Press Conference 3 March 2006
- Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on a series of bomb blasts in Karachi, Pakistan
- Emergency grant aid for the landslide disaster in Southern Leyte, Philippines
- Japan-China Consultations concerning the East China Sea and Other Matters
- Japan-US Consultation on Realignment
- Symposium on Japan and India entitled "Challenges and Prospects in Asia and Pacific in the 21st Century"
- Symposium on Doha Development Agenda: Toward Effective Implementation of Japan's New Development Initiative for Trade and Japan's Cooperation for Africa
- International Islands Symposium: Suitable Development for Islands-Education, Tourism, Environment, and Economic Development
- Provision of TV program "Captain Majed" to Iraq
- Visit to Japan by officials from the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
- Grant aid to the Programme for Peace Building and Reintegration Assistance to Amnestied GAM Prisoners Recipients, Demobilized GAM Combatants and Conflict-Affected Communities throughout Aceh
- Grant aid to the Kingdom of Cambodia
- Technical cooperation to the Republic of Vanuatu and the Republic of Malawi
- Follow-up questions concerning China-Japan Consultations concerning the East China Sea and Other Matters
- Follow-up question concerning Japan-US Consultation on Realignment
- Question concerning Japan-ROK relations
- Question concerning the Foreign Policy and Energy Security Seminar "Energy Situation in Russia, China and India: From the Foreign Policy Perspective"
- Questions concerning the case of Mr. Shosei Koda
- Questions concerning recent visit to Japan by Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki of the Islamic Republic of Iran
- Question concerning India-US uranium enrichment agreement
- Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on a series of bomb blasts in Karachi, Pakistan
Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Thank you very much for coming. Let me begin today's conference. First there was a statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the bomb blast in Karachi, Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
The Government of Japan strongly condemns the series of bomb attacks that occurred in Karachi, Pakistan on 2 March 2006. The Government of Japan also expresses its deepest condolences to the victims of the attacks and their bereaved families and heartfelt sympathy for those injured.
The Government of Japan reaffirms its position that terrorism cannot be justified by any reason and reiterates its firm condemnation of any type of terrorism.
The Government of Japan will continue to strengthen its cooperation with the Government of Pakistan in the international efforts for tackling terrorism.
- Emergency grant aid for the landslide disaster in Southern Leyte, Philippines
Mr. Taniguchi: Number two is on the emergency grant aid for the landslide disaster in Southern Leyte, the Republic of the Philippines.
The Government of Japan has decided to extend emergency grant aid of US$535,715 (about 57 million yen) for the construction of shelters to the Government of the Philippines, which has suffered from a massive landslide in Southern Leyte.
This aid will be used for the rehabilitation of Barangay Guinsaugon, Saint Bernard, which suffered a most serious damage in this disaster.
- Japan-China Consultations concerning the East China Sea and Other Matters
Mr. Taniguchi: Number three, the Japan-China Consultations concerning the East China Sea and Other Matters will be held on 6 and 7 March in Beijing.
From Japan Director-General Kenichiro Sasae of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, and Director General Nobuyori Kodaira of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy will be attending. From the People's Republic of China Director-General Hu Zhengyue from the Department of Asian Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- Japan-US Consultation on Realignment
Mr. Taniguchi: Fourthly, from 7 until 11 March there is going to be a Japan-US consultation on base realignment. That is going to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii in the United States. This is a follow-up meeting about the base realignment issue. From the United States Deputy Under-Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless will be attending. From Japan Deputy Director-General Kazuyoshi Umemoto of the North American Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other people will be taking part.
- Symposium on Japan and India entitled "Challenges and Prospects in Asia and Pacific in the 21st Century"
Mr. Taniguchi: Number five, there is going to be a symposium on Japan and the Republic of India entitled "Challenges and Prospects in Asia and Pacific in the 21st Century." The time and venue will be 10 March Mita Kaigisho. This is open to the press so please send in your application from the website. This meeting is going to be co-chaired by Mr. Sakutaro Tanino, Director of Toshiba Corporation and former Ambassador to India and China, and Dr. S. Narayan, former Economic Advisor to the Prime Minister of India.
The speakers will include from Japan Professor Eisuke Sakakibara, Keio University, a former Vice-Minister for International Finance of the Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Mr. Masahiro Akiyama, former Administrative Vice Minister of the Defense Agency, and Mr. Yukio Okamoto who was a former Advisor to the Prime Minister. From India, Director General, NCAER Suman K. Bery, and Chairman Subhodh Bhargava of VSNL and former President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and so on will attend. From the United States Mr. Michael Green, former Senior Director for Asian Affairs National Security Commission (NSC) will be joining. From China, Prof. Zhao Gan-Cheng, Director of the Department of South Asia Studies at Shanghai Institute for International Studies will also be taking part.
- Symposium on Doha Development Agenda: Toward Effective Implementation of Japan's New Development Initiative for Trade and Japan's Cooperation for Africa
Mr. Taniguchi: The next item is about a symposium about Doha Development Agenda: Toward Effective Implementation of Japan's New Development Initiative for Trade and Japan's Cooperation for Africa. It is going to be held on 14 March at Mita Kaigisho.
- International Islands Symposium: Suitable Development for Islands-Education, Tourism, Environment, and Economic Development
Mr. Taniguchi: Also about another symposium if I may, it is entitled International Islands Symposium: Suitable Development for Islands-Education, Tourism, Environment, and Economic Development. That is going to be held jointly with Ryukyu University in Okinawa on 10 March. As you may know the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is going to host what is called the Pacific Island Forum in May this year so this symposium is supposed to be the pre-event for that summit meeting.
- Provision of TV program "Captain Majed" to Iraq
Mr. Taniguchi: Now the TV program "Captain Tsubasa" in Japanese or "Captain Majed" will be provided to Iraq.
The Japan Foundation, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Animation International Middle East, has decided to provide an Arabic-dubbed version of the soccer animation TV program "Captain Majed" (or "Captain Tsubasa") to the Iraq Media Network (IMN) as grant aid.
The conclusion of the agreement for this grant aid took place on 2 March between the IMN and the Japan Foundation, and the program will be provided to the IMN within coming days.
- Visit to Japan by officials from the Government of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam
Mr. Taniguchi: Next is an announcement about a visit of the members of the Vietnamese Government. From 5 to 12 March by the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan the following people will be visiting.
Deputy Director Le Hoai Trung of the International Organization Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Vu Duc Hung, general staff of the Ministry of National Defense, and Deputy Director Nguyen Viet Hung of the Department of International Cooperation, Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission.
So these three people will be coming to Japan to exchange ideas with the Japanese side on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and other issues.
- Grant aid to the Programme for Peace Building and Reintegration Assistance to Amnestied GAM Prisoners Recipients, Demobilized GAM Combatants and Conflict-Affected Communities throughout Aceh
Mr. Taniguchi: The next couple of items are about Japan's grant aid. The first one is grant aid to the Programme for Peace Building and Reintegration Assistance to Amnestied GAM Prisoners Recipients, Demobilized GAM Combatants and Conflict-Affected Communities throughout Aceh in Indonesia.
- Grant aid to the Kingdom of Cambodia
Mr. Taniguchi: The next one is sector program grant aid to the Kingdom of Cambodia. The amount is 1.1 billion yen and that was already signed on 1 March. There is also yen loan to Cambodia, it is for Shihanoukville Port SEX Development Project and the amount is up to 318 million yen.
- Technical cooperation to the Republic of Vanuatu and the Republic of Malawi
Mr. Taniguchi: Next, there is an agreement on technical cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Republic of Vanuatu.
Also there is an agreement on technical cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Republic of Malawi.
- Follow-up questions concerning China-Japan Consultations concerning the East China Sea and Other Matters
Q: Concerning the Japan-China Consultations concerning the East China Sea and Other Matters, if China is to develop Chunxiao how is Japan going to negotiate at the Consultations starting from 6 March?
Second point concerning a certain agent of Japan who was contacted about activities in China, there were press reports in China on this very issue. Could you clarify Japan's position on this?
Mr. Taniguchi: Let me answer your second question first. On 22 February, Assistant Press Secretary Akira Chiba of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan answered questions from a person who identified herself as reporter of China Youth Daily. Answering the questions Mr. Chiba said that he would refuse to comment on details of intelligence gathering as comments as such could jeopardize Japan's intelligence activities. He also said that in general terms whenever a Japanese national is under detention abroad the Japanese officials concerned have been offering the necessary assistance as much as possible to a Japanese detainee including, making consular visits and that the Government of Japan treated Mr. Hara in that manner and that was all that Mr. Chiba said.
Concerning the East China Sea gas field talk that is scheduled there are two things. The first one is no development attempt should be allowed while the bilateral talk is going on. That is the first position of the Japanese Government.
Secondly it is the Chinese turn to make a proposal to the Japanese side and we are not aware at all what that proposal is going to be and so I cannot answer your question at the moment.
- Follow-up questions concerning Japan-US Consultation on Realignment
Q: You mentioned the meeting coming up in Honolulu on the base forces realignment. How does the Japanese Government assess the stage that you're at now with this, this is all supposed to be wrapped up as I understand it by the end of March, however, we are hearing frustrations from the US negotiators and also from the Okinawans about the positions and the method of negotiations that the Japanese have been taking. What information do you have about that?
Mr. Taniguchi: I am afraid not much. There is no denying that as you say there is a degree of frustration in Okinawa and other parts of Japan that are going to be affected by this realignment. That is why Japan Defense Agency (JDA) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and other government officials have been intensely talking to the people in the areas, and trying hard to convince them of the necessity to complete this very much important project that is directly related to Japan's national interest as well as the United States's (US). But other than that I should refrain from making any speculation.
Q: Just if I could clarify, you mentioned a delegation. Is Mr. Umemoto actually leading the Japan delegation? Who is in charge from the Japanese side?
Mr. Taniguchi: Deputy Director-General of the North American Affairs Bureau Kazuyoshi Umemoto from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Mr. Kanazawa from the JDA.
Q: And as far as any decisions are made by Japan, is that JDA is that this Ministry or is it the Prime Minister's Office? How does the process end as far as Japan is concerned? Who makes the decisions?
Mr. Taniguchi: May I ask you to note this meeting is going to be one of a chain of meetings that is taking place on the practitioner level on both sides. So this is not supposed to be a meeting to come up with any concrete proposals, any concrete decision. This is just to review the situation and just to share the information among the participants and that is all.
Q: Concerning the Japan-China Consultations in the Xinhua News Agency yesterday it says that the Government of Japan has worked hard to legitimate Japan-China relations. Do you think that this is the case?
Mr. Taniguchi: I do not know if I understand fully what you just said referring to the editorial piece of Xinhua News Agency but the position of the Japanese Government has actually never changed at all. We have continued to say that our doors are wide open and they do not necessarily even have to knock on the door, because it is already open widely. It should be noted that we are putting a lot of effort into enhancing the people to people exchanges between Japan and China. We are going to use quite a large amount of fiscal budget this year and onwards to exchange high school students in particular on both sides.
So the position of the Japanese Government has actually never changed. It is always to enhance the bilateral relationship.
- Question concerning Japan-ROK relations
Q: I would like to ask about Japan-Republic of Korea (ROK) issue. Just a couple of days ago President Roh Moo Hyun has sort of criticized Japan, stating that rather than apologizing verbally Japan must take action to show that it has remorse towards the war that it caused years back. There was also criticism from Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-Moon but then he says, I think it was him, or maybe it was from the Japanese side, that there is an intention to pursue talks on a senior level. There was some mentioning about the fact that there would be soon a senior level talk between Japan and the ROK. Would you tell me whether you know of some dates or whether such a meeting will take place and what will be on the agenda?
Also one more thing, I heard that Ms. Park Geun-Hye, leader of the Grand National Party of ROK will be coming to Japan soon and is there a plan for her to meet the Foreign Minister?
Mr. Taniguchi: On the last point, on the visit of Ms. Park Geun-Hye to Japan I am afraid that I am not aware of that so I cannot say anything about it.
If the senior level talk that you mentioned refers to the one that is going to take place between Vice Minister Shotaro Yachi and his counterpart in the ROK that is scheduled to take place on the 6th, it is an ongoing kind of talk between the two vice ministers. It will be taking place on the 6th as I said and it is called strategic dialogue between the two vice-ministers of the foreign offices of the two nations. As is the case with Japan-China talks between the two vice Foreign Ministers that took place of late, it is to set no specific agendas. It is to talk about bilateral relations and regional issues including the North Korean issues and issues such as the East Asia Summit (EAS) meeting from a broad perspective and from a long-term perspective. The important thing for these kinds of meetings is to have a very cordial setting and atmosphere in which the two participants can exchange their views very much freely. So that is the one that is going to take place.
- Question concerning the Foreign Policy and Energy Security Seminar "Energy Situation in Russia, China and India: From the Foreign Policy Perspective"
Q: I understand that a couple of days ago there was a seminar on the energy security situation in Russia, China and India, I just missed it. Do you know what was discussed and what is Japan's response about this?
Mr. Taniguchi: This is a year when the Russian Government is going to host the G8 Summit Meeting. In an indirect fashion that seminar is supposed to inspire interests and dialogues among the nations that you mentioned to review the energy situation in this part of the world. It is all the more important to involve countries like the People's Republic of China and the Republic of India, because they are the growing consumers of energy. It is also important, if you look at the lack of energy efficiency in Russia which also is growing and consuming a lot of energy, to involve those countries to review the situation in the run up to the up-coming G8 Summit Meeting. So that is the notion behind the seminar. I am sorry I have not checked the outcomes of the seminar. But that was not the sort of meeting to come up with any policy proposal, but to exchange among the experts of these issues, their views on the energy situation.
- Questions concerning the case of Mr. Shosei Koda
Q: Do you have any new details about Mr. Shosei Koda, the Japanese man who was murdered in Iraq. I understand that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked Iraq for an up-date?
Mr. Taniguchi: I am afraid that I cannot give you any up-date. We are still waiting to hear more from the Iraqi side.
Q: On that issue was there not a Japanese police criminal case that was opened on that? In other words is there a possibility that Japanese police will be involved on that case or that he could be extradited to Japan for trial?
Mr. Taniguchi: It is primarily the Iraqi side that is investigating the issues and we are still waiting for them to come to us.
- Questions concerning recent visit to Japan by Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Q: Concerning the recent visit to Japan by Mr. Mottaki. The Japanese Foreign Ministry was saying you wanted to be personally more receptive and eager to the international community and so this involved so far the Foreign Minister and Foreign Ministry having a meeting with the Iran, the Middle East. So, given this situation, do you think that the Foreign Ministry is satisfied with the results?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well what I can say to you on this is that no one or no country should be so naive to assume that there is going to be a quick resolution of any kind to convince the Iranian side to give up their nuclear activities.
When he met Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi he was told repeatedly by both how important it is for the Iranian Government to comply fully with the resolutions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and to stop all the uranium enrichment activities before regaining the credibility from the international community.
Also Prime Minister Koizumi and Foreign Minister Aso during the talks suggested that the window which is now open between the Russian side and the Iranian side is a very good opportunity to seek. I hope very much that those messages are conveyed fully to the Iranian side and Minister Mottaki will be relaying those to the President of Iran. I understand that Minister Mottaki said when he heard these remarks from Minister Aso and Prime Minister Koizumi, that he took it as good advice from a friend of Iran and a friend from the Far East. So that is what Minister Mottaki said, and I do hope that this friendly advice is going to make a difference.
- Question concerning India-US uranium enrichment agreement
Q: A related non-proliferation issue. Has Japan issued any sort of statement or a reaction either condoning or regretting the agreement that was announced yesterday by President George W. Bush in India regarding the uranium deal between the United States and India.
Mr. Taniguchi: I understand the IAEA came out as being in favor of the Indian decision to put its civilian reactors under strict investigation and checking of the IAEA or Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. That is an important step forward. Given that India is a fully functional democracy, and now India has pledged to go through rigorous checking processes of the IAEA the situation has become much better. But there has been no statement issued from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs but obviously as I am this is going to be a very good step forward and Japan is going to continue to watch very closely whether the Indian Government is going to do what they have pledged to do. The NPT regime is a vital part of the international community and Japan has been very much interested in maintaining it in good terms.
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