Top > Announcement > Press Conference by the Press Secretary of MOFA > 6 January 2011

Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 6 January 2011

  1. New Year Press Conferences by Prime Minister Kan and Foreign Minister Maehara
  2. Visit by Former Prime Minister Aso to Brazil and Ecuador
  3. 1st Japan-China Counter-Terrorism Consultations
  4. Visit by Foreign Minister Maehara to the United States
  5. Visit by President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine to Japan
  6. Questions concerning Bilateral Relations between Japan and the ROK

  1. New Year Press Conferences by Prime Minister Kan and Foreign Minister Maehara

    2. Deputy Press Secretary Hidenobu Sobashima: Good afternoon, happy New Year and welcome to my first press conference in 2011.

    Mr. Sobashima: First I would like to introduce to you some highlights of New Year press conferences of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Japan.

    Prime Minister Kan in his New Year press conference held on 4 January explained his three main goals. The first is to launch what he calls the "Heisei Opening," the opening of Japan, a kind of third opening after the Meiji Restoration and the recovery and development after WWII. So he would like to make this year, 2011, the first year of the Heisei Opening. And by Heisei Opening he means the opening of Japan commensurate with the current international situation. In this regard he mentioned that of course the Government of Japan needs to address the revitalization of agriculture, forestry and fisheries. Thus he would like to seek the compatible achievement of both trade liberalization and the revitalization of agriculture forestry and fisheries. He also mentioned that it is important to maintain the security around Japan. In this regard, the efforts by Japan itself are important, and also it is important to deepen the alliance relationship between Japan and the United States befitting the 21st Century. The second main goal the Prime Minister mentioned is achieving a society with minimum unfortunateness or minimum human suffering and the third main goal is rectifying inappropriate matters. I only explained, rather in detail, the first goal, that is the Heisei Opening, as it is relevant to Japan’s foreign relations.

    Later on the same day, that is last Tuesday, Foreign Minister Maehara also referred to what the Prime Minister said, that is, the Heisei Opening. He also mentioned what Darwin regarded important. What sorts of species have survived? It is not necessarily the physically strong species but the species that were able to cope with changes. So Foreign Minister Maehara said Japan should cope with changes. Then he referred to his economic diplomacy, that is, diplomacy for mutual economic benefits, with four pillars. The first pillar is EPA/FTA. The second is stable supply of mineral resources, energy and food to Japan. The third is exportation of infrastructure and technology of Japan overseas. The fourth is inbound tourism promotion, the increase of tourists from overseas to Japan. These are the four pillars of his economic diplomacy. Foreign Minister Maehara also mentioned the importance of deepening the alliance between Japan and the United States.

     

  2. Visit by Former Prime Minister Aso to Brazil and Ecuador

    3. Mr. Sobashima: This is what I would like to explain at the outset, and I would like to refer to some of the schedules, the current schedule and also the events already planned for this year. But first I would like to refer to the participation of former Prime Minister Aso as Ambassador of Japan on Special Mission in the inaugural ceremony of the incoming President of Brazil. Former Prime Minister Aso attended the inaugural ceremony of Ms. Dilma Vana Rousseff, President-elect of the Federative Republic of Brazil on 1 January. We only distributed the announcement made prior to his visit to Brazil. I will orally explain what happened. As I said, on 1 January he attended the ceremony, and on the following day he had a meeting with President Rousseff and discussed various issues including the importance of promoting what we call the Japanese-Brazilian system of Digital TV internationally. Also they discussed the cooperation to assist Mozambique in agriculture, among others. Former Prime Minister Aso stayed in Brazil until 4 January and from 4 – 6 January he is in Ecuador.

  3. 1st Japan-China Counter-Terrorism Consultations

    4. Mr. Sobashima: Second, we have distributed the paper on the 1st Japan-China Counter-terrorism Consultations. The 1st Japan-China Counter-terrorism Consultations will be held in Beijing today. The consultations will be held between Mr. Takaaki Kojima, Ambassador in charge of International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation of this Ministry, and Ambassador Luo Zhaohui, Director-General of the Department of External Security Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. At the consultations, Japan and China will share information regarding the international and regional terrorism situations and also exchange views on matters of interest with regard to security issues, including domestic counter-terrorism measures of both countries.

  4. Visit by Foreign Minister Maehara to the United States

    5. Mr. Sobashima: Next I would like to mention the visit of Foreign Minister Maehara to the United States. From today until 10 January, next Monday, he will be visiting the United States. In Washington DC he will have a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and later he will visit Florida. On this occasion he will be making a speech organized by a US think tank. In Florida he will be meeting the incoming Governor of the State.

  5. Visit by President Viktor Yanukovich of Ukraine to Japan

    6. Mr. Sobashima: I would like to inform you also of the visit to Japan of Mr. Viktor Yanukovich, President of Ukraine. The President of Ukraine will pay an official working visit from 18 – 20 January. During his stay in Japan, the President will make a State Call on His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, and His Majesty the Emperor will host a Court Luncheon in honor of the President. Mr. Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan will hold a meeting with the President. So this is the immediate schedule.

    Now I will refer to the overall international agenda for this year. Toward the end of this month we have the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. From 4 -6 February we have the Munich Security Conference, and from the 23 May, we have the APEC trade ministers’ meeting in Montana in the United States. As usual, in September we will have meetings of the General Assembly of the United Nations, at the high level. Then we have the APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Honolulu from 12-13 November. We also have ASEAN-related meetings, G8, G20 meetings, the trilateral meetings of Japan, China, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) hosted by Japan this year, TICAD (Tokyo International Conference for African Development) follow-up ministerial meetings, the Japan-EU Summit meeting and also ASEM meetings, but the details and the specific dates have to be confirmed for those meetings. So this is the international agenda for this year and now I invite your questions.

  6. Questions concerning Bilateral Relations between Japan and the ROK

    7. Q: Recently we have seen several news reports in the Japanese media that Japan will enhance security cooperation with the ROK. Some reports very specifically mentioned ACSA (Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement) and so on. Can you preface what kind of discussion we have had between Japan and the ROK in terms of closer cooperation between Japan and the ROK in terms of security? My next question is that Foreign Minister Maehara is said to be visiting the ROK as early as next week. I would like to confirm if there is any kind of set schedule in that and what kind of things are to be discussed.

    Mr. Sobashima: Thank you for the question. Answering the second question first, we are still arranging the timing. So we are not yet in a position to confirm the schedule of Foreign Minister Maehara’s visit to the ROK. Certainly, if his visit is realized, the two Foreign Ministers should be discussing the bilateral relationship, as well as regional and international issues, including the situation of the Korean Peninsula. So this is what we expect. However the timing of the Foreign Minister’s visit to the ROK is still being arranged. As soon as the dates are fixed we will make an announcement. Coming to your first question, the Foreign Minister responded to an interview with a Korean medium. I should refrain from naming that specific company, however there were questions, and the Foreign Minister answered those questions. In his answers to the questions he referred to the importance of coordination and consultation between Japan and the ROK, particularly in view of the current situation of the Korean peninsula. So what he mentioned was the importance of close coordination and close consultation in view of the security situation, and there was no proposal made by him for a military alliance between the two countries. But unfortunately his answers were misquoted by that particular company and we understand that because the Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed that out to the company, we understand that company made a correction of the report.

    Q: Actually I’m not referring to that particular incident. We totally understood the situation and I’m not quite referring only to that. There are several other news reports coming out about more specific ideas than your agreement or closer dialog being discussed on a larger scale between Japan and the ROK. Defense Minister Kitazawa is visiting the ROK this coming Monday, but they want to talk about ACSA issues. Or Foreign Minister Maehara also, in the process of his possible visit to the ROK, there are some quotes coming out that he was mentioning a little more closer cooperation in view of the security around the area. I would like to get a little more comment and the background, let’s say your briefing, on the situation why and how Japan and the ROK are moving towards that kind of development.

    Mr. Sobashima: I can only answer why, but I will refrain from answering how. The why is because of the current situation. Immediately after the shelling of Yeongpyeong Island by North Korea, Prime Minister Kan instructed the ministers to prepare for any eventuality. We have had consultations with the ROK and the United States and we will continue close consultations and coordination with the ROK and the United States. So that is why we are considering specific measures.

    Thank you very much for coming.

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