Press Conference 24 March 2006
- Ambassador to Iraq Hisao Yamaguchi meets Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq
- Meeting between Senior Vice-Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Prime Minister Mari Bin Hamud Alkatiri of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste
- Visit to Japan by Principal Mohammed Ali Mohammed Mahdi Mohammed Redha Samawi of Samawah Islamic School
- Visit to Japan by a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, the Russian Parliament's Upper House
- Cultural grant aid to Myanmar
- Project aid for the Batuta National Foundation of the Juvenile and Infant Symphony Orchestra, Republic of Columbia
- Grant aid to Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
- Follow-up question concerning Ambassador to Iraq Hisao Yamaguchi's meeting with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq
- Follow-up question concerning visit to Japan by Principal Mohammed Ali Mohammed Mahdi Mohammed Redha Samawi of Samawah Islamic School
- Question concerning military alignment senior level talks
- Follow-up questions concerning cultural grant aid to Myanmar
- Question concerning abduction case of Mr. Tadaaki Hara
- Questions concerning yen loans to the People's Republic of China
- Ambassador to Iraq Hisao Yamaguchi meets Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq
Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon. Let me start today's conference.
First, about the meeting that Japan's new Ambassador to Iraq Hisao Yamaguchi had with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq, who actually came to Japan in November. The meeting took place on 22 March in Baghdad, Iraq. That was the first meeting that Ambassador Yamaguchi had with Foreign Minister Zebari upon his arrival in Iraq.
From Foreign Minister Zebari there were a couple of remarks, such as that he welcomed Mr. Yamaguchi as Japan's new ambassador to Iraq and that Iraq has been very much appreciative of the support that the Japanese Government has provided to Iraq, which was going through a difficult period of time, and that Iraqi people will not forget the support. From now on, he said he would do his utmost to give support to Ambassador Yamaguchi.
Foreign Minister Zebari also said that they are undergoing a process of constructing a new Iraq, and there have been accomplishments, but it is also true that there are forces of resistance. But, the view that Iraq is in the middle of a civil war is pointless and there is no vacuum of power. All the political forces are encouraged to join together to establish a legitimate government for the next four years. Foreign Minister Zebari also said that he is well aware that it is vitally important for Iraq to have a unified cohesive government.
So that is what Foreign Minister Zebari of Iraq said to Ambassador to Iraq Yamaguchi of Japan.
Ambassador Yamaguchi said in response to Foreign Minister Zebari, something along the lines of the following:
The fact that Foreign Minister Zebari granted Ambassador Yamaguchi an early meeting upon his arrival to Iraq is testimony that Iraq views Japan very highly. For that matter the Japanese Government views Iraq as one of the most important countries, and Japan's commitment to a new born Iraq is long standing and rock solid. So that is what Ambassador Yamaguchi said.
He also added that regarding the establishment of a new government the world over is watching with a keen interest and it is vitally important that under a unity among the populace a new government should be established as soon as possible.
- Meeting between Senior Vice-Minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki and Prime Minister Mari Bin Hamud Alkatiri of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste
Mr. Taniguchi: Second there was also a meeting on 23 March from 17:30 in Tokyo, between Senior Vice-Minister Shiozaki and Prime Minister Mari Bin Hamud Alkatiri of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.
During the meeting from the East Timor side there was recognition with appreciation of the support that the Government of Japan has provided to East Timor. From Senior Vice-Minister Shiozaki there was a remark that the Japanese Government will continue to pledge support to the nation building of East Timor and he added that Japan is willing to give financial support that amounts to up to US$20 million.
- Visit to Japan by Principal Mohammed Ali Mohammed Mahdi Mohammed Redha Samawi of Samawah Islamic School
Mr. Taniguchi: Principal Mohammed Ali Mohammed Mahdi Mohammed Redha Samawi of Samawah Islamic School is visiting Japan at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
During his stay in Japan, Mr. Samawi will have talks with officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Defense Agency of Japan and members of Islamic groups. He will also tour Tokyo and Kyoto.
Mr. Samawi, an influential religious leader in Samawah, is very much active in religious duties such as delivering public preaches, solving citizens' problems, and caring for orphans. Mr. Samawi has been invited to Japan under a Ministry of Foreign Affairs program and is planning to meet with a host of officials and to visit industrial, traditional and cultural places.
- Visit to Japan by a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, the Russian Parliament's Upper House
Mr. Taniguchi: Next, from 25 March (Sat) through to 30 March (Thu), a delegation of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Financial Markets and Monetary Circulation Committee of the Russian Parliament's Upper House, the Federation Council, headed by Chairman Margelov Mikhail Vitalievich of the Foreign Affairs Committee, will visit Japan at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The delegation will pay a courtesy call on Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso and will exchange views with officials concerned from the Diet, economic circles, and others.
- Cultural grant aid to Myanmar
Mr. Taniguchi: Next, an exchange of notes was conducted on 24 March (Fri) in Yangon, Myanmar about Japan's cultural grant aid which amounts to 42.50 million yen. That is specially geared to upgrading the Japanese language facilities at the University of Foreign Languages. So the purpose is to enhance the capacity for the University to teach Japanese language to the students.
- Project aid for the Batuta National Foundation of the Juvenile and Infant Symphony Orchestra, Republic of Columbia
Mr. Taniguchi: The next two items are about official development assistance (ODA).
The first one is about a project for the improvement of musical instruments of the Batuta National Foundation of the Juvenile and Infant Symphony Orchestra in the Republic of Columbia. The amount is up to 42.10 million yen.
- Grant aid to Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Mr. Taniguchi: The last one is large in size, the amount is up to 21,559 million yen and it is to the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The exchange of notes is to be conducted 24 March (Fri) between Japan and the Sri Lankan Government.
It is basically to help support the construction of port facilities in a port city called Galle. With this the total amount of ODA that Japan has so far provided to Sri Lanka amounts to 682.018 billion yen.
- Follow-up question concerning Ambassador to Iraq Hisao Yamaguchi's meeting with Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq
Q: You mentioned Mr. Yamaguchi and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari's meeting. During the meeting I understand that Mr. Zebari said that Iraq is not in a civil war. I was wondering what is the Japanese Foreign Ministry's stance on such a claim? I think that I understand that the claims were made by the former Iraqi Prime Minister. What is the view of the Foreign Ministry?
Mr. Taniguchi: Let me make it clear that Mr. Yamaguchi did not say anything about whether Iraq is in the middle of a civil war. That remark came from Foreign Minister Zebari. But I can only guess given that there has been information in the world media that Iraq is actually in the middle of a civil war and Foreign Minister Zebari wanted to correct that assumption by saying that there is no vacuum of power. We do not have a position as such, but the Japanese Government hopes very much that a legitimate government is going to be formed as soon as possible given that an important election took place in December last year, so we are encouraging the Iraqi people to form a government as soon as possible. So it is to be hoped that the political process in Iraq is going to proceed smoothly and Japan's diplomatic purpose is centered on that specific point at the moment.
- Follow-up question concerning visit to Japan by Principal Mohammed Ali Mohammed Mahdi Mohammed Redha Samawi of Samawah Islamic School
Q: On a related matter you mentioned that the Principle of Samawah Islamic School is coming to Japan. What is his specific purpose of coming to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?
Mr. Taniguchi: He is going to meet many people here at the Foreign Ministry and the Defense Agency but other than that I do not have any detailed information.
- Question concerning military alignment senior level talks
Q: On military alignment senior level talks scheduled for 23 and 24 March, do you have any information, is it still ongoing right now?
Mr. Taniguchi: I am not sure if it has ended or not and what came out of these meetings I cannot tell you now.
- Follow-up questions concerning cultural grant aid to Myanmar
Q: I would just like to get some background on the exchange of notes for the grant aid to Myanmar. What is the current status right now of the Foreign Ministry? In other words, I believe that Japan recommended a freeze a few years ago, so what is the current status?
Mr. Taniguchi: That the Japanese Government has decided to give this amount of ODA to Myanmar speaks for itself. We are not freezing ODA to Myanmar and if you look at the purpose of this new ODA project that the Government of Japan is conducting it is to enhance the education of the Japanese language at one of the biggest foreign language universities in Myanmar. In Myanmar there are actually two universities specializing in foreign language education. In this University there are approximately 8,000 students learning Japanese but there is an absolute shortage of Japanese language learning materials and especially the audio and visual equipment is very much in shortage. So taking these things into consideration I think the Japanese Government has decided to give a cultural grant aid to Myanmar.
Q: So it means that cultural grant aid will be different to other forms of ODA grants?
Mr. Taniguchi: Generally speaking cultural grant aid is a one off event whereas a long-term yen loan for ODA is to commit Japan's government in supporting the recipient governments' projects. So, as a general remark, there are two different types of ODA projects for that matter.
- Question concerning abduction case of Mr. Tadaaki Hara
Q: Unrelated to the announcements, for the last few days we have seen some developments in the abduction issue with the Osaka investigation scene. I was wondering what the Foreign Ministry's view on this was and I would like to get an idea of the timing of this considering Japan has just had bilateral talks with North Korea?
Mr. Taniguchi: As has been mentioned repeatedly by many government officials, including myself, toward North Korea the strategy of the Government of Japan is two-fold; dialogue and pressure. But you do not necessarily have to put this crime into that context. A crime is a crime and I understand the Japanese police are conducting normal duties as should be involved in these cases. The abduction issue is needless to say one of the most important issues on the Japan-North Korea policies and the Japanese Government has repeatedly brought this issue forward to a number of platforms, such as the United Nations (UN), Six-Party Talks, and bilateral talks between Japan and North Korea, and so on and so forth.
But other than that I am not in a position to make any sort of comment on the investigation that is actually going on.
- Questions concerning yen loans to the People's Republic of China
Q: Yesterday it was reported that Japan would freeze fresh yen loans to the People's Republic of China for the new fiscal year. I would like to hear the reaction of the Foreign Ministry and how it sees the reports on this?
Mr. Taniguchi: Well thank you very much for your question because it gives me an opportunity to try to correct the perception that it has been frozen. There has been nothing like Japan's yen loan being frozen. What has happened is the following:
Normally at the end of the fiscal year, you decide whether you have an agreement with the recipient government about the ODA; the amount, the project, and process, and so on and so forth. That will be written into a document. There are always exchanges of notes preceding the actual money flow. What has simply happened is that over the last FY2005, which is going to end at the end of this month, there has been no exchange of notes between the two governments of Japan and China. This means that the money registered as part of FY2005 budget is not going to be allocated for aiding China.
In addition, I have to mention that both governments, Japan and China, are putting a brake on the amount of ODA that is going out to China. It has been agreed by both governments that by the start of the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, the amount of new yen loans is going to be zero. So this is part of the process of the amount of money becoming smaller and smaller. I said yesterday over the Internet chat conference that please do not make such a fuss over this because both governments have already agreed to reduce the amount and so the amount is getting nearer and nearer to the zero point. That is context number one.
Context number two is that the Chinese Government has been notified and they are aware of that; that the Japanese and Chinese Government cannot have an exchange of notes for the FY2005.
So number one, "frozen" is not an appropriate word, if I may say so and second, it does not necessarily and automatically mean that the money flow is actually going to be stopped. The money flow is going out without interruption so if and once we can have an exchange of notes in the next fiscal year, the money will also flow accordingly. That is what the situation is about and it is a complicated thing and I would like to ask you not to simplify the matter so much.
Q: I have heard reports that China has protested over this.
Mr. Taniguchi: The Government of Japan has not heard about it.
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