Press Conference 11 April 2006
- Visit to Japan by Brazilian cabinet mission
- The Fifth Meeting of the Governmental Consultations on the Legal Framework concerning Trilateral Investment among Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and the Governmental Mechanism for the Improvement of Business Environment
- The 1st Japan-Russia Mixed Cultural Commission
- Questions concerning third round of negotiations of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
- Questions concerning husband of Ms. Megumi Yokota
- Question concerning FTA proposal by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
- Questions concerning bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD)
- Follow-up questions concerning the Fifth Meeting of the Governmental Consultations on the Legal Framework concerning Trilateral Investment among Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and the Governmental Mechanism for the Improvement of Business Environment
- Questions concerning Japan's policy on the Hamas government
- Question concerning security situation in Iraq
- Question concerning Japan-Palestine energy talks
- Visit to Japan by Brazilian cabinet mission
Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good afternoon, thank you very much for coming. As usual I will give you an idea about what is happening at the moment before taking your questions.
Three ministers from the Federative Republic of Brazil are now in Tokyo. They are Minister of Foreign Affairs Celso Amorim, Minister of Development, Industry, and Trade Luiz Fernando Furlan, and Minister of Communications Helio Costa. They came to Japan on 9 April and are due to depart on 13 April.
The key objective of the visit is to strengthen bilateral economic relations, especially to consult with appropriate senior officials on the Japanese side concerning the issue of adopting a digital TV system and of exporting ethanol to Japan.
During their stay in Japan, the mission will pay a courtesy call on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and will have talks separately with Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Toshihiro Nikai, and Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications and Minister of State for Privatization of the Postal Services Heizo Takenaka.
- The Fifth Meeting of the Governmental Consultations on the Legal Framework concerning Trilateral Investment among Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and the Governmental Mechanism for the Improvement of Business Environment
Mr. Taniguchi: Item number two is about a trilateral meeting among Japan, the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) that is now taking place in Seoul, ROK. That is the Fifth Meeting of the Governmental Consultations on the Legal Framework concerning Trilateral Investment among Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and the Governmental Mechanism for the Improvement of Business Environment. This Meeting started today, 11 April, and is going to end on 13 April.
This Meeting is being attended on the Japanese side by Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Bureau Satoru Sato of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Director-General for Trade Policy Seiichi Nagatsuka of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry; on the Chinese side by Deputy Director-General of the Department of Foreign Investment Administration Sun Peng of the Ministry of Commerce; on the ROK side by Deputy Director-General of the Bilateral Trade Bureau Hong Ji-in of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
These consultations were established by the "Action Strategy on Trilateral Cooperation among China, Japan and Korea," formulated at the summit meeting among Japan, China and the ROK, held in Vientiane in November 2004. The First Meeting was held in May last year in Beijing, the Second in August in Seoul, the Third in October in Tokyo and the Fourth in November in Xiamen, China to discuss the legal framework concerning trilateral investment among the three countries and measures to improve the business environment for Investment.
At the Fifth Meeting, the participants are continuing discussions on the start of the consultations on trilateral investment agreement, based on the discussions held at the Fourth Meeting in November last year, and are discussing the efforts that Japan, China and the ROK will each start for the improvement of the business environment.
Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
Related Information (Japan-ROK Relations) - The 1st Japan-Russia Mixed Cultural Commission
Mr. Taniguchi: Just one more, and that is about the 1st Japan-Russia Mixed Cultural Commission meeting to be held on 12 April at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo.
This meeting is going to be attended by Director-General of Public and Cultural Affairs Masaki Okada of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Agency for Cultural Affairs, and the Japan Foundation. From the Russian side, Director of the First Asian Department Vnukov Konstantin Vasilevich of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and others from Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and Mass Communication, Ministry of Education and Science, Russia-Japan Society, and the Russian Embassy in Tokyo are going to attend.
This is actually the first Japan-Russia Mixed Cultural Commission meeting, which was agreed to be launched by both Governments when they signed the agreement about cultural exchanges between Japan and the Russian Federation. They will be talking about a host of issues such as art and cultural exchange, people-to-people exchange, academic exchange and so on.
- Questions concerning third round of negotiations of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement
Q: Can you say anything at all about the Japan-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) dialogue that is going on?
Mr. Taniguchi: I do not have any update that I can give you at the moment.
Q: What has been said so far?
Mr. Taniguchi: The third round of negotiations of the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership (AJCEP) Agreement is being held to discuss, overall, how to enhance the economic ties between ASEAN nations and Japan, and certainly not just trade and investment. They are reviewing the overall situation in the region. This is also important from the perspective of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs because in December you may recall that an important gathering was launched, i.e. the East Asia Summit (EAS), and the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is putting a lot of weight on its successful launch and continuation. So obviously they are talking about that as well.
Q: Is this part of a process towards an eventual free trade agreement (FTA) between Japan and the ASEAN countries?
Mr. Taniguchi: That is part of it, yes. Japan is in the course of launching an ASEAN-wide economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Japan, so that is obviously the biggest topic.
Q: What does it hope to achieve in this particular meeting?
Mr. Taniguchi: When it comes to EPA, that is a broader concept than FTA, and if you want to have an FTA with any country, this is a daunting task that takes months and sometimes longer than that. When it comes to EPA, it takes even longer. So this is just a part of a long continuation of dialogue. They are aiming to have the agreement as soon as possible, but I do not think it will materialize anytime soon.
Q: So it is a dialogue and not a formal negotiating process at this stage?
Mr. Taniguchi: I think so, that is my understanding.
- Questions concerning husband of Ms. Megumi Yokota
Q: Can I ask you about the news report of the husband of Ms. Megumi Yokota. First of all, has this been confirmed by the Japanese Government?
Mr. Taniguchi: No, it has not been confirmed. I do not know who is talking about this, but as far as governmental effort to verify the connection, nothing concrete has been found and so I cannot say anything.
Q: The Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) reported on this as its top news this afternoon, and they had a reporter at the Prime Minister's Office. It appeared that it was confirmed.
Mr. Taniguchi: No, that is not the case.
- Question concerning FTA proposal by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Q: The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) produced a proposal last week for a 60-nation FTA or whatever you want to call it, which seems in a way to cut across things like the ASEAN-Japan EPA. Is this purely a METI initiative? I am a little confused as to where the imitative is supposed to be coming from. Can you cast any light on that at all?
Mr. Taniguchi: I am personally confused as well. Having said that, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Nikai has proposed his own proposal and there is a consultation process going on involving relevant ministries, of course, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and Ministry of Finance. The aim is actually identical, to create an ASEAN-wide plus India, Commonwealth of Australia, and New Zealand free trade economic zone, which has to be open and transparent and which has to be driven by internationally accepted principles with a principle of democracy. I think we are headed in the same or almost identical direction, but I have to examine what METI is talking about. The fact of the matter is that the proposal itself is not so detailed which would allow you to scrutinize the difference if any between the two proposals.
- Questions concerning bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD)
Q: I understand there are several sideline bilateral meetings. Is there anything from those talks that you can talk about? Any new ideas that have been floating around?
Mr. Taniguchi: I have to disappoint you because even if I knew, it is not in the interest of the participants of the track-two dialogue to tell you anything in my capacity as a government spokesperson. I can only say that this morning, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Christopher Hill of the United States (US), Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Kim Gye Gwan of North Korea, and Deputy Foreign Minister Chun Young Woo of the ROK each have made their views clear on the Northeast Asian security situation. On what they have said this morning, I do not think I can tell you anything.
Q: Is this about bilateral meetings or are you talking about the conference itself?
Mr. Taniguchi: At the conference, there was a session involving these three gentlemen, giving them each an opportunity to talk about their views on the Northeast Asia security situation. I think the session is titled, "National Perspectives and Northeast Asia Security."
Q: This is the meeting that is going on at Mita Kaigisho?
Mr. Taniguchi: It is indeed, yes.
Q: Is there a connection with the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF)?
Mr. Taniguchi: No, I do not think so.
Q: Did Mr. Hill have an opportunity to speak with Mr. Kim of North Korea?
Mr. Taniguchi: I understand that has been discussed, but Mr. Hill, as I understand, is not interested in meeting his counterpart from North Korea unless it is going to be unconditional and North Korea is putting a condition before anything happens, namely, for the US to give up its financial regulations over money laundering affairs involving the bank in Macao.
Q: Regarding the talks by the negotiators of the Six-Party Talks, I do not hear much about Russia's involvement. Is the Russian chief negotiator here for the conference as well?
Mr. Taniguchi: I have no knowledge about it, I am sorry.
Q: So there are no plans for Director-General of the Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Kenichiro Sasae of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet his Six-Party Talks Russian counterpart?
Mr. Taniguchi: I do not think it is scheduled.
Q: So far, Japan's meetings have been with the chief negotiators from North Korea, China, and the ROK. With the US, has that happened already?
Mr. Taniguchi: I think Mr. Sasae has met Mr. Hill albeit for a brief period, but I have to check. You will hear soon about whether it has happened, and if so, what they have discussed.
Q: Do you know how long Mr. Kim of North Korea will be in Tokyo?
Mr. Taniguchi: The meeting that he is supposed to attend is due to end this afternoon. So immediately after this, I think he will depart.
- Follow-up questions concerning the Fifth Meeting of the Governmental Consultations on the Legal Framework concerning Trilateral Investment among Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, and the Governmental Mechanism for the Improvement of Business Environment
Q: On this trilateral China-Japan-ROK investment framework, I was kind of curious as to why it is being done on a trilateral basis. I mean presumably the investment condition is very different in China than in the ROK. What are the advantages of doing it on a trilateral basis?
Mr. Taniguchi: As far as I know, firstly it consumes less amount of time because Japan and the ROK have similar sets of agendas and requests to China. From the Chinese perspective, also, if it is done in a trilateral fashion, it would make the discussion process more effective and streamlined. I believe there is benefit for each of the three nations to sit together rather than meeting on a bilateral basis.
Q: Is the eventual intention to have a trilateral investment treaty or two bilateral treaties?
Mr. Taniguchi: Good question, I do not have knowledge about it. It is based on the action plan among Japan, China, and the ROK about various economic issues. The action plan was adopted in November 2004, as I said, at the summit meeting among these three nations held in Vientiane. As for what sort of end results they are looking at, I do not have the information about it now.
Let me also add that they are supposed to report to the ministerial-level meeting among the three nations on what sort of developments they have achieved.
Related Information (Japan-China Relations)
Related Information (Japan-ROK Relations) - Questions concerning Japan's policy on the Hamas government
Q: What is your updated policy if any towards the Hamas government?
Mr. Taniguchi: About Hamas, the Japanese view is that so far as humanitarian concerns are involved, there has to be a hand extended by Japan to support them, and so we are not giving up humanitarian support to the Palestinian region. Other than that, we are watching very much closely what sort of policies the Hamas government is going to have vis-à-vis Israel and the need to give up violent means to pursue their goals.
Q: If you watch the news you will obviously see that the violent means are done by Israel rather than Hamas, especially yesterday according to various Arabic reports and Hamas and Palestinian statements. There were around 1,000 missiles fired at Gaza. So why do you ignore the violence by Israel and focus only on the so-called violence by Hamas?
Mr. Taniguchi: It is not that the Japanese Government is focusing only on the violent means that the Hamas government may not want to give up. We condemn violent means conducted by anyone, anywhere, anytime, and there is no question about it. So we are sending, on a regular basis, a special envoy to the region. All the time we are sending a clear message that we condemn any violent means by either side, to the Israelis as well.
Q: So I understand from your answer that you condemn yesterday's violence and missile-firing by Israel.
Mr. Taniguchi: Yes.
Related Information (Japan-Palestinian Authorities Relations) - Question concerning security situation in Iraq
Q: How do you evaluate the security situation in Iraq now? Do you still consider that it is favorable to have Japanese Self-Defense Forces (SDF) staying there?
Mr. Taniguchi: The fact of the matter is that it benefits no one if Japan withdraws its humanitarian support troops from Iraq, especially given the timing in which the Iraqi people are undergoing the most critical period of their nation-building process. The Japanese service men and women are there not to shoot a bullet but to support the Iraqi nation-building process. Their nation-building process is going through one of the most difficult junctures, so in order for us to show our resolve to help them rebuild their nation, we must be there now.
Having said that, three conditions exist about which all of us are talking-whether or not an effective government is going to be created and how soon; what other coalition member countries like Australia and the United Kingdom (UK) are doing and how they are evaluating the situation; and what sort of policing activities and policing institutions are established in Iraq so that the situation on the ground is going to be stabilized. Those are the overall three criteria that we are looking at and they have not changed.
- Question concerning Japan-Palestine energy talks
Q: Do you have any update or more details about the Palestinian ministers' talks in terms of energy with their Japanese counterparts?
Mr. Taniguchi: No, I have got no knowledge about it.
Back to Index