Press Conference 9 October 2001

1. Diplomatic activities in response to the terrorist attacks in the United States of America
2. Meeting of the Emergency Anti-Terrorism Headquarters
3. Arrival of Self-Defense Forces (SDF) aircraft in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
4. Legislation in connection with the SDF
5. Visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the People's Republic of China
6. Follow-up questions on the visit by Prime Minister Koizumi to China
7. Questions concerning the security situation

1. Diplomatic activities in response to the terrorist attacks in the United States of America

   Press Secretary Norio Hattori: Good afternoon. At the outset, I would like to give you an overview of the diplomatic activities that the Government of Japan has been undertaking, particularly those carried out over the past several days.

   First of all, former Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura, Special Envoy of the Prime Minister, has returned from his visits to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Furthermore, former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, also in the capacity of Special Envoy of the Prime Minister, has visited the Arab Republic of Egypt where he had talks on 8 October with President Hosny Mubarak of Egypt and also with Secretary-General Amre Moussa of the League of Arab States. Also present at former Prime Minister Hashimoto's meeting with Secretary-General Moussa was Chairman Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). In addition, serving as a Special Envoy of the Prime Minister, Mr. Muneo Suzuki, a Member of the House of Representatives, has been to the Republic of Uzbekistan and the Republic of Tajikistan. Mr. Suzuki had separate talks with both Prime Minister Utkur Sultanov of Uzbekistan and President Emomall Rakhmonov of Tajikistan on 8 October. Mr. Suzuki returned to Tokyo today. The contents of the conversations that those Special Envoys engaged in were very satisfactory in light of their missions to those countries.

   Related Information (Japan's Measures in Response to the Terrorist Attacks in the United States)
   
2. Meeting of the Emergency Anti-Terrorism Headquarters

   Mr. Hattori: My second announcement today concerns the Emergency Anti-Terrorism Headquarters that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has established to deal with emergency anti-terrorism at this time. Late last night, the first meeting of the Headquarters was held and some urgent steps were taken in order to deal with the current situation. This meeting was held in light of the military attacks carried out by the United States of America and the United Kingdom. I understand that a document outlining the decisions taken at the meeting has been distributed to you.

   Related Information (Japan's Measures in Response to the Terrorist Attacks in the United States)
   
3. Arrival of Self-Defense Forces (SDF) aircraft in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan

   Mr. Hattori: Moving on, I have received reports that the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) aircraft, the six C-130Hs, have just arrived in Islamabad in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. These six SDF aircraft are carrying emergency assistance materials for the Afghan refugees. After unloading their cargo, those aircraft are supposed to leave Islamabad as soon as possible and return to Japan.

   Related Information (Japan-Pakistan Relations)
   
4. Legislation in connection with the SDF

   Mr. Hattori: My next announcement is on legislation in connection with the SDF, specifically a new bill that was submitted to the Diet a few days ago. This bill is to enable the Self-Defense Forces to be dispatched abroad in order to cope with the situation created by the terrorist attacks in the United States. In light of the recent developments, the Government of Japan hopes that the debate on this bill will be expedited so that the new legislation can be put in place as soon as possible.

5. Visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the People's Republic of China

   Mr. Hattori: Finally, Prime Minister Koizumi made a brief visit to the People's Republic of China, yesterday. Prime Minister Koizumi left very early yesterday morning and returned very late last night and the visit was successful.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
6. Follow-up questions on the visit by Prime Minister Koizumi to China

   Q: Could you tell us a little more about what happened in China? You said it was successful; why was it successful?

   Mr. Hattori: The visit at this time was motivated by the recent situation between Japan and China, in particular the bilateral relationship which has been a little bit stuck, especially after Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Yasukuni Shrine last August. In anticipation of the leaders meeting at the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Shanghai, Prime Minister Koizumi visited China in order to improve relations between Japan and China. Prime Minister Koizumi visited the Marco Polo Bridge and he also paid a visit to a museum that commemorates the Sino-Japanese War. Prime Minister Koizumi had talks with Premier Zhu Rongji as well as with President Jiang Zemin.

   In what was the first meeting between the leaders, President Jiang Zemin told Prime Minister Koizumi that the leaders' meeting in Beijing eased the tension that had existed between Japan and China. This does demonstrate an improvement in the bilateral relationship between our two countries. The leaders also talked about the measures and policies of their respective countries toward the terrorist attacks in the United States. Furthermore, Prime Minister Koizumi explained what we are going to do in terms of asking the Diet for debate and approval of new legislation. In response, President Jiang Zemin said that the explanation given by Prime Minister Koizumi was understandable, but also he did not forget to say that there were concerns among Asian people about the utilization of the Self-Defense Forces. Also, the leaders talked about the economic bilateral relationship, and their conversation specifically extended to some of the issues pending between us. Overall, the visit was quite successful in bringing our relationship back on track.

   Q: What was Prime Minister Koizumi's response to President Jiang Zemin's statement that the explanation was understandable but there was concern? I presume that Prime Minister Koizumi responded? Also, you said that they discussed some bilateral issues. So they talked about trade sanctions on Japanese goods? Did anything interesting develop out of that?

   Mr. Hattori: Since this was a summit-level meeting I do not think the leaders got into details, particularly about the economic issues. But given that we are going to have some other occasions this year, such as the APEC Meeting in Shanghai and the ASEAN+3 Meeting in Brunei in November, and there may also be occasions for officials to meet each other, we agreed that we would try to resolve our questions. With regard to the first question, I understand that Prime Minister Koizumi took seriously what President Jiang Zemin said to him, and I do not understand that there was a further exchange of views on that point. President Jiang Zemin's mention of concerns amongst Asian people is also understandable, and we are not unaware of that issue.

   Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
   
7. Questions concerning the security situation

   Q: Are there any new details on, for example, shutting your Embassies or Consulates General in any countries?

   Mr. Hattori: We have no plans to shut down Embassies or Consulates General anywhere in the world.

   Q: Did you not issue some warnings?

   Mr. Hattori: Sure, we have issued some travel advice, particularly in the light of the new developments. There are five levels to our travel advisory warnings: Pakistan (an area within 100km from the border with Afghanistan) has been taken up to level five, and some others, such as those for the Republic of the Philippines and other neighboring countries, were taken up from level one to level two. These kinds of travel advisory warnings are revised in the light of developments.

   Q: Japanese companies operating in South America and different parts of Asia seem to be well prepared for emergencies and have high levels of security, also considering what happened in Peru a number of years ago. Is that the feeling here at the Ministry as well, that security amongst Japanese companies is quite good?

   Mr. Hattori: We have had several experiences over the last years. For example, I myself was stationed in Jakarta in Indonesia in 1998 when the Suharto regime was falling down. With regard to Japanese that are still residing in Pakistan, about 400 Japanese nationals are still there, and as far as our Embassy and Consulates-General in Pakistan are concerned, they are well prepared--just in case--and we are working on contingency plans, but at the same time as the Government we have no intention to unsettle those people. Those people have been residing in Pakistan for quite a long time for various reasons and we understand that all of them are quite well informed of the developments in the situation. However, as the Government we are well prepared in order to be able to respond appropriately should those Japanese nationals be obliged to evacuate. But anyway, we do not think this is the time.