Press Conference 5 December 2000
- The 8th OSCE Ministerial Council
- Announcement on the 3rd Japan-Korea Security Dialogue
- Announcement on the 9th Meeting on the Legal Status of Korean Nationals Residing in Japan
- The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) Council Meeting
- The 2nd Japan-China Public Security Authorities Consultations
- Questions in relation to the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal
- Question on a visit to Japan by Prime Minister Atal Berhari Vajpayee of the Republic of India
- The position of the Government of Japan with respect to the truce in Kashmir
- Question on the agenda of the KEDO Council Meeting
- Questions on the situation of former President Alberto Fujimori of the Republic of Peru
- The 8th OSCE Ministerial Council
Press Secretary Ryuichiro Yamazaki: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I would like to start today's press conference with five items at the outset.
I would first like to share with you the gist of the statement made by Dr. Tatsuo Arima, the representative of the Government of Japan at the 8th OSCE Ministerial Council, held in Vienna last week on 27 and 28 November. By sharing some of the points from Dr. Arima's text with you, I hope to provide a snapshot of Japan's involvement in Europe and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) affairs.
Dr. Arima began by stating that the situation in the Balkan Peninsula was without doubt the most serious challenge to the stability of Europe over the last decade. However, the recent political developments in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia have opened a new chapter for stability and peace in the region. The Government of Japan welcomes the return of Yugoslavia to the international community and to the OSCE and looks forward to its future participation in the regional cooperation framework.
As for the Japanese contribution to Kosovo, Dr. Arima stated that local elections in Kosovo, for which Japan provided manpower and financial support, had been successfully implemented, but the ultimate goal--the construction of a democratic and multiethnic society--has not yet been reached.
Japan is involved in the activities and management of the Office of the High Representative as a member of the Peace Implementation Council. In 1995 Japan pledged a total of US$500 million for reconstruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Since 1999 we have pledged an additional US$238 million for Kosovo and its neighboring countries, and we have also sent election supervisors and observers, who are attached to several OSCE missions in the former Yugoslavia region.
In Central Asia, as well as Southeastern Europe, Japan has been supporting nation-building efforts with a view to promoting political stability based on democracy and economic growth, founded on a market-orientated economy. We call these efforts our "Silk Road diplomacy," and in this connection Japan will for the first time host jointly with the OSCE the "Conference on Comprehensive Security in Central Asia" in Tokyo this December. Dr. Arima said that he believed the upcoming conference would provide a good opportunity for us to better understand the challenges faced by the Central Asian countries and that it would also open up a new phase for cooperation between Japan and the OSCE.
Dr. Arima concluded his remarks by saying that though he had up until that point focused on Japanese cooperation in matters effecting the OSCE participating states, he wanted to call attention to security issues in Asia. Japan recognizes that it is in its own interests to promote European security, and a corresponding level of concern for stability and security in Asia is expected from our partners in the OSCE. In this connection, Japan values highly the dialogues that have so far been carried out between the OSCE and Japan, as enabling us to share in the fruits of OSCE experiences.
Related Information (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE))
- Announcement on the 3rd Japan-Korea Security Dialogue
Mr. Yamazaki: My second announcement is on the holding of the 3rd Japan-Korea Security Dialogue talks to be held on 7 and 8 December in Seoul in the Republic of Korea. The last Japan-Korea Security Dialogue was held in Tokyo in July last year.
Director-General Kunihiko Makita of the Asian Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and deputy director-general level representatives from the Defense Agency will represent Japan at these talks.
Director-General Choo Kyuho of the Asia-Pacific Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea and Deputy Director-General Chang Gwang-Il of the Policy Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Defense will be representing the Korean side.
Taking into regard the various developments in the situation in the region, the North Korean situation as well as our respective policies toward North Korea will be discussed, together with our respective security and defense policies.
Related Information (Japan-Republic of Korea Relations)
Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
- Announcement on the 9th Meeting on the Legal Status of Korean Nationals Residing in Japan
Mr. Yamazaki: This next announcement relates to the holding of the 9th Meeting on the Legal Status of Korean Nationals Residing in Japan at director-general level. Director-General Kunihiko Makita and Director-General Choo Kyuho will be heading the respective delegations. This is a follow-up to the memorandum signed in 1991 concerning the legal status of Korean nationals residing in Japan.
Related Information (Japan-Republic of Korea Relations)
Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
- The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) Council Meeting
Mr. Yamazaki: The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO) Council Meeting will be held here in Tokyo on 6 December.
The principal representatives attending the meeting will be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Kojiro Takano of Japan, Ambassador Chang Sun-Sup of the Republic of Korea, Ambassador Charles Kartman of the United States of America, Ambassador Jean Pierre Leng of the European Union, as well as Director-General Desaix Anderson of the KEDO Secretariat. Among other issues, the council will discuss how to proceed with light-water reactor projects.
Related Information (The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO))
- The 2nd Japan-China Public Security Authorities Consultations
Mr. Yamazaki: My final announcement today is on the 2nd Japan-China Public Security Authorities Consultations to be held on 6 and 7 December here in Tokyo. The first of these consultations was held a year ago in Beijing in the People's Republic of China.
Deputy Director-General Shigekazu Sato of the Asian Affairs Bureau will head the Japanese delegation at this second consultation. The delegation will also include officials from the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Public Security Investigation Agency, and the Maritime Safety Agency.
Deputy Director-General Liao Zhihong of the Department of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China will head the Chinese delegation, which will also be comprised by officials from the Ministry of Public Security and the General Administration of Customs.
Both sides will exchange information in order to attain a better grasp on the situation concerning illegal entry, drugs, and other organized crime. The delegations will also discuss how they can expand their cooperation so as to make more effective preventive measures as well as enforcement methods.
Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
- Questions in relation to the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal
Q: In the next few days we will have the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japanese military sexual slavery here in Tokyo. Do you have any comments about this upcoming tribunal?
Mr. Yamazaki: I believe this is a private endeavor, and we do not have any direct comments per se on this event.
Q: Will you send any observers to the tribunal?
Mr. Yamazaki: I have to check that, but I believe we are not requested to participate.
Q: I heard that you were invited, but still sending observers is not really participating.
Mr. Yamazaki: Are you sure that we were invited? I will have to check on that.
Q: That is what I heard. What I want to know is if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or someone else will send somebody to observe what is happening there. If yes, I would be interested in knowing what kind of rank this person would hold.
Mr. Yamazaki: I have to check.
Q: Are there any plans that you might protect this venue, the tribunal and its participants? There are some black buses around. As the Chinese embassy is protected, I might guess the same could be happening for the tribunal.
Mr. Yamazaki: Again, I will have to check.
Q: Also in relation to that, because it will be an upcoming story to prevent mistakes, what is the official position of the Japanese Government concerning the comfort women issue?
Mr. Yamazaki: This was a deplorable thing that happened, and the Government of Japan has expressed feelings of remorse on this issue from time to time. There is the Asian Women's Fund, to which we seek private contributions with which we can help those people that have suffered. If you would like a more detailed official view, I can give it to you after this briefing.
Q: But there is no doubt that during this period foreign women were forced into prostitution by the Japanese Government?
Mr. Yamazaki: The Government does not deny the issue of the so-called comfort women. This is a historical fact.
Q: Are there any official numbers by the Japanese Government, how many women?
Mr. Yamazaki: I do not believe there are official numbers. It is very difficult to ascertain.
Q: Last question. Every week there is a small group of these women and their supporters protesting in front of your embassy in Seoul. In the last month, because you probably knew about the upcoming tribunal, did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, your embassy in Seoul, try to get in contact with this group in a way to try and settle the matter or to calm it down?
Mr. Yamazaki: I am not sure what our embassy in Seoul has done in reaction to this approach. As I do not want to mislead you, because I do not have the facts with me, I would like to check that.
Related Information (Women's Issues)
- Question on a visit to Japan by Prime Minister Atal Berhari Vajpayee of the Republic of India
Q: Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee is coming to Japan in February next year. Can you tell us how important is that visit and what kind of talks is he going to have in Tokyo?
Mr. Yamazaki: First of all, we are still coordinating the schedule of that visit to Japan by Prime Minister Atal Berhari Vajpayee of the Republic of India, so I cannot officially confirm when it will take place. However, it is a follow-up to the recent August visit by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to the Republic of India.
The Government looks forward to Prime Minister Vajpayee coming to Japan to followup on the discussions that took place in New Delhi, which of course centered on both bilateral issues as well as the regional and international situation, including issues such as the Comprehensive-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
Q: How would you describe the Japan-India relationship as it is now? And even with Japanese sanctions continuing, would you call it normal?
Mr. Yamazaki: I think as a result of the recent meeting in August between Prime Minister Mori and Prime Minister Vajpayee, the message coming out is that we will deepen our bilateral cooperation into the 21st century. Even as a follow-up to that visit, very recently in November, a very high-level economic delegation led by Chairman Nobuhiko Kawamoto of the Commission on Japan-India Economic Relations was dispatched to India, and President Takashi Imai of Keidanren also participated in that mission. The mission reported that they had a very fruitful exchange of views with their counterparts in business as well as with the government leadership in New Delhi. That is one manifestation of the actual follow-up and substance that we are trying to achieve so that Japan and India can really expand mutual cooperation into the 21st century.
Related Information (Japan-India Relations)
- The position of the Government of Japan with respect to the truce in Kashmir
Q: The Indian Government has declared a truce in Kashmir. Do you have any comment on that?
Mr. Yamazaki: In the broad sense you are quite right: On 19 November Prime Minister Vajpayee announced that during the month of Ramadan there would be a temporary suspension of combat operations against militants in Kashmir. More recently on 2 December the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan announced that it would exert maximum restraint on the part of its military along the line of control (LOC). Consequently, when we look at these announcements and developments, we appraise them as steps in the efforts toward stopping the violence and easing tensions in Kashmir.
As far as the basic position of the Government of Japan is concerned, it is extremely important that the two governments resume dialogue as soon as possible in line with the spirit of the Lahore Declaration. The Government looks forward to further progress in this direction.
Related Information (Japan-India Relations)
Related Information (Japan-Pakistan Relations)
- Question on the agenda of the KEDO Council Meeting
Q: What is on the agenda of the KEDO meeting?
Mr. Yamazaki: The council will discuss light-water reactor projects among other things.
Related Information (The Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO))
- Questions on the situation of former President Alberto Fujimori of the Republic of Peru
Q: I wanted to ask if Mr. Fujimori has come back into view? Have you heard anything from him?
Mr. Yamazaki: As you know, we are presently checking whether former President Alberto Fujimori of the Republic of Peru holds Japanese nationality or not.
Q: How much time will the whole procedure take?
Mr. Yamazaki: I cannot give you any precise estimate, as the process is mainly being undertaken by the Ministry of Justice and I cannot speak on its behalf. When the process is completed, it will be over. That is all I can say.
Q: Do you have any idea about his whereabouts?
Mr. Yamazaki: I believe former President Fujimori has been meeting the press on and off. All I can say is that I believe he is staying with his friends. I think several journalists have access to former President Fujimori. I cannot speak on former President Fujimori's behalf vis-à-vis his whereabouts except to say that we believe that he is staying with some friends.
Q: Again on Mr. Fujimori, Mr. Yamazaki, as you are from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, how really is that process handled? He entered the country with a diplomatic passport, and he had a diplomatic visa. Now suddenly he is not president anymore. Can he still stay until that date which was stamped into that passport which is not eligible to hold right now? Or can he stay until the Ministry of Justice finds out what nationality the former Peruvian president has?
Mr. Yamazaki: You are right about the first point, about former President Fujimori's entry. Actually I explained this a few weeks ago in this very press conference; former President Fujimori has changed his legal status, and he is no longer president, but that does not mean that he overnight loses all legal grounds for legally being in Japan. There is a certain interim period allowed for anyone, to give them some room. And as just previously said, in the meantime we are checking about the nationality.
Q: Lastly with nationalities, there are some countries where you have agreements, for example a lot of European countries, whose citizens can enter Japan for 90 days without a visa. Is Peru one of these countries? Does a citizen of Peru have to apply for a visa, or do they belong to one of these privileged countries such as the United States, Britain, France and Germany, whose citizens just come by plane, present their passport and are allowed to stay here for 90 days?
Mr. Yamazaki: I will have to check that fact for you.
Related Information (Japan-Peru Relations)
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