Press Conference, 6 June 2006

Previous notices and announcements
New yen aid loan from the Government of Japan to the Government of the People's Republic of China
Notices and announcements
Question about relations between Japan and China

I. Previous notices and announcements

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Good morning. To start with let me tell you the following items are already up on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, they are:

The Central Asia plus Japan Dialogue: Action Plan
The candidacy of Dr. Shigeru Omi, World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for the Western Pacific for the post of Director-General of the WHO
Emergency grant aid in response to the earthquake disaster in Central Java, Republic of Indonesia, plus further updates of what Japan is doing in regard to the disaster relief in Indonesia.
Visit to Japan by Mr. Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation of the Republic of Djibouti
Speech by Mr. Taro Aso, Minister for Foreign Affairs, at the Japan National Press Club entitled "Central Asia as a Corridor of Peace and Stability"

II. New yen aid loan from the Government of Japan to the Government of the People's Republic of China

Mr. Taniguchi: Firstly, let me tell you also that this morning the Government of Japan has decided to provide the Government of the People's Republic of China with a new yen aid loan that amounts to, in dollar terms, US$662.84 million for FY2005. So that is the first new item that I should introduce to you.

III. Notices and announcements

Mr. Taniguchi: About the rest I will be brief, I will just read out the titles of the announcements.

The Fourth Meeting of the Japan-India Joint Study Group
Acceptance of the revision of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Treaty
Cultural grant aid to the Republic of Costa Rica for the Project for the Improvement of Musical Instruments of the National Center for Music
Signing of Agreement on Technical Cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Government of Sao Tome and Principe
Signing of Agreement on Technical Cooperation between the Government of Japan and the Government of the Republic of Uzbekistan
So those are the titles of the announcements and notices, if you are interested I will be happy to give you more details. But in the meantime I will take any questions please.

IV. Question about relations between Japan and China

Q: You mentioned the Japanese government's decision on lifting the freeze on China. I understand that when it was frozen, or at least when it was withheld, the Japanese side did not make much of it apparently because of the sharp deterioration, or so-called deterioration, between bilateral ties between Japan and China. The decision right now, is it a reflection of what Japan sees as an improvement of relations between Japan and China? Like with the recent meeting between the foreign ministers of Japan and China?

Mr. Taniguchi: During the meeting between the two foreign ministers from Japan and China there were many issues discussed, including points such as enhancing exchanges on all levels between the two governments. So you could say that the relationship between Japan and China is in good shape at the moment. (When it comes to) deciding whether Japan should provide aid loans to China (you may recall) it has already been decided that towards the year 2008 both the Chinese and Japanese governments have agreed to gradually reduce the amount of Japanese aid loans to China, and these will end in FY2008. So it was just a matter of timing, and I understand that the Japanese Government has reached a decision that it is just the right timing to give this amount of aid loan to China. But, as you know, what actually was discussed in the meeting is not supposed to be open to the public and not supposed to be leaked outside of the meeting. So I do not know for sure what they actually decided and what they actually talked about when deciding to provide this amount of aid loan to China.

Q: So when you say a matter of the right timing, what are the conditions for the right time? Are you saying there was an improvement in relations between Japan and China in terms of other outstanding issues?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not want to be specific about naming which is right and not right. I am not talking about Chinese and Japanese relationships, including people-to-people connections and business-to-business relationships. As has been said many times before, those overall relationships have never been bad, but in terms of government-to-government relations you could say that there has been a degree of improvement, and I was referring to that.

Q: With regard to the next meeting, Foreign Minister Aso has apparently indicated that he may meet his counterpart in mid-July. Are there preparations for that?

Mr. Taniguchi: I understand that Foreign Minister Aso referred to that in one of his latest speeches, but I cannot tell you whether or not it is already scheduled or when it is going to take place. Everything is very much in flux.

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