Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 13 May 2010

Prime Minister Hatoyama's telephone conversation with the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron
Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea
VIP Visits
Questions concerning the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Prime Minister Hatoyama's telephone conversation with the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron

Deputy Press Secretary Hidenobu Sobashima: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. Today I have two topics and some information on visits.

Last night, Prime Minister Hatoyama made a phone call to Mr. David Cameron, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Hatoyama congratulated the victory of the Conservative Party and their return to the government after 13 years. Prime Minister Hatoyama mentioned that the United Kingdom and Japan share the fundamental values such as freedom and democracy, and both countries are members of the G8 and G20, among others, and therefore Prime Minister Hatoyama looked forward to cooperating with the new UK Prime Minister on various international issues. Prime Minister Cameron thanked Prime Minister Hatoyama for his congratulations, and he said he also looked forward to working with Prime Minister Hatoyama. He mentioned that he looked forward to meeting with Prime Minister Hatoyama in Canada next month on the occasion of the G8 and G20 Summit Meetings. Prime Minister Cameron also expressed appreciation to Japan for Japan's investment in the United Kingdom, as the investment is contributing to the employment creation there.

Prime Minister Cameron also stated that he wished to exchange views on non-proliferation, Afghanistan, and Iran, among other issues.

As for the bilateral relations, Prime Minister Hatoyama expressed his wish to further deepen the bilateral relationship, and invited Prime Minister Cameron to visit Japan at an early date. To this Prime Minister Cameron said that he already visited Japan in 1985, however, ever since he has not visited Japan and he looks forward to visiting Japan. Finally, Prime Minister Hatoyama reiterated once again that he looked forward to meeting his U.K. counterpart in the G8 Summit in Canada, and looked forward to exchanging views on such issues as Afghanistan, climate change, Iran, and others.

Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea

Mr. Sobashima: The second topic is the Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea. For this I distributed the press release, and so I would rather read this.

The Trilateral Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Japan, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea will be held on Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 May in Gyeongju, the Republic of Korea. Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, is scheduled to attend this Meeting pending the approval from the National Diet.

This Trilateral Foreign Ministers' Meeting is to be held following the Meeting which took place in Tokyo in June 2008, where it was agreed to hold Foreign Ministers' Meetings hereafter in each of the three countries in turn. Mr. Yu Myung-hwan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, will chair the Meeting and Dr. Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, is also attending.

This Meeting will include preparations towards the Third Japan-China-ROK Trilateral Summit Meeting to be held later in Korea. A trilateral exchange of opinions pertaining to regional and international affairs, such as the Six-Party Talks and climate change, will also be conducted.

In light of this opportunity, Minister Okada will hold an additional exchange of opinions with the other Ministers bilaterally, pertaining to topics such as bilateral relations and regional affairs.

For your information, as far as Japan is concerned, we look forward in this trilateral meeting to having exchange of views on the issues of the economic field, such as investment agreement and free-trade agreement (FTA) joint study, environmental issues, including climate change issues and the priority areas for environmental cooperation, the exchange of the peoples including between universities, and the cooperation in the fields of disaster prevention and mitigation, and health.

We hope that as a result of this trilateral meeting as well as the trilateral summit to be held later, we will be able to promote specific cooperation in those fields I mentioned, and that these will pave the way for the progress of what Japan is proposing, the East Asian Community.

Related Information (Press Release)

VIP Visits

Mr. Sobashima: Regarding information on visits, I already announced previously that His Majesty Norodom Sihamoni, the King of Cambodia, will be coming. Finally the King will be coming to Japan from 16-20 May, as a state guest of Japan.

Also, the new pieces of information about visits is that H.E. Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, will be coming to Japan from 19-20 May.

The heads of international organizations who are in town include Mr. Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF, who is in Japan from 11 May until 13 May, that is today, and Ms. Navanethem Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is in Japan since yesterday, 12 May, until Saturday 15 May.

These are the topics and information I would like to share. I would now like to invite your questions.

Questions concerning the visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Q: The visit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, is it her first visit to Japan, and what is the purpose of the visit?

Mr. Sobashima: I presume that it is the first visit as a UN High Commissioner. I do not know her personal record of visits to Japan, but we understand that this is the first visit after she assumed the post of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Of course, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and Japanese Government officials will exchange views of mutual interest. Just for your information, she is going to meet the families of abductees. She is meeting my Minister, and I presume that she already met the Justice Minister. I would like to refrain from predicting what will be the specific topics, but of course the Japanese side and the High Commissioner have specific things to be discussed in those meetings. So perhaps after my Minister has had a meeting with the High Commissioner there will be some information that will be provided to you.

Q: The meeting between the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the families of the abductees, will it be the first time for them to meet?

Mr. Sobashima: For the present High Commissioner I presume so, but I do not know whether they have already met somewhere other than Japan, but this may be the first time for her as the High Commissioner.

If you don’t have any other questions, I would like to conclude this press conference. Thank you very much for coming.

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