Press Conference 20 May 2003

1. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the situation in Aceh, Indonesia
2. Statement by Foreign Minister Kawaguchi on suicide bombing in Israel
3. Emergency aid to the Republic of Madagascar
4. Japan's reaction to the World Trade Organization (WTO) draft of modalities on non-agricultural market access
5. Question concerning upcoming visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the United States
6. Question concerning Group of Eight (G8) Foreign Ministers' Meeting
7. Questions concerning severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)
8. Question concerning possibility of sanctions on North Korea
9. Question concerning possible discussion on economic situation in Japan
10. Question concerning conference "Towards Stable Coexistence of Mutually Interdependent States of Israel and Palestine"

1. Statement by Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi on the situation in Aceh, Indonesia

   Press Secretary Hatsuhisa Takashima: Good afternoon and thank you very much for coming to this briefing. Today I have four announcements to make.

   The first announcement is about the situation in Aceh, Indonesia. Minister for Foreign Affairs Yoriko Kawaguchi issued a statement in conjunction with the situation in Aceh, in which she stated as follows:

   Japan deeply regrets that a dialogue between the Government of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) for a peaceful solution to the issue of Aceh in Indonesia, which was held on 17 and 18 May in Tokyo through the good offices of the Henri Dunan Centre, failed to solve the present issues.

   Japan has been extending indirect support to promote the dialogue as a co-chair of the Preparatory Conference on Peace and Reconstruction in Aceh (Tokyo Conference) held in December last year together with the United States of America, the European Union (EU) and the World Bank.

   As in the Co-Chair's Summary issued at the end of the Conference, Japan, though recognizing the present situation is serious, reiterates that it strongly hopes that the Aceh issue will be solved peacefully within the territorial integrity of Indonesia and that Japan will continue to extend every ancillary support to that end.

   Related Information (Statement by Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on the Dialogue between the Parties Concerned on the Issue of Aceh, Indonesia)
   
2. Statement by Foreign Minister Kawaguchi on suicide bombing in Israel

   Mr. Takashima: The second statement is on the Middle Eastern situation.

   Foreign Minister Kawaguchi issued a statement in conjunction with a suicide bombing that occurred in Jerusalem in the morning of 18 May, in which she said that she was greatly shocked by this suicide bombing causing many deaths and casualties. She extended her sincere sympathy for those who died in the incident, condolences to the bereaved families, and heartfelt sympathy to the injured. Japan firmly condemns terrorist attacks that victimize many innocent people.

   It is deplorable that such a cruel terrorist attack should take place, as it hampers the reform efforts of Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, the new prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and also the promotion of the Roadmap. Japan again urges the leadership of the PA to exert its utmost efforts to control extremists and to the parties concerned on both sides, Israelis and Palestinians, to make peace efforts through the Roadmap to cut off this vicious circle of violence.

   Related Information (Statement by Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, Minister for Foreign Affairs, on a Suicide Bombing in Israel)
   
3. Emergency aid to the Republic of Madagascar

   Mr. Takashima: The third announcement is about emergency assistance to the Republic of Madagascar.

   The Government of Japan yesterday decided to provide emergency assistance in kind (tents, blankets, water purifiers, plastic tanks and portable water tanks) equivalent to about 16 million yen (US$140,000.00) to the Republic of Madagascar, which has sustained damage from a tropical cyclone, which has claimed as of 15 May, 68 people dead; 19 were missing, 86 injured and more than 110,000 people affected.

   Related Information (Emergency Aid for Tropical Cyclone Disaster in Madagascar)
   
4. Japan's reaction to the World Trade Organization (WTO) draft of modalities on non-agricultural market access

   Mr. Takashima: The fourth and last announcement is about Japan's reaction to the World Trade Organization (WTO) draft of the modalities on non-agricultural market access.

   Foreign Minister Kawaguchi today expressed dissatisfaction with the WTO's draft of the "modalities" paper on non-agricultural market access that was presented by the Chairman of the Negotiating Group, Amb. Pierre-Louis Girard, on 16 May.

   In her statement to the Cabinet meeting this morning, Foreign Minister Kawaguchi said there were two areas that did not reflect Japan's proposals: One of them is that the draft does not allow flexible tariff cuts by item, and the other area is that the draft includes unacceptable calls for Japan to eliminate tariffs on marine products, leather and footwear.

   Foreign Minister Kawaguchi said that Japan would continue negotiations patiently hoping that Japan's ideas would be reflected in the liberalization of nonfarm products.

   Related Information (WTO)
   
5. Question concerning upcoming visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the United States

   Q: Could you please talk about the goals of the visit by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the United States?

   Mr. Takashima: Japan and the US are allies which have very strong and good bilateral relations, and the main purpose of Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to the United States is to reconfirm this strong alliance with President George W. Bush. Prime Minister Koizumi was very pleased to be invited as a guest to President Bush's ranch in Texas and to be able to have rather lengthy talks with him. The current issues such as North Korea, Iraqi reconstruction and other international affairs will be on the agenda along with many types of bilateral issues.

   Q: What will be the suggestion for resuming talks with North Korea?

   Mr. Takashima: Prime Minister Koizumi will discuss with President Bush the North Korean situation and also the necessity for international solidarity and unity on this issue. I expect that they will both reaffirm their commitment for a peaceful and diplomatic solution on this issue.

   Q: What about the topic of economic sanctions? With recent legislation to pave way for bilateral agreement on any economic sanctions, how will that topic be discussed?

   Mr. Takashima: This might be part of the agenda on North Korea-related issues, but I have no information whether this will surely come up because no fixed agenda has been set for that meeting.

   Q: What is the actual planned schedule? How long will he visit the ranch for - a day? Or, how long will the visit take?

   Mr. Takashima: My understanding is that Prime Minister Koizumi will be arriving in the late afternoon Thursday, 22 May, and spending the night there having dinner with President Bush. On the following day, in the morning hours, there will be the talks between them, after which Prime Minister Koizumi and President Bush will make a joint appearance before the press. Then, Prime Minister Koizumi will leave Texas for his next stop, which is Egypt.

   Related Information (Japan-The United States Relations)
   Related Information (The Issue of Iraq)
   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
6. Question concerning Group of Eight (G8) Foreign Ministers' Meeting

   Q: There will be a meeting of the Group of Eight (G8) Foreign Ministers this week. What message does Japan want the foreign ministers to adopt on North Korea? Also, does Foreign Minister Kawaguchi plan to address the issue of abduction at the G8 Meeting?

   Mr. Takashima: Foreign Minister Kawaguchi is expected to raise the issue of North Korea during the talks between the G8 Foreign Ministers to be held this week in Paris. However, in what form, how long or to what extent remains to be seen. North Korea is one of the very important issues, not only for Japan but it is also a major concern of the United States and the EU countries. So this will certainly be discussed.

   On abduction, it is a very important issue for Japan and I think that Foreign Minister Kawaguchi will touch upon it, but I cannot confirm nor deny at this moment whether this will be a subject of discussion.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
7. Questions concerning severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)

   Q: About severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), the new type of pneumonia, besides trying to prevent it from coming to Japan, what kind of contributions and donations has Japan made worldwide?

   Mr. Takashima: The Government of Japan recently announced that it will be extending an additional 1.5 billion yen's worth of special assistance to the People's Republic of China to cope with the spread of SARS. In addition to that, Japan has been extending assistance to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and also Taiwan. I believe that there is more planned on that. Furthermore, Indonesia has requested assistance and Japan responded to the request. Thus, on a country-by-country basis, whenever there is a necessity, we have been responding positively.

   Q: I know that there have been a lot of flight cancellations of flights via Beijing to Japan. Does the Government have any idea of how to protect people on these flights coming from Beijing to Japan legally?

   Mr. Takashima: Firstly, as far as quarantine procedures are concerned, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has recently upgraded the measures to prevent the unwitting or unexpected entry of SARS patients into Japan by having more vigorous health checks using different types of equipment to measure the body temperature and to have a closer look at the questionnaires to be filled out by those passengers on flights coming from areas where SARS is recognized as an epidemic.

   In terms of the economics of the situation, this is a serious matter, but so far, it has been coped with by the airline companies and each of the industries affected. We hope that the economic damage caused by SARS will be as small as possible.

   Related Information (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS))
   
8. Question concerning possibility of sanctions on North Korea

   Q: Regarding the sanctions, is there any concern within the Government that the mention of sanctions could aggravate the situation possibly between Tokyo and Pyongyang?

   Mr. Takashima: We have been saying that not only Japan but the international community should take a very careful approach toward the North Korea issue so as not to cause overreaction on the North Korean side to the actions taken on our side. As far as sanctions are concerned, so far, there has been no talk of sanctions within the United Nations. Therefore, at this moment the Government of Japan has not been considering the actual use of that sort of leverage in terms of the Japanese policy vis-à-vis North Korea.

   Q: With the efforts to reinterpret the law in order to impose bilateral sanctions if necessary, were those efforts started in part at the suggestion of the United States, that Japan would need to prepare should the need arise?

   Mr. Takashima: Japan together with the United States and the Republic of Korea has been coordinating its policy vis-à-vis North Korea. I would rather prefer to refrain from disclosing the details of the nature of the talks. However, we will certainly in the future continue to coordinate our policies, and there has been and will be a very close consultation among the three of us. In particular, between Japan and the United States, the channels are plenty and there have been different types of talks.

   Related Information (Japan-North Korea Relations)
   
9. Question concerning possible discussion on economic situation in Japan

   Q: Do you think that to deal with the economic situation in Japan, the value of the yen is necessary? Or will there be some talks with G8 nations or with the United States to form a coordinated financial policy? For example, the value of the dollar has been weakening against the yen. Might that come up as something to discuss?

   Mr. Takashima: World economy was the main topic during the G8 Finance Ministers' talks which were recently held in Deauville, France. My understanding is that this issue and also the result of the talks will be reported to the G8 Summit Meeting to be held in Evian-les-Bains, France. Therefore, there will be a discussion and hopefully some type of statement. That is the usual practice at a G8 Summit Meeting.

   Related Information (Japanese Economy)
   
10. Question concerning conference "Towards Stable Coexistence of Mutually Interdependent States of Israel and Palestine"

    Q: Is the Government going to be issuing any statement regarding the Palestinian-Israeli meeting that is being held today in Tokyo?

    Mr. Takashima: At 17:00 at the Conference Center in Mita, there will be a press conference by the attendants. I do not believe that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will issue any sort of independent statement. However, we certainly welcome this conference. Foreign Minister Kawaguchi yesterday at the conference venue expressed her pleasure of having those representatives from the Israeli and Palestinian sides attend, and of having very fruitful, meaningful discussions which are still continuing.

    Related Information (Holding of a Conference "Towards Stable Coexistence of Mutually Interdependent States of Israel and Palestine" to Build Confidence between the Israelis and the Palestinians)
    Related Information (Japan's Measures Toward the Middle East Peace Process)