Press Conference, 3 July 2007

Visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong of Viet Nam
Visit to the Italian Republic by Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya
Japan to Send Observers to the Ninth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU Summit)
Seminar on Prevention and Crisis Management of Chemical and Biological Terrorism
Questions concerning Japan-Myanmar relations

I. Visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong of Viet Nam

Assistant Press Secretary Noriyuki Shikata: Good afternoon. I have the initially four announcements to make. First is about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Truong Vinh Trong of Viet Nam.

This morning, Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Trong paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Abe and, following their exchanges, Prime Minister Abe welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister's delegation in their study of the Japanese judicial system. Establishing the rule of law is the basis for nation building, and this visit is therefore quite significant in this respect.

The Deputy Prime Minister conveyed the message of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung of Viet Nam, saying that his visit last October to Japan was wonderful and that he appreciated Prime Minister Abe's visit last November, and that Japan's aid to Viet Nam had significantly contributed to the political stability and economic development of Viet Nam today.

Deputy Prime Minister Trong referred to his expectations for Japan's assistance to Viet Nam in the judicial sector because, although Viet Nam has been successfully integrated into the international economy with its economic growth, its judicial sector is lagging behind. Prime Minister Abe expressed his intention to continue to support Vietnamese judicial reform as much as possible. Prime Minister Abe also mentioned that Japan's investment to Viet Nam has been increasing and that bilateral economic ties are in good condition, and he expressed his hope that the conclusion of the bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) now under negotiation will further strengthen economic ties. Prime Minister Abe also referred to expanded cooperation beyond bilateral relations in order to construct a strategic partnership; a point on which he is in agreement with Prime Minister Dung.

Deputy Prime Minister Trong expressed his confidence in the further deepening of relations toward strategic partnership and expressed his appreciation for the Japanese Government's serious deliberation of three projects in Viet Nam, i.e. the North-South high-speed railway, the North-South highway, and Hoa Lac high-tech park, which were taken up at the last summit meeting. Prime Minister Abe expressed his understanding of the importance of those three projects, and based upon the results of the ongoing survey, he expressed his intention of making progress on these.

II. Visit to the Italian Republic by Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Takeshi Iwaya

Mr. Shikata: Mr. Takeshi Iwaya, Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs has been on a visit to the Italian Republic from Sunday, 1 July until today, 3 July.

Today, 3 July, Mr. Iwaya, representing the Government of Japan, is attending the International Conference on the Rule of Law in Afghanistan, jointly hosted by the Government of Italy, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. In this conference, the participants are laying down a strategy to promote reform in the field of justice in Afghanistan and discussing a support mechanism for the reforms.

Mr. Iwaya is also exchanging opinions with key officials of the Government of Afghanistan on the situation in Afghanistan and is meeting with key officials of the Government of Italy.

Related Information (Press Release)

III. Japan to Send Observers to the Ninth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU Summit)

Mr. Shikata: Thirdly, as observers from the Government of Japan, Mr. Keitaro Sato, Ambassador in Charge of Conflict, Refugee-related Issues in Africa, and Special Envoy for UN Reform; and Mr. Kinichi Komano, Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia (concurrently Permanent Representative to the AU), are attending the Ninth Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, which is being held from Sunday, 1 July to today, 3 July in Accra, capital of the Republic of Ghana.

The Summit is attended by the leaders of 53 African countries/regions and AU member states, and they are mainly discussing a vision of the "United States of Africa," which is the main theme of this summit. The Japanese observers will meet African leaders attending the Summit and talk about Japan's assistance to Africa including the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), which will be held in late May next year, to encourage the African leaders to participate in it. The participants will also exchange views on bilateral relations, the regional situation, and Japan-African cooperation in the international arena, including UN Security Council reform.

Related Information (Press Release)

IV. Seminar on Prevention and Crisis Management of Chemical and Biological Terrorism

Mr. Shikata: Lastly, on the Seminar on Prevention and Crisis Management of Chemical and Biological Terrorism. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will jointly hold a seminar with the Government of Malaysia -- the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT) -- on 'Prevention and Crisis Management of Chemical and Biological Terrorism' for Asian countries from today, 3 July to Thursday, 5 July in Kuala Lumpur.

Approximately 30 participants from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea, who are in charge of counter-terrorism against chemical and biological terrorism, will attend this seminar. Experts from Japan, the US, and the Commonwealth of Australia will attend it as lecturers.

During the seminar, participants will exchange views, discuss and conduct a table-top exercise on how they would respond to a terrorist attack, under themes such as: chemical and biological threat evaluation, as well as prevention, counter-measures, and coordination among agencies concerned with terrorism to assure proper response in cases of chemical and biological terrorism.

At the APEC 2002 Summit, then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi announced that Japan would host seminars on CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) terrorism over the next five years to provide capacity-building assistance for the Asia-Pacific region through JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency). Translating this commitment into concrete projects, the first seminar was held in Tokyo in September 2003. The second and third were held in cooperation with SEARCCT in July 2004 and 2005. This will be the fifth seminar, following the fourth seminar which was held in July 2006.

Related Information (Press Release)

V. Questions concerning Japan-Myanmar relations

Q: I would like to ask some questions related to Union of Myanmar issues. Now, the Myanmar Government have announced that their National Convention's final section will be held on 18 July; this coming week. If the Myanmar Government implemented the seven-step roadmap, as they promised, I would like to know if there will be any changes in Japanese foreign policy towards Myanmar.

Mr. Shikata: As you well know, the Japanese Government has been engaged in dialogue with the Myanmar Government on the issues of national reconciliation which involves all the stakeholders, including Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, and we are expecting tangible progress in the democratization process. This is something that we think is very important for Myanmar to be accepted in the international community and that would be beneficial in the longer term in terms of Myanmar's integration with the other Asian economies and for its future economic growth.

At this juncture, given the situation surrounding Myanmar, we have thought very carefully when it comes to extending our official development assistance (ODA). We examine case by case when it comes to humanitarian assistance. In order to have a deepening of bilateral relations we think it is critically important that there is progress in the situation inside Myanmar.

Q: If the Myanmar Government held general elections without Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and without the NLD (National League for Democracy), what is your opinion?

Mr. Shikata: Of course, when it comes to the democratization process, we have to see how the process will develop. It is a bit hard to come up with comments on a hypothetical basis but, as I mentioned, we believe it is important that all the stakeholders should be involved and human rights should be respected. For that to happen we are willing to engage in dialogue with the Government of Myanmar. For example, in late May, Minister for Foreign Affairs Taro Aso met with Foreign Minister U Nyan Win of Myanmar in Hamburg on the margins of the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) foreign ministers' meeting. They met with each other for about an hour, discussing various issues surrounding bilateral relations as well as the situation in Myanmar.

Q: As you already know, last week three ministers, including the foreign minister, met with the US Assistant Secretary of State in Beijing by negotiation with the Chinese Government. According to some news reports, they discussed about Myanmar's political issues. I know that Japan is a very a close ally of the US, so the Japanese Government did know about this meeting. I would like to know your point of view on this meeting. I would also like to know how the Japanese Government will play their role if this meeting is good news.

Mr. Shikata: Generally speaking we discuss between the two governments--the US and Japan--issues beyond bilateral relations, which includes the situation in Southeast Asia. There is very good communication between the two governments.

On the issue of contact between the US and Myanmar officials, we think this is positive. We think it is important to engage in dialogue and we need to understand each other's points of view in order to overcome the differences. We think it is important to continue to engage in constructive dialogue. That is something, as I mentioned, the Japanese Government is interested in pursuing between Myanmar and Japan. In the case of Burma, we had maintained positive relations, so we want to continue the tradition. It is true that there are constraints and we want to overcome those constraints in order to realize the economic prosperity of Myanmar. The country is endowed with good resources and human resources. There is much potential for growth and if we could support that process in the future, that is something that we will be very much interested in but at this juncture, as I mentioned earlier, there are constraints.

Q: We are seeing that in recent years the Japanese Government has been accepting relatively more refugees from Myanmar and allowing them to stay in Japan. Is the Japanese Government's policy towards the refugees changing? Will Japan allow more refugees to live in the country? Could you please explain about that policy?

Mr. Shikata: When it comes to receiving refugees, I do not have the figures with me. I did not notice that there is a significant increase in the receiving of refugees in Japan. Of course, in the cases that our Government judges fair, there are cases that we accept refugees. I do not see a drastic change in terms of our refugee policy. When there are humanitarian issues there are factors from our point of view that we take into account. I am ready to take a look at the issue and I guess I will have an opportunity to discuss this with you again.

Q: You mean there is no significant case on Myanmar relating to refugee issues currently?

Mr. Shikata: Let me check the specifics. If I take a look at the actual statistics that could be the case, but I am not aware of a drastic increase of our receiving refugees from Myanmar.

Back to Index