Press Conference 8 November 2005
- Additional contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)
- Visit by Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsutoshi Kaneda to the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary and the Kingdom of Bahrain
- Questions concerning former President of the Republic of Peru Alberto Fujimori
- Question concerning visit to Japan by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation
- Question concerning dissolution of committee on human trafficking
- Additional contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)
Assistant Press Secretary Akira Chiba: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for coming to today's briefing. Today I have two announcements to make before taking questions.
The first announcement concerns Japan's additional contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM).
Today, the Government of Japan contributed an additional US$18.8 million to the GFATM. This brings Japan's total contribution of this year to the GFATM to US$100 million; its total accumulative contribution will be approximately US$346 million since the GFATM was established in 2002.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, in June this year, announced that Japan would contribute additionally "half a billion dollars in the coming years" for the GFATM at a special symposium held to commemorate the fifth year since the conception of the GFATM at the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit.
HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are three major infectious diseases which together kill six million persons every year, mainly in Africa, Asia and other developing countries. The number of people infected by the HIV virus alone reached 40 million in the world and is rapidly increasing, particularly in the Asian region in recent years. Japan has played a leading role in the establishment of the GFATM by stressing the importance of tackling infectious diseases at the G8 Kyushu-Okinawa Summit held in July 2000.
- Visit by Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsutoshi Kaneda to the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary and the Kingdom of Bahrain
Mr. Chiba: The next announcement concerns the visit by Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsutoshi Kaneda to the Czech Republic, the Republic of Hungary and the Kingdom of Bahrain to attend the second meeting of the "Forum for the Future," together with the first meeting of the "Task Force on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)."
Mr. Kaneda left Tokyo yesterday to visit the Czech Republic, Hungary and Bahrain. In the Czech Republic and Hungary, Mr. Kaneda will meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Cyril Svoboda of the Czech Republic and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ferenc Somogyi of Hungary to exchange views on issues concerning bilateral relations and international affairs.
In Bahrain, Mr. Kaneda will attend the second meeting of the "Forum for the Future" where he will present Japan's on-going efforts in advancing vocational training area for the stability of Middle Eastern and North African (BMENA) countries, and in particular, the outcome of the "Workshop on Technical and Vocational Education and Training" which Japan co-hosted with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on 28 and 29 September. Taking this opportunity where foreign ministers from the G8 and the BMENA countries gather together, Mr. Kaneda will have bilateral meetings with his counterparts.
In the course of the Forum, Deputy Director-General of the Economic Cooperation Bureau Shiro Sadoshima of the Foreign Ministry will co-chair the first meeting of the TVET with Secretary General Tayseer Al-Nahar Al-Noaimi of the Ministry of Education of Jordan on 11 November. At the first meeting on the TVET, participants will discuss more specific tasks to build vocational training mechanisms based on public-private partnerships. The results of the Task Force meeting will be presented at the second meeting of the "Forum for the Future." Mr. Sadoshima will also attend the Senior Officials' Meeting of the "Forum for the Future" to be held on the same day as the second meeting.
- Questions concerning former President of the Republic of Peru Alberto Fujimori
Q: I have several questions on former President of the Republic of Peru Alberto Fujimori. One of the questions is, did the Ministry of Foreign Affairs know that he was leaving before he left?
Mr. Chiba: It is not that we learned about his leaving after he left, but obviously, we were not notified well in advance.
Q: The second question is, some Japanese newspapers have said that since Mr. Fujimori holds Japanese nationality the Japanese Government will file a complaint to the Government of the Republic of Chile for his release. Is this true? This is what I learned from Japanese newspapers so I would like to make sure whether or not it is true.
Mr. Chiba: Generally speaking if a Japanese national is apprehended abroad on criminal charges, then the Japanese Government usually asks the government in question as to why this person was apprehended and on what causes and will take necessary measures as regarded appropriate. Having said this, in the case of Mr. Fujimori who, as you pointed out, holds Japanese citizenship, we are now trying to find out basic facts about his situation in Santiago. After we know enough about the situation, we will have to decide which measures we will take as appropriate.
Q: So you have not yet reached a decision as to which measures you will take?
Mr. Chiba: No, we have not reached any decision.
Q: There is a rumor that a Japanese journalist was aboard Mr. Fujimori's plane. Can you confirm this? If yes, do you have any idea why or what was the purpose of the Japanese journalist?
Mr. Chiba: We have no idea who was on the plane Mr. Fujimori was aboard.
Q: Is it possible for a Japanese citizen to have dual citizenships, for example, to be both a Japanese and Peruvian citizen at the same time?
Mr. Chiba: Legally speaking it is possible for one individual to have dual or maybe triple citizenships. Japanese domestic law requests these citizens to decide which nationality they would like to have but it is up to the individual to decide.
Q: So it is possible to have dual citizenships?
Mr. Chiba: It is a fact that some individuals do have dual citizenships in Japan. For example if an individual is born in a country like the United States of America (US), this individual is Japanese if this person has Japanese parents, and is a US citizen at the same time. This is a fact that is known.
Q: However Mr. Fujimori got a Peruvian passport one month ago so he had enough time to give up his Japanese citizenship. There were no approaches from the Japanese side for Mr. Fujimori to give up his Japanese citizenship?
Mr. Chiba: As to which citizenship he will choose, this is a private matter for Mr. Fujimori. The Government is in no position to comment on this.
Q: What passport was he holding when he left Japan?
Mr. Chiba: Again, this is a matter concerning his privacy and we would like to refrain from commenting on it.
Q: Did Japanese Embassy officials contact Mr. Fujimori recently?
Mr. Chiba: Not that I know of. We are still trying to find out from Chilean authorities as to the situation of Mr. Fujimori.
Q: Are they planning to?
Mr. Chiba: As I said earlier, after we get enough information about his situation we will decide what to do as appropriate.
- Question concerning visit to Japan by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation
Q: Yesterday evening there was a news report from Kyodo News about Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Shotaro Yachi's announcement that it will be very difficult to reach a decision on the territorial question during the visit to Japan by President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation. Is this an official Japanese position? Do you know anything about this announcement?
Mr. Chiba: If you are mentioning the press conference that Mr. Yachi held yesterday, I am not aware if he said exactly what you have just mentioned. At any rate we are very much looking forward to Mr. Putin's visit, and of course during his visit, the peace treaty issue including the solution of the Northern Territories issue will be taken up.
- Question concerning dissolution of committee on human trafficking
Q: This morning I learned from a Japanese newspaper that the committee on human trafficking has been dissolved and there will be no more committees on this issue. I have reported on this issue for one year, and I just wondered if there is any reason, for example, the ranking for the trafficking situation in Japan. Is that the reason why the committee has been dissolved? I thought this issue should be discussed more in the long-term. There are so many unsolved issues such as the issue of the children of those trafficked women who have no education or the status issue. Why did they dissolve this committee?
Mr. Chiba: The issue of human trafficking is an issue of great concern also to the Government of Japan. As you are aware, the Government of Japan, in cooperation with not only the Foreign Ministry but other ministries, has been trying to handle this issue with much vigor. I am not aware of the news report that you just mentioned so I cannot comment directly on that. But having said that I can assure you that the Japanese Government is very much interested in finding a solution to this issue.
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