Press Conference 12 September 2000

1. Statement on the Palestinian Central Council's Decision to postpone declaring Statehood
2. Announcement on the outcome of the recent Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting
3. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ministerial Meeting
4. Visit to North Africa by Mr. Kiyohiro Araki, Senior State Secretary for Foreign Affairs
5. Second Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention against Anti-Personnel Landmines
6. Questions on the recent Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting
7. Questions pertaining to the recent military espionage case
8. Questions on Mr. Araki's visit to North Africa
9. Question on the timing of a visit to Japan by President Mohammad Khatami of the Islamic Republic of Iran
10. Question on the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise oil output

1. Statement on the Palestinian Central Council's Decision to postpone declaring statehood

   Deputy Press Secretary Chikahito Harada: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I have several announcements, the first of which is the statement by the Press Secretary on the Palestinian Council's decision to postpone declaring statehood, which was issued yesterday. I would like to share that statement with you.

   At the Palestinian Central Council held on 9-10 September, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) decided to continue to commit itself to the peace process, postponing its declaration of statehood. The Government of Japan highly appreciates the decision made by the Palestinian side to persistently continue negotiations at this time when the peace process has started to deal with essential issues since the Camp David Summit held in July.

   The Government of Japan strongly hopes that a peace agreement will be reached as early as possible by the State of Israel and the Palestinian side through negotiations and that the Palestinian's right of self-determination, including their right to establish an independent state, will be peacefully exercised. Japan expresses again its support for such efforts to achieve peace.

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2. Announcement on the outcome of the recent Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting

   Mr. Harada: My second announcement is on the Security Consultative Committee (SCC), the so-called "2+2." Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono and Minister of State for Defense and Director General of the Defense Agency Kazuo Torashima, Secretary of State Madeline Albright and Secretary of Defense William Cohen of the United States of America, convened the Security Consultative Committee in New York on 11 September. The ministers discussed the strategic environment in the Asia-Pacific region and issues related to our bilateral security alliance. I would like to share with you the major elements of the joint statement after the meeting of the Security Consultative Committee.

   The ministers welcomed recent positive developments in the Asia-Pacific region, but at the same time observed that instability and uncertainty persist. Both sides reaffirmed the vital role that the Japan-US Security Alliance plays in persevering the peace and stability of the region. Both sides welcomed the summit meeting between the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in June and expressed their strong hope that this progress will continue and lead to an easing of tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The ministers reaffirmed the vital importance of trilateral coordination among Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea.

   Both sides also reaffirmed their shared view that it is extremely important for the stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region that China plays a positive and constructive role in the region.

   Secretaries Albright and Cohen expressed their appreciation for the new Special Measures Agreement, a key component of Japan's Host Nation Support. I will add a footnote here, after the Security Consultative Committee, Foreign Minister Kono and State Secretary Albright signed the new five-year Special Measures Agreement.

   The four ministers welcomed progress in bilateral planning and the establishment of a Bilateral Coordination Mechanism, which will ensure better coordination between our countries in contingencies. Noting with concern the continued proliferation of ballistic missiles and related technologies, Japan and the United States stress the importance of continuing to make diplomatic efforts to address those issues. Both sides reaffirmed that they would continue cooperative research on defensive technologies.

   With respect to Okinawa, both sides stressed the importance of continued steady progress in implementing the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) Final Report. Japan took up issues regarding the return and relocation of Futenma Air Station in accordance with the Japanese Cabinet decision of December 1999. As stated in the 1996 Japan-US Joint Declaration on Security, Japan and the United States reaffirmed that they will continue to consult closely on defense policies and military postures including the United States force structure in Japan, in response to changes in the international security environment.

   Finally, both sides reviewed environmental issues related to US facilities and areas. Japan and the US agreed to issue a joint statement concerning environmental principles and expressed their commitment to strengthen cooperation to protect the environment under these principles. One other footnote here, this joint statement on environmental principles covers environmental governing standards, information sharing, appropriate access to facilities and areas of the US Armed Forces, response to environmental contamination, and environmental consultation.

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3. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ministerial Meeting

   Mr. Harada: My next announcement is on the statement by Foreign Minister Kono at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Ministerial Meeting in New York on 11 September. I would like to give you the gist of his statement.

   Foreign Minister Kono offered his views on the future direction of UNDP by identifying four areas on which UNDP should focus the activities it develops in the future.

   The first area is the response to global issues. "In particular recognizing the importance of halving the number of the world's poor by 2015, Japan wishes to see UNDP play a more active role in attaining that objective. Japan has contributed to the solution of global issues, from the viewpoint of human security, and wishes to continue to address these issues, in cooperation with UNDP."

   Support for the establishment of good governance is the second area. Japan expects UNDP to "further strengthen its support for capacity building in the area of governance, keeping a balance between policy support projects and projects that directly benefit the poor."

   The promotion of development under difficult conditions resulting from conflict is the third area. Besides extending "assistance in such fields as post-conflict rehabilitation and development, the return and resettlement of refugees, and the removal of landmines," Foreign Minister Kono stressed "that it is also important to promote development from the perspective of conflict prevention." He expects UNDP to make further contributions in this area.

   Support for information and communication technologies is the fourth area. "UNDP has already stated that it will make IT a priority, and Japan firmly supports this decision. The Government of Japan is currently examining modalities for support, including financial assistance in order to promote more effective coordination with UNDP's efforts in the area of information and communication technologies."

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4. Visit to North Africa by Mr. Kiyohiro Araki, Senior State Secretary for Foreign Affairs

   Mr. Harada: Mr. Kiyohiro Araki, Senior State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, will visit Algeria, The Republic of Tunisia and Libya from 15-23 September.

   Mr. Araki will meet with leading figures of each country to exchange views on such matters as bilateral relations and the regional situation. Leading figures of these countries have successively visited Japan recently, thereby strengthening bilateral relations.

   I will give you some detailed plans in each country.

   Senior State Secretary Araki will visit Algeria from 15-17 September. The intention of this visit, which is in response to the visits to Japan by Mr. Youcef Yousfi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Algeria, in May and President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in July, is to build confidence with the new Beneflis cabinet established at the end of last month, and to hold discussions on bilateral relations in the new century. The two sides will also hold political dialogue on matters including the situation in Africa.

   Then Senior State Secretary Araki will visit Tunisia from 17-18 September. High-level political dialogue will be held with Tunisia, which, as a moderate power, is playing an important role for the stability of the North African Region.

   Senior State Secretary Araki will then move to Libya and stay there from 18-21 September. The aim of this visit, which follows that of Mr. Abdulhafid Zlitini, the then Secretary for Economy and Trade of Libya, to Japan in February, is to hold high-level political dialogue to invigorate relations between Japan and Libya, against the background of the suspension of the United Nations Security Council sanctions, which lasted for about seven years, in April last year.

   The present visit will be the first to Tunisia in eight years and the very first to Libya by a ministerial level and vice-ministerial level official of Japan. This visit is expected to further deepen friendly relations with each country and open a new page in Japan's diplomacy with North Africa towards the coming century.

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5. Announcement on the Second Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention against Anti-Personnel Landmines

   Mr. Harada: The Second Meeting of States Parties to the Ottawa Convention against Anti-Personnel Landmines will be held from 11-15 September in Geneva. This is a regular meeting to review the operation of the Treaty in accordance with the provisions of the Ottawa Convention, which came into effect on 1 March 1999. The fist meeting was held last year in Maputo, in the Republic of Mozambique.

   Participants in the meeting will include representatives form more than 100 countries centering on the States Parties, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). From Japan, Mr. Seiichiro Noburu, Ambassador of the Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, will make a general speech on 12 September as the representative of the Government of Japan.

   In order to promote a "Zero Victims Program," which intends to realize a universal and effective ban of anti-personnel landmines and to strengthen assistance for both mine clearance activities and victims of landmines, Japan has been working on the realization of "zero victims" by, for example, contributing approximately 10 billion yen over about five years starting from 1998. The Government of Japan hopes that active discussions among the representatives of governments and NGOs will bring about fruitful results, and will participate in these discussions proactively.

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6. Questions on the recent Security Consultative Committee (SCC) meeting

   Q: Did they also discuss American military operations originating from Japan, because I heard that the American military will intervene in case of emergencies in the area surrounding Japan?

   Mr. Harada: According to the Japan-US Security Agreement there is an article which grants the US Armed Forces the use of facilities and areas in Japan, to maintain peace and security in the Far East. As I already explained to you, at the Security Consultative Committee the ministers welcomed progress in bilateral planning and the establishment of a bilateral coordination mechanism that will ensure better coordination between our countries in contingencies, which might include cases that you touched upon.

   Q: You mentioned a new agreement was signed, does that mean it is a new stage for security relations between Japan and the United States, or an upgrade in these relations?

   Mr. Harada: The new Special Measures Agreement is a sort of extension of an already existing agreement with some changes in the content. The Special Measures Agreement is the key component of Japan's Host Nation Support of US forces in Japan. We believe that the forward deployment of US forces is vital for pursuing peace and stability in the region. The ministers at the SCC meeting stressed the important contribution of Japan's Host Nation Support to the effective operations of US forces in Japan. This new Special Measures Agreement will continue to make an important contribution to the forward deployment of US Armed Forces.

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7. Questions pertaining to the recent military espionage case

   Q: Concerning the "2+2" meetings, did they discuss the issue of the spy case against Russia?

   Mr. Harada: Not to my knowledge.

   Q: There are reports saying that the Japanese suspect gave some information to the Embassy official regarding the operations of American forces outside Japan. Do you have any further information about this issue?

   Mr. Harada: The investigation is still underway, so at this stage I cannot make a comment on the details of that investigation.

   Q: What is the situation now, the environment between Japan and Russia, regarding the positive atmosphere after President Putin's visit followed by negative information with this spy case? What is the current situation?

   Mr. Harada: As you said, we had a meaningful and important visit by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation recently. The leaders agreed on the direction in which both sides should jointly work to move the relationship forward. It is very regrettable that the case happened. However I think it is a bit premature to judge the impact of this case on the overall bilateral relationship, because the investigation is still going on. When the details of the case become clearly apparent, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will assess the case and consider our position.

   Q: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the Russian Embassy to let the attache go voluntarily to the police, but he left Japan. Did you ask the Russian side in Moscow for further cooperation?

   Mr. Harada: At the last press conference I explained the situation at that time. Indeed on 8 September, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conveyed to the Russian Embassy that the Police Agency requested the voluntary appearance of the military attache of the Russian Embassy and asked for cooperation on the Russian side. We also made that request on the morning of 9 September, but as you know the military attache left Japan.

   On 9 September, Mr. Kazuhiko Togo, the Director-General of the European and Oceanic Affairs Bureau, made a demarche to the Russian Ambassador to the following effect. (1) The authorities concerned have been carrying out a careful investigation and discovered that the military attache acted inappropriately as a diplomat, and this is very much regrettable. (2) We regret the military attache left Japan despite the fact that we asked for cooperation in the investigation, and the investigation is still ongoing. (3) We request relevant information concerning the case. (4) We request the Russian side to take appropriate measures to prevent reoccurrences of such a case.

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8. Questions on Mr. Araki's visit to North Africa

   Q: Concerning Mr. Araki's visit, what exactly is he going to negotiate on, in terms of bilateral relations, with each country?

   Mr. Harada: We are still coordinating concrete items for discussion. Consequently, I cannot make a concrete comment on that, but generally speaking, one of the common agenda items will be the promotion of economic and trade relations.

   Q: He is going with a delegation from the private sector?

   Mr. Harada: Mr. Araki will be accompanied by our colleagues but I do not think any businessman will be traveling with him.

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9. Question on the timing of a visit to Japan by President Mohammad Khatami of the Islamic Republic of Iran

   Q: I also heard that the date has been set for the Iranian president to visit Japan, that it will be 31 October?

   Mr. Harada: As you know Japan is interested in promoting and strengthening the bilateral relationship with the Islamic Republic of Iran, both in political and economic areas, and from that point of view we would like to realize the visit to Japan by President Mohammad Khatami of Iran by the end of this year. We are working very hard to fix a concrete date for his visit but coordination with the Iranian side is ongoing. I hope that the concrete date of his visit will be fixed in the not so distant future, but at this stage I cannot confirm that information.

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10. Question on the decision by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to raise oil output

    Q: Do you have any comment on the OPEC decision yesterday to raise the oil output?

    Mr. Harada: We know that the meeting of the Conference of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has agreed to further increase overall production by 800,000 barrels a day, applicable from 1 October. The Government of Japan appreciates that OPEC made the decision taking into account the importance of stabilization of the oil market. The Government of Japan will closely monitor how this decision will effect the oil market in the future and we hope that oil-producing countries will continue to take appropriate measures that will contribute to the stabilization of the oil market and the development of the world economy.

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