Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 12 November 2009

Foreign Minister Okada's attendance at the APEC Ministerial meetings
US President Barack Obama visits Japan this week
Japan welcomes the formation of the Lebanese Cabinet
Questions concerning President Obama's visit to Japan
Questions concerning assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan
Further questions concerning President Obama's visit to Japan

I. Foreign Minister Okada's attendance at the APEC Ministerial meetings

Deputy Press Secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura: Good afternoon, everybody. Let me start with a couple of announcements.

First, Minister Katsuya Okada has returned from Singapore this morning after participating in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministerial meetings. In Singapore, Minister Okada met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last night. The Minister and the Secretary agreed that both sides would work together to have a successful visit to Japan by President Obama. They also confirmed that the Japan-US alliance should be further strengthened through the summit meeting between the Prime Minister and the President, which is planned for Friday.

The Minister and the Secretary discussed bilateral, regional and global issues. On Afghanistan, Secretary Clinton expressed her appreciation for Japan's new assistance program for Afghanistan, amounting to a maximum of 5 billion dollars over the next five years. The Secretary said that Japan's new plan includes very important programs such as supporting the National Police, reintegration of grassroots level soldiers, and Afghanistan's sustainable nation-building efforts. Minister Okada said that Japan would promote its assistance toward Afghanistan by cooperating closely with the United States.

Related Information (APEC 2009)

II. US President Barack Obama visits Japan this week

Mr. Kawamura: On US President Obama's visit to Japan, the President will arrive in Tokyo tomorrow afternoon. I think you have his itinerary. Upon the President's arrival, Prime Minister Hatoyama and President Obama will hold a summit meeting and after that, a joint press conference will be held. Then, the Prime Minister will host a dinner for the President. On the next morning of the 14th, President Obama is expected to deliver a policy speech on Asia and after that Their Majesties will host a lunch for the President. Then, the president will leave Japan.

III. Japan welcomes the formation of the Lebanese Cabinet

Mr. Kawamura: And, lastly on Lebanon. Japan welcomes the announcement of the new cabinet headed by Prime Minister Saad Hariri and appreciates that all parties concerned in Lebanon have reached the formation of the cabinet through dialogues and consultations.

We hope that Lebanon will consolidate its political stability and achieve economic development under the guidance of the new cabinet.

That is all from me. Now, I will take your questions.

Related Information (Press Release)

IV. Questions concerning President Obama's visit to Japan

Q: Have you been briefed on any of the topics that will be discussed by Prime Minister Hatoyama and President Obama?

Mr. Kawamura: Okay, for the summit meeting, they will speak about the Japan-US alliance, as Minister Okada said clearly in Singapore last night, the two leaders will discuss further strengthening of the US-Japan alliance. By keeping that in mind, the two leaders will also discuss other bilateral, regional and global issues. Prime Minister Hatoyama said that he would include global issues such as the environment and nuclear issues as well.

Q: Will they be talking about regional frameworks such as FTA, EPA or the East Asian community, as proposed by Prime Minister Hatoyama?

Mr. Kawamura: At this right moment I cannot prejudge each detail of the subjects that the two leaders will discuss at tomorrow's summit meeting. Having said that, they will address Asia-Pacific regional issues, as the Prime Minister said in the budget committee of the Lower House on the 9th. Minister Okada said that in addition to bilateral issues, what the two countries, Japan and the United States, could do in the area of the Asia-Pacific region might be included in the topics of the summit meeting. Anyway, after the meeting, the two leaders will come up to see you, the international press, and brief you on what they have discussed and agreed upon. Tomorrow will be the day.

Q: Can you reveal which among the several issues they will be taking up will be of importance?

Mr. Kawamura: In terms of importance, as I outlined in the beginning, the bottom line is that the two leaders confirm and agree to further strengthen the Japan-US alliance. That is the fundamental object of the meeting. On that basis, they will discuss other issues, ranging from bilateral, regional to global issues.

Q: Would you say that they would rather avoid going into detail over the Okinawa issue and nuclear disarmament issues?

Mr. Kawamura: My interpretation of the summit meeting is that "avoidance" will not be in the dictionary of the two leaders. They have the courage to address any issues which face the two nations. We are the biggest economies in the world; we have to face squarely global issues. Having said that, they have plenty of time to discuss various issues, ranging from bilateral to global. We will see tomorrow, at the press conference.

Q: Will they talk about the Okinawa military base issues and the nuclear disarmament issues?

Mr. Kawamura: As for the nuclear nonproliferation issues, one of the examples Foreign Minister Okada mentioned as the possible topics of the summit meeting was nuclear nonproliferation and global warming. I cannot prejudge any of the specific topics of the summit meeting, so we will see. They will meet and discuss any issues they wish.

V. Questions concerning assistance to Pakistan and Afghanistan

Q: Asking the same question as earlier, it was mentioned about aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan at the Tokyo summit, and it said in yesterday's newspaper and today's newspaper that the aid will be out of 5 billion dollars, which was announced at the Tokyo summit in April 2008. May I ask how much out of the 5 -- it was for five years. One year and a half has already passed. How much out of that 5 billion has already been paid?

Mr. Kawamura: If I understand your question correctly, you are asking about Japan's program from Pakistan?

Q: Yes, the one for five years.

Mr. Kawamura: Japan's plan for Pakistan was included in Japan's newly announced program for Afghanistan and Pakistan. The amount of assistance for Pakistan did not see any change from the April meeting in Tokyo. That is, up to 1 billion US dollars in two years.

Q: One billion in two years?

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, and at the Pakistan Donors Conference in Tokyo this April, Japan made a commitment to provide assistance of up to 1 billion dollars in two years. This commitment will be maintained. The day before yesterday, Japan reconfirmed its strong commitment to the assistance of Pakistan by referring to the April agreement.

Japan's assistance program toward Pakistan consists of two pillars. One is for economic growth. The other is the improvement of people's livelihood in regions such as the Malakand Division and others.

Q: My question is still that it is 1 billion for two years, so how much has been paid in the one and a half years that have already passed from April to November?

Mr. Kawamura: My watch does not move so quickly. Since this past April, six months have passed.

Q: One year and six months. It was April 2008.

Mr. Kawamura: No, 2009, this year. You may recall that Tokyo hosted the Pakistan Donors Conference in April this year and the World Bank, Pakistan, the US and other donors gathered, and agreed to over 5 billion dollars worth of assistance to Pakistan. Out of them, 1 billion dollars in aid was Japan's commitment. I should be very appropriate in wording, but we have started the program, and we will continue to keep it on.

Q: On the assistance to Afghanistan, I am just clarifying the numbers to make sure that it is accurate; you are shifting up from a pledge of 2 billion US dollars to 5 billion, so the pledge that has been announced is just an addition of 3 billion dollars?

Mr. Kawamura: I have to be very technically detailed. We are now in a kind of bridging period. As you know, Japan committed two billion dollars for the past eight years. We made the previous commitment eight years ago. Now we are entering the final phase of the program because we have spent already almost 1.8 billion dollars out of the committed 2 billion dollars. We are almost finished with the total program, phase one, so to speak. Now, the day before yesterday, we announced a kind of replacement for the succeeding period of the old program with a maximum of 5 billion dollars.

Q: Five billion additional?

Mr. Kawamura: Right.

Q: Up to 5 billion over five years?

Mr. Kawamura: Over five years, yes.

Q: For Afghanistan?

Mr. Kawamura: For Afghanistan, yes.

Q: The same for Pakistan?

Mr. Kawamura: It is kind of separate, but, as you know, we see the issues which both nations face in a kind of comprehensive way. The target of those programs for the two countries are the same; consolidating stability and security.

Q: Of the 80 billion yen, this 80 billion yen will be offered in one year?

Mr. Kawamura: A very good question. We would say that presently, expeditiousness is necessary for providing assistance to Afghanistan in the sense that for the time being, urgently, we decided to provide 80 billion yen now. Looking over the next five years, the total will be up to 5 billion. So, the 80 billion yen is to be included in the total 5 billion dollars.

Q: Is there any specific project that already has been decided as being in this 80 billion yen?

Mr. Kawamura: As Minister Okada predicted, he will come up with more detailed programs, so I expect that, among the experts, they are currently discussing the possibilities of what kind of projects should be included in the program. At a later stage we will make an announcement and explain in more detail.

VI. Further questions concerning President Obama's visit to Japan

Q: Coming back to the summit meeting, you said that they want to strengthen the alliance. Can we expect some sort of concrete announcement on how they are going to strengthen and deepen the alliance?

Mr. Kawamura: I guess that at the joint press conference by the two leaders, they will refer to what they discussed about the alliance between the two and make some appropriate comment or assessment on the views of the future alliance management. We will see it.

Q: As for the policy speech on Saturday morning, are any Japanese government officials attending? Is it hosted by the US Embassy?

Mr. Kawamura: I understand that this is a US program. I think some government officials have been invited to be in the audience, but not on the stage. That is my understanding. If I am wrong, I will let you know.

Q: The Imperial luncheon is not open for the press?

Mr. Kawamura: It is a private luncheon hosted by Their Majesties, as I understand. Whether it is open for press opportunities; I think it is not.

Q: No, completely not? In the past sometimes, just at the entrance or the approach can be filmed, but not this time?

Mr. Kawamura: You should ask the press officer at the Imperial Household Agency, but this time, Their Majesties will host a private function. On some official functions, Their Majesties host part of the program. We will see different approaches on a case by case basis. For this time, I understand that it is not open for press.

Q: Not at all?

Mr. Kawamura: We will check.

[Note: Questions concerning the press opportunities for Their Majesties' lunch must be made to the Imperial Household Agency.]

Q: It is often that the arrival scene or just Their Majesties welcoming at the entrance or that kind of filming is normally allowed.

Mr. Kawamura: I doubt it, but let me make doubly sure whether that is the case with the Imperial Household Agency.

[Note: The details of press occasions at the private luncheon have not yet been decided.]

Q: There have been some reports that there will be some joint documents issued to be agreed between Japan and the United States on nuclear proliferation and cooperation on the environment. Can you confirm this?

Mr. Kawamura: My reply is that I cannot predict or presume what kind of formalities concerning the wrap-up of the Summit meeting are to be the case. We have read various press reports about some documents coming out as a result of the summit meeting, but at this right moment it is too early to say or predict. Anyway, in 30 hours or so we will see the results at the joint press conference by the two leaders themselves.

Q: What do you think is the significance of the summit meeting especially when relations between Japan and the United States seem to be strained over the US base issue?

Mr. Kawamura: I think that the two leaders will disagree with your assessment that bilateral relations are strained. They have confirmed again and again that the bilateral alliance is the cornerstone, the very foundation of cooperation in addressing global and regional issues. That is already confirmed. On the basis of this confirmation or conviction, the two leaders will discuss how they cooperate for the issues that the global community faces. Nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation could be one of the main topics in the context of global issues. The leaders will discuss, and then I think they would like to make known to the international community about their collaboration and the leadership of the two nations. Further details will be discussed by the leaders.

Q: Can I ask a quick question? Maybe someone asked this question before, but is the press conference by Prime Minister Hatoyama and President Obama going to be televised?

Mr. Kawamura: A great question. We will check. Is your question if the Prime Minister's Office will broadcast the joint press conference?

Q: Yes.

Q: I think that is very important because for function will cause the pool of reporters to be extremely limited.

Mr. Kawamura: Now I am told that not the government, but NHK is to broadcast the press conference live.

Thank you very much for your attendance.

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