time, the actual progress in terms of the establishment of a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and also in terms of the reduction of tensions there largely depends on how North Korea might be responding in the process to ensue -- that is, the next plenary meeting and so forth. In that sense, we strongly hope that North Korea will demonstrate constructive responses to the issues towards the objective of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in East Asia. I might also add that the United States' delegation which took part in these Four-Party Talks was expressing appreciation to the Government of Japan for Japan's decision to resume its cooperation to the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) project, in the sense that that decision on the part of Japan contributed in no small way to the fostering of an environment conducive to the progress of these Four-Party Talks.

   Related Information (Japan-Republic of Korea Relations)
   
3. Japan's welcoming of the agreements in the Middle East peace talks

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My next comment is on another landmark peace talks -- that is, the Middle East peace talks. We have already issued a statement welcoming the outcome of these Peace Talks in Wye River Plantation -- the formal agreement is called the Wye River Memorandum. We welcome the courageous decisions on the part of both Israelis and the Palestinians which have led to the recent agreements on some of the critical issues of the negotiations. We also highly appreciate the devoted and patient efforts made by the United States during the course of these very difficult negotiations and the role played by the United States in performing the very difficult task of mediating between the two parties. We strongly hope that further efforts will be made by the two parties to advance the peace talks, based on the Oslo Accord, to reach agreements on various remaining issues including those concerning the final status of Palestine. We will continue in cooperation with the international community to offer as much support as possible to these efforts by the parties.

   Related Information (Japan-Middle East Relations)
   
4. The submission by Japan of two draft resolutions regarding arms control and disarmament to the United Nations General Assembly

   Press Secretary Sadaaki Numata: My next announcement concerns the two draft resolutions that we are putting forward to the United Nations General Assembly in the area of arms control and disarmament. On Friday, 23 October, we sent in to the United Nations Secretariat a draft resolution on nuclear disarmament with the view to the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons and another resolution on small arms. We will make our maximum efforts to see that these resolutions be adopted with as much support as possible.

   The resolution on the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons follows the resolutions that we have put forward and have successfully gained the support of the General Assembly since 1994. What is notable about this particular resolution as compared to previous resolutions is that it lays out a road map of efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons -- it lays out a set of actions which the international community should follow toward the objective of the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons, which include the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the early conclusion of the negotiations on the so-called "Cut-off Treaty," or the treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, the early entry into force of the Second Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START II), and the early start of the negotiations on START III. It also calls for the commencement of multilateral discussion on possible steps to follow the Cut-off Treaty.

   Now, as we think about the objective of the ultimate elimination of nuclear weapons, there are steps that can be followed. The steps which are immediately in front of us, for example -- the early entry into force of the CTBT; START II exists as an agreement but it has not come into force yet; START III negotiations are yet to start; the Cut-off Treaty negotiation has started in Geneva but there is a need to give impetus to that negotiation. Those are the steps we can see in sight but perhaps we need to look beyond that and it is in that sense that we are calling for the commencement of multilateral discussions on possible steps to follow the Cut-off Treaty as well. These steps, we feel, represent our realistic efforts towards the objective of nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation which can gain a wide support from the international community. We are putting forward these realistic ideas in the belief that it would not be conducive to the steady progress of nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation for the nuclear weapons states and the non-nuclear weapons states simply to engage in a confrontational exchange of hurling their respective positions at each other.

   With respect to the small arms resolution, again, we have been putting forward our resolution successfully since 1995 and it follows that pattern. What is new about this particular draft resolution is that it calls for a decision to convene an international conference on the illicit trade of small arms in all its aspects not later than 2001. It also welcomes the offer by Switzerland to host that conference.

   Related Information (Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation)
   
5. Japan's stand under Article VIII of the Potsdam Declaration regarding Taiwan

   Q: In 1972 Japan signed the Joint Communique with China. Is Japan going to maintain firmly its stand under the Article VIII of the Potsdam Declaration? Does Japan's stand in this regard remain unchanged?

   Mr. Numata: It remains unchanged. I think that suffices, does it not. To elaborate, yes, when we normalized our relations with the People's Republic of China in 1972, we issued the Joint Communique with China, and in paragraph 3 of that Joint Communique, we reaffirmed our stand under Article VIII of the Potsdam Declaration, and although I do not have the text of the Potsdam Declaration with me, as I recall, the gist of it was that we renounce our sovereignty over Taiwan and under the Potsdam Declaration, Japan does not find itself in a position of judging where Taiwan belongs. That may not be a 100 percent correct way of paraphrasing it, but that was the gist and we stated in 1972 that we firmly maintained that stand and we continue to do so.

   Q: Mr. Koo Chen-fu, the Chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, in a recent meeting with China mentioned the Potsdam Declaration and he told the Chinese side that Taiwan was returned to the Government of the Republic of China, not the People's Republic of China, so the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the Republic of China and --

   Mr. Numata: Well, I think I answered that question in my earlier answer because when we accepted the Potsdam Declaration, Japan placed itself in a position of not making judgment with respect to the question of where Taiwan belongs.

   Q: The Potsdam Declaration follows the Cairo Declaration, and the Cairo Declaration has declared Taiwan -- the term was "returned" --

   Mr. Numata: I think I can only repeat what I have been saying. I would not like to put myself in the position of an expert international jurist on the Potsdam Declaration. I would have needed about one day's research had I anticipated that question, and I have not.

   Q: You know that Mr. Koo spoke to the Diet Session of Taiwan yesterday and he said he mentioned the Potsdam Declaration to tell the Chinese side that Taiwan belongs to the ROC but also wants to remind Japan of the existence of the Potsdam Declaration and hopes Japan will not interfere with the issue of the sovereignty of Taiwan during Jiang Zemin's coming visit to Japan. Can I have some comment from you?

   Mr. Numata: I see that as a very eloquent expression of Taiwan's point of view, but my only response to your comment is to repeat what I have been saying. I repeated that about three times already, so I think I should stop here.

   Q: What you are saying is that Japan's stand with regard to the Potsdam Declaration will remain unchanged?

   Mr. Numata: That is what I have been saying, yes.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
6. The 10-13 visit by Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi to the Russian Federation

   Q: The visit by Prime Minister Obuchi to Moscow. Can you tell us anything about the itinerary -- all we know is that he is supposed to go on the 10th. There are rumors swirling around that maybe he will not be able to make the visit because of the health of the Russian leader.

   Mr. Numata: I am not aware of these rumors. There may be some people who may be speculating, but as far as our communications with the Russian Federation side are concerned, his visit starts -- in fact, we are given to understand that there is no change on the part of the Russian Federation side with respect to the planning of this visit. We are aware of the report about President Boris Yeltsin of the Russian Federation's temporary indisposition. We hear that he has been advised by his doctor to take some rest and we do hope that President Yeltsin will recover his health fully so that Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi will be able to have a very productive meeting with him, as planned.

   Q: What are the dates for the visit?

   Mr. Numata: 10-13 November.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
7. The possibility of an emergency G7 Meeting being convened by the United Kingdom, the current Chair of the G7

   Q: We are hearing that there may be an emergency G7 Meeting this year to discuss the global financial crisis. Can you tell us anything about that?

   Mr. Numata: If there is to be an emergency G7 Meeting in the course of this year, it will need to be convened by the current Chair of the G7, that is the United Kingdom. So far, we have not had any concrete approach from the Government of the United Kingdom about the convening of such a conference. I also understand -- I do not have the exact text of his statement with me, but Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom has said something to the effect that if there is to be a G7 Meeting, there will need to be some substance or the prospect of there being considerable substance to it. So, perhaps the British Government is still considering.

   Related Information (G7/G8)
   
8. Status of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Republic of India

   Q: There is a news report today that Japan has decided to end its sanctions against Pakistan but will continue to keep sanctions against India. Could you please confirm the report?

   Mr. Numata: The short answer is that I cannot, because it is not true. It is not true in the sense, firstly, that with respect to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, we are in touch with the Government of Pakistan and in our communications with the Pakistani Government, we have been explaining our position with respect to this whole question of nuclear testing and our assistance to Pakistan, as well as the financing by international financial institutions. In that context, we have been explaining to the Pakistani Government that we attach importance to such factors as the unconditional signing and ratification of the CTBT, the establishment of strict export control regimes on nuclear weapons and missile-related equipment and technology and the need for domestic legislation to that end, and other factors which were laid out in the statement by the G8 Foreign Ministers, which came out, I believe, in June. We will continue to keep in touch with Pakistan. We will continue to see what developments there may be in those areas. However, we have not come to any sort of decision on that. The situation is similar with respect to the Republic of India in terms of the sort of areas to which we attach importance. So, the reports that you cited, I am afraid, fail on two scores.

   Related Information (Response of the Government of Japan to the Nuclear Tests Conducted by India and Pakistan)
   
9. The 29-30 October Japan-Russian Federation Vice Ministerial-level Consultation

   Q: Can you give us some details concerning the upcoming meeting of the two vice ministers of Russia and Japan -- Mr. Tamba and Mr. Karasin?

   Mr. Numata: That meeting -- what we call the Vice Ministerial-level Consultation, which is, at the same time, the sub-committee of the Joint Japan-Russian Federation Committee on the Conclusion of the Peace Treaty -- will be held on 29 and 30 October. It was in fact the Co-Chairman of the Joint Committee, namely Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura and Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov of the Russian Federation, who agreed that the Vice Foreign Ministers should meet. These two Foreign Ministers agreed on that when Foreign Minister Koumura went to Moscow from 16-18 October. I have also mentioned that when the two Foreign Ministers met in Moscow, they reaffirmed the agreement between the leaders of the two countries, namely President Yeltsin and Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, on the Peace Treaty, both in Krasnoyarsk and Kawana. They conducted their talks on the basis of the agreement between the two leaders, that is, firstly, that the both sides will make the maximum effort to conclude the Peace Treaty by the year 2000, and that that negotiation will be based on the Tokyo Declaration. Prime Minister Obuchi is planning to visit the Russian Federation, as I said before, between 10-13 November to meet President Yeltsin. What the two vice ministers are going to do is to prepare the ground further for the visit by Prime Minister Obuchi. I think at this point, that is all I can say.

   Q: It has been reported that the two vice ministers intend to discuss some documents, maybe for a "Moscow Declaration."

   Mr. Numata: The two sides are actively preparing for Prime Minister Obuchi's visit. When these important meetings take place, the people concerned try to think about an appropriate format or way in which the discussions between the two leaders may be embodied. I would not be surprised if indeed such discussions were taking place between the officials of the two Governments. Such discussions may conceivably include trying to encapsulate these points in some sort of a document, but it is too early to say whether or not there would be such a document. Given that Deputy Foreign Minister Tamba and his Russian counterpart, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigorii Karasin, are really at the helm of the preparation for the visit, at the level of the officials, they may be spending some time on that sort of subject.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
10. Details regarding the upcoming visit of President William Jefferson Clinton of the United States of America to Japan

    Q: For planning purposes, about President Clinton's visit -- we are hearing more and more that he is actually going to go to Kansai and spend most of his time and have his discussions there with Prime Minister Obuchi. Can you tell us something about that?

    Mr. Numata: I was very much tempted to say that is news to me, but that might be a bit inappropriate. We are still in the process of planning.

    Q: There is definitely a possibility of it? We need to plan logistically so we can be there.

    Mr. Numata: I think the only way I can respond to that is for me to say that for the purpose of planning, on our part, perhaps we should bear in mind the excruciating difficulty of your traveling to far-off areas, but I should not start enumerating which are the far-off areas.

    Q: We understand that the excruciatingly far-off area such as Hokkaido is being rooted about for Jiang Zemin's visit, for example.

    Mr. Numata: In that case, perhaps no place is excruciatingly distant. No such details have been worked out yet. I should stick to that simple line. Nice try, though.

    Q: No, it is not a try, it is a practical question.

    Related Information (Japan-The United States Relations)
    
11. Future visit to Japan by President Askar Akaev of the Kyrgyz Republic

    Q: Could you give some details concerning the visit to Japan by the President Akaev of Kyrgyzstan?

    Mr. Numata: The meetings are taking place, but I do not have the readouts yet.

    Related Information (Japan-Europe Relations)