Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 5 August 2010

1. Visit of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to Japan
2. Statement by Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the establishment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations of a Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010
3. Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the confrontation between the Israel Defense Forces and the Lebanese Army
4. Measures based on the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act Following the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Iran
5. Statement by Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions
6. Japan-Sri Lanka Foreign Ministers' Meeting
7. Emergency Assistance to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Response to the Flood Disaster
8. Meeting between Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Mr. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC)
9. Emergency Grant for the Referenda in Sudan
10. The Second Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference
11. VIP Visits
12. Questions concerning the 100th year of the annexation of the Korean peninsula
13. Questions concerning the establishment by the UN Secretary-General of a Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010
14. Question concerning the parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
15. Questions concerning measures of sanction against Iran

Visit of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to Japan

Deputy Press Secretary Hidenobu Sobashima: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.

Today I have a number of topics that I am going to share with you before inviting your questions. The first is the visit of the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, to Japan. We have distributed the report on his meeting with our Foreign Minister, Mr. Katsuya Okada. As you can find there in the paper, Minister Okada welcomed the Secretary-General's participation in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony as the first Secretary-General of the United Nations to do so, as well as his visit to Nagasaki. They discussed the issues of mutual interest like nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and regional issues, among others.

The Secretary-General met yesterday with Prime Minister Kan, and the discussions covered such issues as, of course, the Secretary-General's visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In this context the Secretary-General expressed his intention to deliver a strong message to the international community on the occasion of his participation in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Ceremony for a world without nuclear weapons. The Prime Minister and the Secretary-General discussed such issues as Japan's contribution to the international community, like ODA and contribution to the UN budget, and also PKO.

The Secretary-General invited Prime Minister Kan to participate in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit Meeting to be held in New York in September. Prime Minister Kan responded that he has to consider the domestic political schedule, but he intends to make efforts to consider whether he will be able to participate in the MDG summit. As for the contribution in terms of ODA and the UN budget, as well as the third replenishment of the global fund to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, the Prime Minister expressed his intention to make his efforts to extend cooperation on those. As for the PKO, the Secretary-General conveyed his appreciation to Japan for participation in the Haiti PKO activities, but the Secretary-General stated his expectation that Japan may for example send helicopters in other regions, and Prime Minister Kan replied that there may be some difficult regions, and there may be things that Japan is not able to do, however he is ready to consider what is possible with regard to the Secretary-General's request. The Secretary-General and Prime Minister also discussed the issues of North Korea.

This is about the Secretary-General's visit, and we will see what will be his message in Hiroshima. Let us see what he is going to say.

Statement by Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the establishment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations of a Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010

Mr. Sobashima: Next is the Statement by Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the establishment by the Secretary-General of the United Nations of a Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010. Japan welcomes the establishment of this panel.

Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the confrontation between the Israel Defense Forces and the Lebanese Army

Mr. Sobashima: The second paper is the Statement by the Press Secretary/Director-General for Press and Public Relations on the confrontation between the Israel Defense Forces and the Lebanese Army. The Government of Japan is deeply concerned about the exchanges of fire across the Israeli-Lebanese border. Japan deplores the casualties and injuries. Japan urges both Israel and Lebanon to continue to exercise utmost restraint and fully implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701.

Measures based on the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act Following the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Iran

Mr. Sobashima: One of the major issues that I would like to explain to you today is the measures based on the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act following the United Nations Security Council Resolutions on Iran. On 3 August, last Tuesday, the cabinet approved the new measures explained here.

Japan has been implementing a series of measures on Iran's nuclear activities. Following the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 1929, Japan has decided to implement measures as explained here, under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act. The Cabinet approved these measures on 3 August, as I explained.

All of the measures are ones where we have established a license system. The first measure is the measures to freeze assets, where a license is required for payments to the 40 entities and 1 individual engaged in Iran's nuclear activities designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice that was issued on 3 August, and for capital transactions with these designated entities and individuals. As a result, because we listed 40 entities and one individual additionally, as a total we have 75 entities and 41 individuals who are subject to this license system. License means that there is a procedure, but we expect that in principle it means prohibition of payments to those entities and individuals, and prohibition of capital transactions with these entities and individuals.

The second is the measures to prohibit investment. A license is required for capital transactions and inward direct investments by Iran-related entities and individuals investing in stocks of Japanese companies in the industries designated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Notice. These specific areas are not listed in this paper. I will explain these industries. The industries are manufacturing industries for rockets, nuclear reactors, and aircraft, the related repairing industry for those kinds of equipment, and the software industries related to the equipment as well. Also the mining industry for nuclear power related resources, and the power industries. Those are listed as the areas for which we introduced the license system for the investment by Iranians.

Finally, the third category is the measures to prevent transfer of financial resources. Again, we have a license system established, in principle to prohibit the transfer of financial resources. So these are the new measures introduced last Tuesday.

Statement by Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Mr. Sobashima: Next we have the Statement by Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, on the Entry into Force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Certainly Japan welcomes the entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 August.

Japan-Sri Lanka Foreign Ministers' Meeting

Mr. Sobashima: Next, we have distributed the summary record of the Japan-Sri Lanka Foreign Ministers' Meeting. I would like to highlight paragraph two, the second sub-paragraph, which says that Minister Okada pointed out the importance for the Sri Lanka government to fulfill accountability on human rights issues, and suggested tackling the issues in cooperation with the United Nations. In response, Minister Peiris explained Sri Lanka's plan to work toward achieving the broad-based targets of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) established within the country, and expressed its intention to improve the situation, noting that it has held dialogue with the UN on a constant basis.

Foreign Minister Okada and Minister Peiris discussed the issues of NGOs and the media, and in response to Foreign Minister Okada's remarks the Sri Lankan Minister indicated the positive treatment of the activities of NGOs and the media in Sri Lanka.

Emergency Assistance to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Response to the Flood Disaster

Mr. Sobashima: The next is emergency assistance to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in response to the flood disaster. Again, last Tuesday, the Government of Japan decided to extend emergency relief goods worth 20 million Japanese yen, and emergency grant aid of up to 3 million US dollars to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in response to the disastrous floods caused by the unprecedented heavy rain recently.

Meeting between Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Mr. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC)

Mr. Sobashima: Next is the meeting between Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs, and H.E. Mr. Jean Ping, Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC). They met and they of course discussed about cooperation. They expressed satisfaction about the current cooperation and decided to cooperate further, and they have a joint communiqué regarding the reinforcement of the cooperative relationship between Japan and the African Union (AU). We have sentences with the heading of preamble, overall relations, I will just point out that the AUC decided to become a new co-organizer of the TICAD, in addition to the World Bank, the United Nations, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Of course the host is Japan. There were references to peace and security, shared values, development, institutional support, and global issues. I will skip explaining these details. These, I think, are self-explanatory.

Emergency Grant for the Referenda in Sudan

Mr. Sobashima: Next is the Emergency Grant for the Referenda in Sudan. On Friday, 30 July, Japan decided to provide through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) an emergency grant aid in the amount of approximately 8.17 million US dollars to assist the conduct of the referenda in Sudan scheduled to be held in January next year.

The Second Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference

Mr. Sobashima: Finally, the Second Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference. We have decided to have the second Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference in Tokyo on Wednesday, 1 September, to which ministers responsible for foreign affairs of the 14 member states of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will be invited. We had the first Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference ten years ago in the year 2000, and now we will have after a ten year interval the second Japan-CARICOM Ministerial-Level Conference.

VIP Visits

Mr. Sobashima: This will be the introduction to an oral explanation of the VIP visits. We will receive Prime Minister or the "President" of Spain, H.E. Mr. José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, as the guest of official working visit. He will be visiting Japan from 31 August until 2 September. He is expected to have audience with the Emperor, and he will have a Summit Meeting with Prime Minister Kan.

State Secretary Fujimura attended the MDGs Review Ministerial Meeting in the Asia and Pacific region, held in Jakarta last Tuesday and Wednesday. He is back already in Tokyo. State Secretary Takemasa will be participating in the APEC Growth Strategy High-level Meeting, to be held in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, on Saturday, 7 August and Sunday, 8 August.

Parliamentary Vice-Minister Nishimura will be visiting Vanuatu to participate in the Pacific Islands Forum. She will be attending the meeting to be held in Vanuatu, tomorrow, 6 August. On this occasion she will also be visiting Australia.

Parliamentary Vice-Minister Kira will be visiting Colombia and the United States, and he will be participating in the inauguration ceremony of the incoming president of Colombia, Mr. Juan Manuel Santos, currently President-elect of the Republic of Colombia, as the representative of Japan, as a special envoy of the Japanese government. On this occasion he will also be visiting the United States.

These are the topics I would like to share today. Now I would like to invite your questions.

Questions concerning the 100th year of the annexation of the Korean peninsula

Q: If I may shift to another topic, there are some rumors at the moment that there will be a statement issued by Prime Minister Kan regarding the 100 year relationship with the Korean peninsular. Could you tell us a little bit about that, what could be inside this message?

Mr. Sobashima: The current situation is that the government is considering what to do. I would like to refrain from commenting further. However, you will notice that this is the 100 year anniversary, and because this is the anniversary year the government is considering what to do. This is what I can offer at this moment. In any event the government is considering what we will do on this anniversary year. That is the only answer I can give.

Q: Can you tell me perhaps, is this something that is done in the Kantei or is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs involved in this thinking?

Mr. Sobashima: I said, the government is considering. The government, by definition, means the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, and all the ministers.

Q: I have a similar question. When is the date on which the Prime Minister will announce the statement about Korea and Japan 100 year anniversary? I heard that it will be on the 15th of this month, other people say the 22nd or 29th of this month.

Mr. Sobashima: Again, whatever the formulation you ask me, what we can say at this moment is that the government is considering. We know the reports specifying the date, but what we can say is that at this moment we are considering. I and perhaps other officials also would like to refrain from further commenting. What we are doing is we are considering.

Questions concerning the establishment by the UN Secretary-General of a Panel of Inquiry on the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010

Q: There are many interesting things today. The first one I would like to ask you about is the statement on the flotilla incident. There is one sentence here which I have a question about. It says that "Japan has supported the efforts of the Secretary-General to establish the Panel, from the view that a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent investigation should be conducted." In June I asked a question about this. I said, "Is Japan calling for an independent investigation of this incident, while Israel is investigating it, but an international investigation?", and at that time I was told that Japan supports a credible investigation, but was withholding judgment on whether or not Israel itself could be the people who carry out the credible investigation, and Japan was not calling at that time for a third party investigation. So my question is at what point did Japan's position change, that the Israeli investigation was not sufficient, and that a third-party investigation was warranted, and did Japan actually support Ban Ki-Moon's policy before he made the statement that he was going to carry out the investigation?

Mr. Sobashima: I should say that we have been watching the situation. I don't think we have decided on a particular position whether or not the Israeli investigation is insufficient. We didn't express a particular view on that, but a general view that the investigation should be conducted in an impartial and transparent manner. But now we have the establishment by the UN for this we welcome it, so I don't think there is a change of the policy or stance. It is just that we have been watching the situation, we continued to have the view that the investigation should be conducted in a prompt, impartial, credible and transparent manner, and then the UN has established a panel of inquiry, so we hope the UN panel will be able to conduct an inquiry in these manners.

Q: I understand that a credible investigation has always been Japan's position, but the statement says that "Japan has supported the efforts of the Secretary-General to establish the Panel". This suggests more than just watching the situation, it suggests a proactive movement on the part of Japan to support the establishment, so my question is, was Japan's role proactive, or was it just, "it has been established and we welcome it"?

Mr. Sobashima: I shouldn't say we were not proactive, but in accordance with the general policy of supporting the good investigation, of course if there is an effort to this end we should welcome it, but until the final decision is made we may be sometimes silent, and therefore please don't take the nuances found between our earlier statement and present statement that there is a change in the policy or stance. And of course, if there are efforts underway by the UN, or in fact in any other organization, which should be acceptable to us and perhaps to the parties, this should be welcomed, but sometimes we are not sort of vocal on those points. So in any event, at this point, what we say here is the official position. So don't read too much in what we said earlier. This is the official position, we welcome and we have supported the establishment [of the panel of inquiry].

Question concerning the parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Q: On the cluster munitions issue, Japan has taken a position since July of last year of supporting the treaty on cluster munitions, and now it is entering into force, the convention, and was welcomed by Foreign Minister Okada. But one of the problems with the cluster munitions issues is that the parties who are not supporting the treaty tend to be the largest producers and users of cluster munitions, meaning the major powers like the United States, China, Russia, and some other countries. Now this is one position where Japan has taken a different position from the United States, its close ally. Does Japan expect to have a meeting with US officials to encourage them to also join the cluster munitions ban, and to enter this treaty, and to support the ban on cluster munitions?

Mr. Sobashima: I would like to respond in general terms, not by sort of specifying or singling out some particular countries. Yes, Japan intends to urge those countries which are not party to the convention to consider favorably becoming the parties to this convention. That is my answer.

Questions concerning measures of sanction against Iran

Q: Finally, I have a couple of questions on Iran. My first question is a question of fact, I am not exactly sure what the answer is. The sanctions which Japan has just announced, were these mandated by the UN Security Council or were they imposed by Japan basically as Japanese policy not under orders from the UN Security Council? So, what I am asking is, is this a national policy, or is it something that basically Japan was asked to do directly by the UN Security Council?

Mr. Sobashima: I should have mentioned when I explained these measures, that yes, we feel that these are kind of obligatory, the measures, in accordance with the UN Security Council. So we felt that those measures were necessary to respond to the request involved in the UN Security Council. I should have mentioned that we are now considering additional measures, whether we will have additional measures, and that we plan to reach a conclusion by around the end of this month, roughly speaking, by the end of August we hope to reach a conclusion whether additional measures will be possible or not, so we are still considering. The measures we have announced are kind of the core measures, or the measures as a direct response to the UN Security Council resolution, and we are considering, like the United States and the European Union, whether we will be able to offer additional measures of sanction. We are now considering that.

Q: My follow up question to that one, which is more policy-oriented, is Japan's position being against the proliferation of nuclear weapons is understandable in terms of history and other issues, but in the international community today, Iran is not the most grave violator of those norms. There are other countries, such as India, Pakistan, and Israel, who are much further outside of those norms by having their own nuclear weapons arsenals or not signing the NPT. My question is, is Japan considering supporting in the UN or independently sanctions against those three countries, and if not, why not?

Mr. Sobashima: Generally speaking you are quite right, that we support the non-proliferation, so for example for those countries who are not parties to the NPT we urge them to become parties as much as possible. When something happens, like nuclear test explosions, we express our concern, and therefore we continue to urge those countries to be more sort of forthcoming in terms of non-proliferation. This is our general policy. So generally speaking you are quite right. However, when it comes to the specific measures, just to cite the example of India, as I explained earlier, the Nuclear Suppliers Group has decided to allow cooperation with India for the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, as an exceptional basis, because the members were satisfied that India is honoring its commitment for non-proliferation. Therefore, yes, the best scenario is India and other countries who are outside of NPT to become parties to NPT, we hope for this as the best scenario. However, under the current circumstances, because India is honoring its commitment, among other reasons, we have decided to go ahead with cooperation. So, yes, we have the commitment to the policy of non-proliferation, however, when it comes to a specific country, specific situation, we consider this specifically against the background of our general policy and other elements that we should take into account.

Q: Then my question would be why is the sanctions approach the approach which Japan takes towards Iran, but not towards Israel or Pakistan? Okay, in India you have explained to some extent, but other countries which are in more grave violations, Japan sort of says we want you to join the NPT, we encourage to do so, but there are no sanctions, there is no bite, whereas towards Iran specifically it is, "you do it or we punish you". So why is this?

Mr. Sobashima: I would like to concentrate on why Iran, not the why not in other countries. Because we are concerned that the situation is so serious, and we are concerned about the situation about enrichment of 20%, and we are concerned that the situation is not sort of satisfactory as far as the international community's concerns are concerned. Therefore we feel the situation in Iran is very serious. The Foreign Minister himself had bilateral talks with his counterpart in Iran, and he expressed our view that we are taking the situation very seriously. This is one thing. The other thing is that we have the UN Security Council resolution. This is the decision of the UN Security Council, this is the decision of the international community, so we are just following these decisions. So what I can offer to your question now is two points, that are because we are concerned about the situation, and because we have the UN Security Council resolution.

If you have no further questions, thank you very much for coming.