Press Conference, 13 February 2007

Visit to Japan of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of the People's Republic of China
Visit to Japan by President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic
Visit to Japan by Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu of Romania
Visit by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to the Republic of India
Questions concerning the Six-Party Talks
Question concerning the explosion outside Camp Zama

I. Visit to Japan of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of the People's Republic of China

Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi: Today, my apologies for changing the time for the conference.

My opening statement comprises several announcements on the visits to and fro of foreign and Japanese leaders.

First, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing of the People's Republic of China is coming to Tokyo on Thursday, 15 February. He is scheduled to leave on Saturday, 17 February.

I do not have his detailed itinerary handy at the moment, but apart from an obvious meeting with Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso, Foreign Minister Li is going to pay courtesy calls on other leading government figures, and have exchanges with political party leaders and others. There is no written document planned to be signed between the two countries. It is basically for both sides to pave the way for Premier Wen Jiabao to visit Japan later, in April.

Related Information (Press Release)

II. Visit to Japan by President Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic

Mr. Taniguchi: Now you may recall that shortly after Foreign Minister Aso made a speech on 30 November last year on what I have been calling Japan's AFP initiative, or the initiative to create the Arc of Freedom and Prosperity, as part of the initiative, he made visits in early January to Romania, the Republic of Bulgaria, the Republic of Hungary, and the Slovak Republic.

It was basically to boost already-good relations Japan has with those Central European countries, which are also new members of the European Union, while confirming the set of fundamental values that both sides, Japan and those countries, share and cherish.

This time from the Czech Republic, President Vaclav Klaus is now visiting Japan. He and his wife, Mrs. Livia Klausova, accompanied by a suite comprising the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Head of the Office of the President, and others arrived this morning in Tokyo. Before heading back to the Czech Republic on Friday, 16 February, President and Mrs. Klausova will make a state call on Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan tomorrow. Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress will host a court luncheon in honor of the President and Mrs. Klausova the same day.

The visit is also to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of Czech-Japan diplomatic relations, and for the President to familiarize himself with Japan's culture and business, which is why he will go have a look at Tokyo Stock Exchange, attend a business-related symposium, and fly over to the western part of Japan to see the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, and visit Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University before leaving Japan from Oita. Both Ritsumeikan and Waseda Universities will give honorary doctoral degrees to the President.

You may know that Panasonic, Denso, and other Japanese companies have increased of late their investments in the country. The Czech Republic is also taking up the chairmanship for this year for what is called the V4, or Visegrad Four nations, with which the Japanese Government is enhancing mutual cooperation, again as part of the AFP initiative.

Related Information (Press Release)

III. Visit to Japan by Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu of Romania

Mr. Taniguchi: Also, from Romania, which entered the EU on 1 January this year, Prime Minister Calin Popescu-Tariceanu and his wife Mrs. Ioana Popescu-Tariceanu, along with a suite comprising the Minister for Transportation, Construction, Tourism, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, and others will come to Japan at the invitation of the Government of Japan on Wednesday, 21 February.

Mr. and Mrs. Popescu-Tariceanu will be received in audience by Their Majesties Emperor and Empress of Japan during their stay, on 23 February. The Prime Minister will also meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the previous day, 22 February, before joining a dinner hosted by Foreign Minister Aso. They are going to leave Japan on Saturday, 24 February. As this will be his first visit to Japan, I hope he and his wife will enjoy their stay in Tokyo.

Related Information (Press Release)

IV. Visit by former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to the Republic of India

Mr. Taniguchi: There is actually one more announcement to make, that is about former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's visit to India to officially launch the Japan-India Friendship Year, but I would rather ask you to see the Ministry's website, which has already uploaded the notice.

Related Information (Press Release)

V. Questions concerning the Six-Party Talks

Q: I have a couple of questions regarding the Six-Party Talks that are taking place right now. Prime Minister Abe has repeatedly said that Japan will not participate in direct fuel aid to North Korea if the abduction issue makes no progress or is not resolved. My first question is, what is the Government of Japan's definition of a resolution on the abduction issue and progress on the abduction issue? The first bilateral meetings in ten months took place yesterday. They do not consider that progress in itself?

Mr. Taniguchi: That has been better than nothing, and better because it seems that finally North Korea has come to terms with the importance of talking directly with the Japanese Government about bilateral issues, including the abduction issue of course.

In order to judge in your question what defines the progress of the abduction issue, they have to come to the Japanese side to solve the unsolved questions, like the whereabouts of some of the victims, including Megumi Yokota, the famous girl who was abducted when she was 13 years old, and the so-called remains that the North Korea Government had given to the Japanese side previously should be accounted for in terms of whose bones and ashes and remains they were.

Those are obviously what I can call a benchmark with which you can see whether or not progress has been made about the abduction issue, but the bottom line is nothing of that sort has happened yet, so the position of the Japanese Government has not changed at all; namely, that we cannot take part in energy support.

Q: How is the Government of Japan responding to a delegate from the Republic of Korea (ROK) who made remarks regarding splitting up cost of economic assistance and energy assistance to North Korea evenly?

Mr. Taniguchi: It was not an authorized statement, and what is going on in Beijing is to finalize the statement, so I would rather wait a little bit more to see what sort of wording has been adopted in the finalized statement.

Q: Would the Government consider that indirect aid, as Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki and, I believe, Prime Minister Abe have commented on?

Mr. Taniguchi: We are not excluding that possibility. In order for the energy support to actually take place, you have got to do a lot of things: field surveys, etc., and we have never said that we are not interested even in those sorts of actions.

Q: I have another question pertaining to the same topic. Earlier today in the Diet budgetary session, Mr. Seiji Maehara of the Democratic Party of Japan asked Prime Minister Abe whether it was in the national security interest to remain outside the Six-Party Talks because of the abduction issue. How does the Government see Japan's insistence on taking care of the abduction issue within the Six-Party Talks framework in national security terms?

Mr. Taniguchi: With all due respect to such an informed politician as Mr. Maehara about security issues, I have to be very much opposed to his assertion that Japan is pretty much out of the loop of the Six-Party Talks framework. Indeed, what took place in Beijing was one versus five; Pyongyang was isolated with their daunting request, and there was no such thing as a split between Japan and the rest of the five nations (the Russian Federation, China, the ROK, and the US). If you look at how closely Japan collaborated with the US Government, it was almost seamless. So Mr. Maehara's assertion that Japan remains outside of the dialogue is, I would have to say, a gross misunderstanding.

Q: A couple of working groups are being set up, and I understand that the normalization of US-North Korea relations is going to be one of them. Is that going to be the main venue where the Government of Japan is going to press the abduction issue?

Mr. Taniguchi: I would imagine so. The Government of Japan has continued to say that our doors are being kept open for the North Korean side, and if indeed the bilateral working group is going to be set up, then there is going to be an opportunity for Japan to continue to talk to North Korea directly, and that is going to be the main venue for the Japanese Government to press this issue ahead.

Q: So that is going to be within the Six-Party Talks framework, abduction, missiles, etc. Are these working groups going to be bilateral ones?

Mr. Taniguchi: It will depend on the issue. When it comes to denuclearization, that is an all-party effort.

Q: So depending on the working groups, some nations might not be involved?

Mr. Taniguchi: When it comes to strictly bilateral relationships like a North Korea and Japan working group, I do not think that a third party is going to be involved.

Q: So no one is going to be chairing, per se, these working groups?

Mr. Taniguchi: That is a good question. When it comes to the detailed modality of the working groups, I have to say that I am not well-briefed about the latest developments, and so I had perhaps better come back to you later with a more concrete picture.

Q: In regards to the economic assistance and energy assistance, if in fact the abduction issue moves forward, is the Government of Japan ready to make some sort of financial commitment?

Mr. Taniguchi: The roadmap is there. The final exit is that both Governments are going to normalize the bilateral diplomatic relationship. That being the final exit, there must take place a lot of things in between. If indeed, and I have to say that it is a huge "if," if indeed North Korea is going to be more honest about what has happened for the victims of abduction, there must be room for the improvement of the bilateral relationship.

Q: The other four parties in the Six-Party Talks, excluding Japan and North Korea, are the US, Russia, China, and the ROK. Are they willing to support Japan in its push for resolution of the abduction issue?

Mr. Taniguchi: That is my understanding. The Japanese Government's position has been well-understood by the rest of the dialogue.

Q: Is there a possibility that the sanctions might be loosened if North Korea does allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to come?

Mr. Taniguchi: I think it is still too early to say anything about that.

Q: This could be off the record, but I heard that the draft of the joint declaration that they are working on may be released at about 17:30 today. Can you confirm?

Mr. Taniguchi: Probably.

Q: Are they meeting at 17:30 or are they announcing it at 17:30?

Mr. Taniguchi: I do not know. The meeting to finalize the statement is going to start sometime soon, but how long it will take I do not know.

VI. Question concerning the explosion outside Camp Zama

Q: In regards to this explosion outside of Camp Zama the other day, we are now hearing news reports saying that some sort of underground Al Qaeda cells were involved in it.

Mr. Taniguchi: I am sorry, but I am not briefed on that.

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