Press Conference 25 April 2000

1. Details of the Second Japan-South Pacific Forum Summit Meeting (PALM 2000)
2. Announcement on Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono's upcoming visit to Southeast Asia
3. Details of documents submitted by Japan to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference
4. Visit to the Russian Federation by former Prime Minister and Senior Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto
5. Announcement on the New Japan-Mexico 21st Century Committee Meeting
6. Information concerning the upcoming hosting of the South-Eastern Europe High Level Conference
7. Japan-Russian Federation relations in light of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's upcoming visit
8. Follow-up question on the NPT Review Conference

1. Details of the Second Japan-South Pacific Forum Summit Meeting (PALM 2000)

   Press Secretary Ryuichiro Yamazaki: Good afternoon. I have several announcements. First of all, I have some material for you on the Second Japan-South Pacific Forum Summit Meeting, which was held in Miyazaki on Saturday 22 April. It is composed firstly of a keynote speech by Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori; secondly, the Miyazaki Palm Declaration agreed by Japan and the South Pacific Forum leaders; thirdly, the Statement on Environment in the Pacific, again agreed by Japan and the leaders of the South Pacific Forum; and fourthly, the Pacific Common Frontiers Initiative, which we have entitled the Miyazaki Initiative, which lays out Japan's various unilateral measures and policies that we intend to take (N.B. Refer to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs homepage for the above material).

   I will just give you my own impressions of the Miyazaki Pacific Island Summit. First, this was the second initiative led by former Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi as a follow-up to the first similar conference hosted by then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in 1997. This, in other words, was the second meeting of this kind. As it was so successful, it was agreed that we would hold another one in about two or three years' time to make it a regular dialogue between the South Pacific Forum countries and Japan.

   Another aspect of this meeting which attracted a lot of attention in the mass media was that it was the first occasion for a major diplomatic event for Prime Minister Mori. I myself was in the meeting for the whole time, and I can say very confidently that Prime Minister Mori was very skillful and very sincere as the Chair of this meeting. Through his efficient but warm conducting of the matters during the meeting, he gained not only respect but also friendship and warm feeling from the other leaders.

   I will not go into the details of the documents, but they contain very important elements as for Japan's future posture in the South Pacific Forum. We realize that the smaller island countries in the South Pacific are facing the so-called negative effects of globalization, and by listening to them, we -- especially Prime Minister Mori, who will be chairing the G8 Summit in July -- hope that we can carry over some of the points raised during the Summit Meeting last weekend.

   Related Information (The Second Japan-SPF Summit Meeting ("PALM 2000"))
   
2. Announcement on Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono's upcoming visit to Southeast Asia

   Mr. Yamazaki: My second announcement is on the visit of Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono to Southeast Asia during Golden Week. Pending the approval of the Diet, Foreign Minister Kono intends to visit the Republic of Singapore, the Republic of Indonesia and East Timor from 28 April-2 May. While in Singapore and Indonesia, in addition to having talks with his Foreign Minister counterparts, he hopes to have meetings with Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong and President Abdurrahman Wahid, respectively. Also in East Timor, he plans to meet with Chief of Mission Sergio Vieira de Melo of the United Nations Transitional Authority in East Timor (UNTAET) and President Xanana Gusmao of the National Council of Timorese Resistance (CNRT). We place this as an important step in exchanging views with these countries on bilateral, international and regional issues so that we can better prepare for the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit, which is less than three months' away.

   Related Information (Japan-Asia Relations)
   
3. Details of documents submitted by Japan to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference

   Mr. Yamazaki: My third announcement is in relation to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference being held in New York. Yesterday, 24 April, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ichita Yamamoto, who is our head of delegation there, gave a speech on the floor; I believe he was the ninth speaker. A proposal in the form of a working paper was also jointly submitted by Japan and the Commonwealth of Australia.

   We have eight points in the proposal, such as the early entry-into-force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the moratorium of nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosions pending the entry-into-force. Another important proposal was the immediate commencement of negotiations on a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices, on the basis of the report of the Special Coordinator of the Conference on Disarmament in 1995 and the mandate contained therein and their conclusion preferably before 2003, but not later than 2005, and, pending entry-into-force, a moratorium on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons.

   We also called for further efforts by the nuclear-weapon states to reduce their nuclear arsenals unilaterally, as well as the immediate entry-into-force and full implementation of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) II and the early commencement and completion of the negotiations on START III, and continuation of the process beyond START III. I think that we have made our message clear in New York with the eight-point proposal, and we will try our best to get it adopted in the form of a decision by the end of the Conference, which is 19 May.

   Related Information (The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT))
   
4. Visit to the Russian Federation by former Prime Minister and Senior Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto

   Mr. Yamazaki: My fourth announcement concerns the visit by former Prime Minister and Senior Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to the Russian Federation, where he arrived on Friday 21 April. On Saturday 22 April, he visited former President Boris Yeltsin and had a nearly four-hour meeting and lunch with him. Senior Policy Adviser Hashimoto said that he visited former President Yeltsin as an old friend, and also against the background of the fact that Prime Minister Mori will be coming to meet President-elect Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation, and that perhaps what he told former President Yeltsin about Prime Minister Mori's profile could be of some reference to President-elect Putin. Apparently, former President Yeltsin has the opportunity to meet President-elect Putin in the next few days.

   Of course, Senior Policy Adviser Hashimoto was not a sort of emissary to do any groundwork for the upcoming meeting between Prime Minister Mori and President-elect Putin per se. As extremely close and old friends, they had a rather cordial conversation about the things that the two leaders had achieved in the last few years, such as the ongoing results of the Hashimoto-Yeltsin plan with respect to the fostering of human resources, under which 1,300 Russians, as well as 450 Russian youths, have gone to Japan. Former President Yeltsin mentioned the fact that these people who have joined in the program have come back to Russia and are now at the forefront of their nation-building, economy, and other areas of society. They agreed that it was very important to continue this sort of exchange program.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
5. Announcement on the New Japan-Mexico 21st Century Committee Meeting

   Mr. Yamazaki: My next announcement is in relation to the New Japan-Mexico 21st Century Committee Meeting. This was established in 1998 between the two leaders of Japan and the United Mexican States. On our side it is chaired by former Ambassador Matsunaga and on the Mexican side by former Ambassador to Japan Mr. Gonzales. They had their first meeting in July 1999 in Tokyo and subsequently in October 1999 in Mexico City. On 11-12 May this year they will have their final meeting, where they hope to make proposals on the various areas pertaining to the overall cooperation and the promotion of relations between our two countries.

   Related Information (Japan-Mexico Relations)
   
6. Information concerning the upcoming hosting of the South-Eastern Europe High Level Conference

   Mr. Yamazaki: Finally, it was announced earlier in the month that we will host the South-Eastern Europe High Level Conference, which we hope -- schedule pending -- that Foreign Minister Kono will attend. This will be chaired by Representative of the Government of Japan Dr. Arima, who is also the former Japanese Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany.

   There are several keynote speakers, such as the United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy for the Balkans Carl Bildt, Special Coordinator for the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe Bodo Hombach, and President Yasushi Akashi of the Japan Preventive Diplomacy Center. Other participants include Personal Representative of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Chairman for South East Europe Albert Rohan and Deputy Special Representative for Institution-Building of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Kosovo Radio-Television Erie Lehmann and Director Bedrich Moldan of the Central and Eastern Europe Environmental Center.

   We hope that the two-day meeting, which will be held in Tokyo on 15-16 May, will produce very important results for both political stability and for economic development of this very important region. I believe that this is one manifestation of the global nature of Japanese foreign policy. This meeting is not purely inter-governmental. We call it track two, where both government and non-government officials are represented. In this connection, academics or journalists from Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo will also participate as observers, so that we can engage people from the immediate region. We hope the results of this Conference can be fed into the G8 Foreign Ministers' Meeting in July.

   Related Information (Japan-Europe Relations)
   
7. Japan-Russian Federation relations in light of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's upcoming visit

   Q: The visit of Mr. Hashimoto was merely a preparatory visit before the 29 April meeting between Prime Minister Mori and President-elect Putin. Does Japan expect any concrete results from the informal meeting at this time?

   Mr. Yamazaki: First of all, as I said earlier, Senior Policy Adviser Hashimoto's meeting with former President Yeltsin was not in preparation for the actual visit of Prime Minister Mori.

   Next, we look at the coming informal bilateral meeting between the two leaders in the following way. First, they are both quite new, and it is the first time that they will meet face to face, although they did speak briefly over the phone earlier in the month. We look forward to a good working relationship built on a feeling of confidence and trust between the two leaders by spending a certain period of time together in meetings and other functions. At the meeting itself, we believe that with the July Kyushu-Okinawa Summit on the horizon, the two leaders will have a cordial exchange of views as to how to prepare for making the G8 Summit a success. As far as our bilateral relations, on which we also place great importance, are concerned, we hope that we can cover various areas so that the two leaders can really have a productive, in-depth, and informal discussion on how Japan-Russian relations should be in the 21st century. By "in-depth" I do not necessarily mean detailed, but rather taking stock of the overall comprehensive picture of our bilateral relations.

   Although the two leaders are not there to negotiate, I believe that on the issue of how to deal with the peace treaty, they will take into consideration the Tokyo Declaration, the Krasnoyarsk Agreement, and various other agreements that have been accomplished between our countries in the last few years. With the assumption that the negotiations will continue, they will probably exchange views on the importance of concluding the peace treaty from that comprehensive and overall perspective.

   Q: Mr. Putin is perceived as a nationalist. Can Japan deal with him on the territorial issues?

   Mr. Yamazaki: I do not have any comment on that directly. I hear what you are saying, but Prime Minister Mori is about to meet President-elect Putin. He looks forward very much to meeting Mr. Putin in person, and I am very confident that the meeting between the two leaders will be very cordial and productive and will contribute to a very good working relationship of mutual trust and friendship.

   Q: Japan and Russia are supposed to conclude the peace treaty before the new millennium, that is the year 2000. Is it possible and what is the practical schedule?

   Mr. Yamazaki: I do not have any practical schedule to offer you at this time. I can repeat what you just said, that it has been agreed by our two governments to work toward that overall objective.

   Q: There will be the Summit in Okinawa, then the visit of President-elect to Putin. I have heard a rumor that maybe Prime Minister Mori will visit Russia again. So the events are speeding up?

   Mr. Yamazaki: I have no comment to make on any rumors. You have your own sources, but I have not heard that rumor. The relations between our two countries are very important for ourselves and also for the rest of the world. It is very encouraging to have dialogue at the highest level. You are right that dates have been set for the 29 April meeting and the July G8 Summit. We already have two opportunities where the two leaders will have a chance to meet directly. I should also mention the third opportunity, where there is the option of President-elect Putin staying on in Japan after the G8 Summit for a bilateral visit, or perhaps having another opportunity to come to Japan in autumn. So there are already three opportunities.

   Q: On Mr. Putin's visit, you said "three opportunities"?

   Mr. Yamazaki: I said that we have the 29 April meeting coming up, and then President-elect Putin will be here in Japan for the G8 Summit. If you remember, when Special Envoy of the Prime Minister Muneo Suzuki met with President-elect Putin, we were told from the Russian side that there are still two options left with respect to him coming to Japan. One is that he will stay on after the G8 Summit, or he will come later in the year for an independent visit to Japan. That is not yet decided, but it is decided that it will be either of the two. That adds up to three opportunities in the calendar.

   Related Information (Japan-Russia Relations)
   
8. Follow-up question on the NPT Review Conference

   Q: On the NPT, recently at long last the Russian Parliament has ratified START II and the CTBT, which are very important to the whole NPT structure. At the same time, Russia reserved the right to leave the START II agreement if the US goes on with its anti-ballistic missile program. What is your opinion on the situation in this field?

   Mr. Yamazaki: We issued a Foreign Minister's statement welcoming START II and the CTBT. We are very much encouraged by these developments. Because we are not a party to the Anti-ballistic Missile Treaty nor START II, we do not have any direct comment to make to you in this regard as far as Russia's negotiations with the United States are concerned.

   Related Information (The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT))