Press Conference 9 December 2005
- Visit to Malaysia by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to attend the ASEAN+3, Japan-ASEAN and EAS Summit Meetings
- Signing of the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of Malaysia for an Economic Partnership
- Adoption of Japan's draft resolution on small arms and light weapons at the United Nations
- Adoption of the draft resolution on nuclear disarmament at the United Nations
- Dispatch of election observers for the general elections of the Republic of Bolivia
- The exchange of recommendations for Japan-US Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative
- Signing of the Agreement on the Technical Cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Republic of Uganda
- Questions concerning Japan's relations with the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea
- Question concerning bilateral meetings on the occasion of Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Malaysia
- Questions concerning possible visit to South Asia by Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Aso
- Questions concerning extension of dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq
- Questions concerning security in Iraq
- Visit to Malaysia by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to attend the ASEAN+3, Japan-ASEAN and EAS Summit Meetings
Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon. I have seven announcements to make, big and small.
Firstly about the visit to Malaysia by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi from 11 December (Sun) to 14 December (Wed).
He is going to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)+3 Summit Meeting to be held on 12 December. He will find ways to deal with common regional challenges, ASEAN+3 cooperation in the future, and other matters.
At the first inaugural East Asia Summit (EAS) on 14 December (Wed), he will have comprehensive and frank discussions with his counterparts, eyeing the future formation of a community.
During his stay in Malaysia, Prime Minister Koizumi will have separate meetings with the leaders of the Commonwealth of Australia, State of Brunei Darussalam, CLV (Kingdom of Cambodia, Lao People's Democratic Republic and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam), India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and Viet Nam.
- Signing of the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of Malaysia for an Economic Partnership
Mr. Taniguchi: The next item is about the Economic Partnership Agreement with the Government of Malaysia.
On 9 December, the Cabinet of Japan made a decision on the signing of the Agreement between the Government of Japan and the Government of Malaysia for an Economic Partnership (JMEPA). Based on this decision, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan and Prime Minister Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia will sign the JMEPA, the Implementing Agreement and the Joint Statement, at their meeting which will be held on the occasion of the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The JMEPA will result in tariff elimination of about 97% of trade in goods between the two countries on a trade volume basis, which will considerably promote trade in agriculture, forestry and fishery products as well as industrial products between the two countries.
The JMEPA will also contribute to capacity building of peoples through the increased cooperation in various fields such as agriculture, forestry, fisheries and plantation, education and human resources development, information and communications technology (ICT), and science and technology.
By providing a solid basis for the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment by the two countries the JMEPA will mark a new era for a Japan-Malaysia strategic partnership. The comprehensive partnership under the JMEPA including trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property and competition will enable the two countries to invigorate the two economies and expand their ties.
- Adoption of Japan's draft resolution on small arms and light weapons at the United Nations
Mr. Taniguchi: Next about the passing of the draft resolution on small arms and light weapons at the United Nations (UN).
The Government of Japan welcomes the fact that a draft resolution concerning illicit trade in small arms and light weapons jointly submitted by Japan, the Republic of Columbia and the Republic of South Africa was adopted by consensus at the Plenary Session at the UN General Assembly on 8 December (New York time: 9 December). Japan is convinced that the international community should tackle the issue of small arms and light weapons in order to remove an obstacle to post conflict humanitarian and rehabilitation assistance.
- Adoption of the draft resolution on nuclear disarmament at the United Nations
Mr. Taniguchi: And then, adoption of a resolution on nuclear disarmament also at the UN.
The Government of Japan welcomes the fact that a draft resolution on nuclear disarmament called the "Renewed determination towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons" was adopted at the Plenary Session of the UN General Assembly on 9 December Japan time by an overwhelming majority with support from the largest number of countries since 1994 when Japan began submitting its resolution on nuclear disarmament.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings. On this occasion, however, no substantial agreement was achieved at the 2005 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in May as well as in the negotiations on the disarmament and non-proliferation section of the UN World Summit Outcome in September. In this situation, inspired by the strong national sentiment calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons, Japan, as the only nation in the world to have suffered atomic bombing, has strengthened the content of its draft resolution, while maintaining its basic position that places great importance on the realization on a peaceful and safe world free of nuclear weapons through a steady continuation of a "practical and incremental" approach towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons. This draft resolution enjoyed overwhelming support from the international community.
Although the situation of nuclear disarmament remains challenging, Japan intends to pursue its various diplomatic efforts to maintain and reinforce international disarmament and non-proliferation regime based on the NPT, responding to the political will of a large majority of the international community, which was expressed through the adoption of this resolution.
Just as a small footnote, if I may add, the proposal was made jointly with many other nations including also, the Commonwealth of Australia, People's Republic of Bangladesh, Republic of Chile, Italian Republic, Kingdom of Nepal, Republic of Nicaragua and the Kingdom of Spain and so on. The significant thing is that yes votes amounted to 168, which is the largest such number since 1994 when Japan started to submit this draft resolution to the UN. There is a group of nations called the New Agenda Coalition (NAC) comprising such nations as South Africa, the Arab Republic of Egypt, United Mexican States, Federal Republic of Brazil, New Zealand, Kingdom of Sweden and Ireland, that are very much unified in opposing any sort of nuclear programs and nuclear proliferation. This group of nations came on board to agree on Japan's proposal. So those are some of the significant things that occurred to put down as a footnote.
- Dispatch of election observers for the general elections of the Republic of Bolivia
Mr. Taniguchi: Next let me go on to a couple of other announcements before taking questions, I will be short and brief. The next item is about the dispatch of election observers for the general elections of the Republic of Bolivia.
Japan will send someone named Mr. Tomomi Kozaki, Professor of the University of Sensyuu. He has actually been involved in election observances a couple of times before, he is an expert of Central American and South American political economy and he will be joined by a staff member of the Japanese Embassy in that nation, named Mr. Mamoru Fujita.
- The exchange of recommendations for Japan-US Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative
Mr. Taniguchi: Exchange of recommendations for the Fifth-Year Dialog under "the Japan-US Regulatory Reform and Competition Policy Initiative."
On 8 December, which was yesterday, in Seattle, Mr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Director-General, Economic Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Ms. Wendy Culter, Assistant US Trade Representative, exchanged recommendations concerning regulatory reform and competitive policy. This has been going on for some time and there have been a number of discussions and agreements made thus far, and in fact the results of these, you can see on our website, if not now, shortly from now.
- Signing of the Agreement on the Technical Cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Republic of Uganda
Mr. Taniguchi: Next the signing of the Agreement on the Technical Cooperation between the Governments of Japan and the Republic of Uganda took place on 8 December yesterday.
- Questions concerning Japan's relations with the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea
Q: On the list of countries that you mentioned whose leaders Prime Minister Koizumi will be meeting, notably absent of course are the ROK and China. I also believe that China has said that there will not be a foreign ministers' meeting as well. Is that your understanding and how does the Government of Japan feel about this situation?
Mr. Taniguchi: To be precise, nothing is decided in a concrete fashion. Our position has always been the same, our doors are wide open, and we are waiting for them to come over and see us. There may be a lot of things that cause troubles between the two nations. But if you look back, when let's say for instance Japan and the US were at the height or the zenith of trade frictions between the two nations, still we had numerous number of talks between Japan and the US even though the media continued to depict the situation in war-like languages like war and battle. I hope we could have a similar situation with the Chinese. Yes, we could have disputes and the number of disputes may grow even further from now as the two countries get closer economically and politically. But we have to talk. So that is what we have been saying to the Chinese and the Koreans.
Q: On the same issue, as a matter of principle, if there was no meeting between the Japanese leaders and their Chinese and Korean counterparts, is it an indication of bad relations? Or it does not matter if they meet or not from the perspective of your Ministry?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well I am not pretending to depict the situation in a rosy color by saying everything is good. Politically I would admit that there is room to be improved by both nations, by Japan and by China and by Japan and by the ROK, but let's remember that that is not the whole story or the whole picture. You may have troubles or disputes between two leaders, but at the same time, there are ongoing discussions between Japan and China about a number of other issues. So we are maintaining a good working relationship, and we have been saying a number of times and I will repeat it now, our doors are wide open.
If you look at the number of exchanges of leaders, the number of times for Japanese leaders' visits to China exceeds to a great extent the number of Chinese leaders' visits. So a lot of balls are actually in the Chinese court. We are eagerly waiting for them to strike them back.
Q: Following-up on that, your counterpart in Beijing yesterday, making reference to Foreign Minister Aso's speech on Wednesday, said that there were no problems with Chinese military transparency and said that actually the Chinese want to see greater transparency from Japan regarding Japan's military activities. Do you have any idea what he is talking about and how do you respond to that?
Mr. Taniguchi: There is a technical jargon called "security dilemma." I am not interested in getting engaged in any sort of security dilemma with my Chinese counterpart. So I should refrain from making any comment on that.
Q: In Foreign Minister Aso's speech, he mentioned the ROK and China. Regarding the ROK, he said something like Japan and the ROK are two leaders of democracies that work together. Regarding China, there was this mention about the lack of transparency in the military budget. Is this Foreign Minister Aso's way of saying that things with the ROK are better than with China?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well the thing is, I am not an official interpreter of his speech. The speech is there written to be understood at face value so he means it when he says something. It is for you to interpret it in one way or another, but what he wanted to say, I believe, is written clearly in that speech.
Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
Related Information (Japan-ROK Relations) - Question concerning bilateral meetings on the occasion of Prime Minister Koizumi's visit to Malaysia
Q: This list of countries that you mentioned regarding the counterparts Prime Minister Koizumi will be meeting, I presume that Myanmar is missing from the list of countries. Has Japan given any reason why Prime Minister Koizumi is not going to meet his counterpart from Myanmar?
Mr. Taniguchi: I do not know why it is missing. I cannot tell you why it is missing. But in terms of Myanmar, I can say the following. Foreign Minister Aso, in his speech that he gave to the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) on the day before yesterday, he specified that the situation in Myanmar is worrisome given the prevalence of democratization throughout Asia. So he specified two nations in his speech, North Korea and Myanmar. But I am not saying that that is the cause of the lack of the meeting between the two leaders. Schedule-wise I can not tell you if there is or not going to be a meeting. I cannot tell you for sure at the moment.
- Questions concerning possible visit to South Asia by Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Aso
Q: Regarding Foreign Minister Aso's forthcoming visit to South Asia, what are the issues that he is going to discuss at the meetings?
Mr. Taniguchi: There is going to be a time when I can tell you about it more exactly with more confidence. For now I should refrain from making any prediction about it.
Q: Has that visit been announced yet?
Mr. Taniguchi: No, not officially. I have heard of the report, but now is not the time for me to make any sort of official announcement.
- Questions concerning extension of dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq
Q: Yesterday the Government extended the Iraqi mission. Also, that applies to the flights between the State of Kuwait and Iraq I suppose. So there are many reports suggesting that these flights will be expanded to cover other areas between Baghdad and other countries like the State of Qatar. Do you have any information on such reports or on what is going on with these flights?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well it is not only me but also the Press Secretary, the Foreign Minister, Vice Foreign Ministers, Chief Cabinet Secretary, and the Prime Minister who are asked exactly the same question as yours. And the answer is always the same, it is going to be a function of many different elements, different changes, and different evolutions. But the thing is, we have to keep the forces there on the ground, to get engaged in the kinds of activities that they have been engaged in so that we could show to the Iraqis that we are aside them when they are undergoing a critical stage in their nation building.
The 15th of December is going to be a day when they are once again going to go to the voting booths, and thereafter, a critical evolution in terms of nation building will continue. In the meantime, the Japanese Government has decided to continue sending the Self-Defense Force (SDF) members to Iraq to show, you may call it comradeship, with the Iraqis. But beyond that, in terms of schedule, what will happen to the arrangement of the flight between the two points you mentioned, I cannot tell you anything. It is going to be a function of many different things. And then taking into consideration those things, a decision will be made, again, independently by the Japanese Government. That is all, I cannot tell you more.
- Questions concerning extension of dispatch of Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to Iraq
Q: The Iraqi Prime Minister was here, and I heard him in his press conference saying that the situation in Iraq is not as bad as what the media is projecting. He mentioned that it is rather safe in most areas including the south. So does the Japanese Government believe him? If so, why do you still advise your citizens to evacuate Iraq immediately? If you believe him, you should change the statement. If you do not believe him, it means you would keep the statement.
Mr. Taniguchi: He is talking about a range of safety. He says that it is safer than what the media is trying to depict or what you see in the media. But it is true also that for civilians to conduct their activities in Iraq there are worries, and it is also true that to pursue humanitarian support activities, which Japan has been doing in Iraq, it is not civilians but a unified, self-sufficient unit with self-defense capacity, the SDF personnel who are best fit to that situation. That is part of the reason why Japan has decided to continue their presence in Iraq.
Well that is a sort of roundabout way of answering your question, but I should refrain from making any further comments firstly because I have never been to Iraq and I cannot tell you with a degree of confidence about the situation in Iraq. I will stop there.
Q: Minister of Defense Nukaga Fukushiro said that the situation in Iraq is rather secure for the forces and it is much better than other areas. So my question is why then is the Foreign Ministry maintaining its warning at the highest level that asks Japanese citizens to evacuate Iraq immediately?
Mr. Taniguchi: I think you are dealing with the interpretation of a single word "safe." The head of the Defense Agency was there himself to see that it would be safe enough for the SDF personnel to get engaged in their activities. But at the same time, it is not as safe for civilians to maneuver or walk around in that area. So we are talking about two ways of defining the same word safe but I think that is how it is understood by the head of the Defense Agency and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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