Press Conference 29 November 2005
- Upcoming visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso to the United States of America (US)
- Two year anniversary of the deaths of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq
- Continuation of the detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar
- Presidential election in Burkina Faso
- Reopening of the Rafah Border Crossing of the Gaza Strip
- The fourth meeting of the Japan-China Economic Partnership Consultations
- Grant aid to the Kingdom of Morocco
- Grant aid to Afghanistan
- Grant aid to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
- Follow-up questions concerning visit by Foreign Minister Aso to the US
- Follow-up questions concerning Japan-China Economic Partnership Consultations
- Follow-up question concerning house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
- Upcoming visit by Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso to the United States of America (US)
Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon.
I will start today's conference by making an announcement that Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso is slated to visit the United States of America (US) to meet and have talks with his counterpart, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Stephen Hadley. The visit is taking place from Friday, 2 December, to the following Sunday, 4 December, if necessary arrangements are completed in time.
- Two year anniversary of the deaths of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq
Mr. Taniguchi: Now, exactly two years ago today, 29 November 2003, two Japanese diplomats were killed in Iraq while on duty.
Our hearts still pain thinking of the tragic loss of the lives of Ambassador Katsuhiko Oku and First Secretary Masamori Inoue, two of the most dedicated colleagues of ours.
Since then a charitable fund has been set up in their names called the Oku Inoue Fund for Empowering Children, to help support Iraqi children struggling to thrive in their nation. In memory of Ambassador Oku, who played rugby both for Waseda University and Oxford, his Alma Maters, a couple of rugby matches have been fought between Oxford and Cambridge, and between Waseda and Oxford. The proceeds of those matches went into the fund.
On this and others, I should urge you to visit the website of the charitable fund, http://www.oku-inoue-fund.com/eng.
Today at 16:00 many of us in this building will be standing in silent homage to mourn their deaths at the entrance hall around the Statue of Tribute.
- Continuation of the detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar
Mr. Taniguchi: Let me then turn to some of the statements that the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations has issued over the last week.
First, on the continuation of the detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar, Japan is deeply concerned about the continuation of the detention under house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi after the extended term of one year ended on 27 November.
Japan strongly hopes that the Government of Myanmar should expedite the democratization process, including the early release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
- Presidential election in Burkina Faso
Mr. Taniguchi: Secondly, on the presidential election in Burkina Faso, the Government of Japan extends congratulations to the people of Burkina Faso as well as to His Excellency Mr. Blaise Compaor. The country opened and closed the election booths on 13 November in a free, fair and peaceful manner and President Compaoré was reelected.
It is Japan's hope that under the leadership of President Compaoré, Burkina Faso's democracy and socio-economic development will continue to be promoted, and that the country will play a more important role in ensuring peace and stability in the West African region.
- Reopening of the Rafah Border Crossing of the Gaza Strip
Mr. Taniguchi: Thirdly, on the reopening of the Rafah Border Crossing of the Gaza Strip, Japan welcomes the news that the Crossing on the border of the Gaza Strip and the Arab Republic of Egypt reopened on 25 November. Japan highly appreciates the efforts made by the State of Israel, the Palestinian Authority and all the parties concerned, in particular, the border assistance mission of the European Union (EU), for this reopening.
Japan expects that the steady implementation of the agreement made on 15 November by Israel and the Palestinian Authority will lead to rehabilitation and stabilization of civilian life in the Gaza Strip and the progress of the Middle East Peace Process. Japan, on its part, will continue to extend political and economic assistance to this end.
That is all for the Press Secretary's statements.
- The fourth meeting of the Japan-China Economic Partnership Consultations
Mr. Taniguchi: Next, Japan and the People's Republic of China will have a bilateral discussion on Friday, 2 December, here at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
It is the fourth meeting of the Japan-China Economic Partnership Consultations.
The meeting will be attended on the Japanese side by representatives of the ministries and agencies concerned, headed by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Mitoji Yabunaka; and on the Chinese side by officials from the bureaus concerned, led by Assistant Minister of Commerce Chen Jian. On how the discussion started and what have been dealt with, you can learn more by going to the Foreign Ministry's website, albeit it will be in Japanese, http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/china/jc_keizai_ps.html.
- Grant aid to the Kingdom of Morocco
Mr. Taniguchi: As usual, before opening the floor for questions, I will make further announcements about Japan's official development assistance (ODA).
As you know Japan is now hosting a state visit made by His Majesty King Mohammed VI, King of the Kingdom of Morocco, who arrived in Tokyo on 27 November and is leaving tomorrow, on 30 November.
We have just made a decision to extend assistance to the country of Morocco and the assistance is three-fold.
The first one is a grant aid for the Project for the Improvement of Sound, Lighting and Audio-Visual Equipment of National Library of the Kingdom of Morocco, the amount of which is up to 46.1 million yen, which is around US$423,000.
The second is a non-project type grant aid of up to 500 million yen, which is around US$4.2 million.
And the third is yen loans first for the Sewage System Development Project, the amount of which is up to 4.23 billion yen, which is US$35.5 million, and second for the Rural Electrification Project, the amount of which is up to 5.257 billion yen, which is around US$44.2 million.
These three exchanges of notes were done on 29 November in Tokyo between Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Katsutoshi Kaneda and Minister of Finance and Privatization Fathallah Oualaou of Morocco.
- Grant aid to Afghanistan
Mr. Taniguchi: Next, in Afghanistan, we are giving the Government up to 1.2 billion yen, or about US$11 million, to help support the Project for the Program for Rehabilitation of Roads in Mazar-e Sharif.
Also in Afghanistan, up to 39.2 million yen, or about US$360,000, will be given as cultural grant aid to Afghanistan for the Project for the Improvement of Exhibition Equipment of the Kabul National Museum.
You can see that these are all part of our continued commitment to doing our utmost to help support the war-torn nation.
- Grant aid to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Mr. Taniguchi: Lastly, in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, we are extending grant aid for the Project for the Improvement of Central Functions of Jaffna Teaching Hospital, the amount of which is up to a total of 90 million yen or around US$825,000.
- Follow-up questions concerning visit by Foreign Minister Aso to the US
Q: Can you be a little more specific about Foreign Minister Aso's visit to the US? Is it just a usual trip or is it some special assignment?
Mr. Taniguchi: Obviously there are many things that both nations have been discussing, like the Six-Party Talks, military transformation and things like that. There is no question that those issues will come up during the talks, but further than that I have got no specific knowledge at the moment.
Q: Would the North Korean abduction issue also be discussed?
Mr. Taniguchi: I cannot tell you exactly whether or not.
- Follow-up questions concerning Japan-China Economic Partnership Consultations
Q: As for the Japan-China Economic Partnership Consultations, are they considered to represent a kind of improvement of relations between Japan and China or is it just your usual economic consultations?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well, I am not interested in using words such as "usual" or "not usual." The fact of the matter is that this is the fourth round of the ongoing talks about the bilateral economic relationship between Japan and China.
It started three years ago in October in Beijing, and the second one took place in Tokyo the next year, in October 2003. And in December 2004, the third round took place in Beijing. We are going to have the fourth round here in Tokyo. It is Tokyo's turn to host the discussions. So this is an ongoing project on this matter.
Q: Nothing specific, for example, the joint exploration of the gas fields in the East China Sea or something like this?
Mr. Taniguchi: This is not necessarily between the Foreign Ministries of these two nations. Actually, if you look at the record of the previous discussions, from the Japanese side, representatives of a host of ministries also joined the discussion, like from the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The same can be said about China. From the Chinese side, a variety of ministries sent representatives to this discussion.
In the first round, that is three years ago, both parties talked about World Trade Organization (WTO) related issues, steel safeguards, photo film tariffs, anti-dumping and so on, minimum access to rice imports, and investment issues. Also, in the first meeting, they talked about how to cooperate in terms of investment between Japan and China and the Republic of Korea (ROK). Those are the kinds of issues that both parties have been talking about, and it is very much likely that this nature of the talks will continue for this upcoming round.
I may add perhaps that this is an effort on both sides to further look into advanced issues like investment, and most importantly, intellectual property rights. Those are the issues that are the concerns of businesses that are operating in China and trying to sell their goods to Japan. You can see what sort of issues would be discussed.
- Follow-up question concerning house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi
Q: Regarding the extended house arrest of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, apart from the statement by the Press Secretary, is the Foreign Ministry planning or thinking about putting pressure?
Mr. Taniguchi: At this point I cannot tell you further than that.
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