Top > Announcement > Press Conference by the Press Secretary of MOFA > 28 April 2011

Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 28 April 2011

  1. Present situation after the Great East Japan Earthquake
  2. Statement by the Press Secretary on the Thai-Cambodia Border Situation
  3. Meeting between Foreign Minister Matsumoto and Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah, Minister of State for International Cooperation of the State of Qatar
  4. Meeting between Foreign Minister Matsumoto and Mr. Antonio Milososki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
  5. Millennium Development Goals Follow-Up Meeting
  6. Planned visits of Foreign Minister Matsumoto
  7. Questions concerning Foreign Minister Matsumoto's visit to Europe
  8. Question concerning Embassies temporarily closed in Tokyo
  9. Questions concerning the Japan-China-ROK Trilateral Summit Meeting
  10. Questions concerning donations received in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake

  1. Present situation after the Great East Japan Earthquake

    2. Mr. Sobashima: First, on the situation after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress visited Miyagi Prefecture, including Minami-Sanriku-cho and Sendai City yesterday to express Their Majesties' sympathy, also to encourage the evacuees. Their Majesties had already visited the places with the evacuees in Tokyo, Saitama Prefecture, Chiba Prefecture, and Ibaraki Prefecture, and yesterday Their Majesties visited the Tohoku area. Their Majesties plan to visit Iwate Prefecture on 2 May, and Fukushima Prefecture on 11 May.

    As for the first paper we have distributed, on Page 4 on the emergency assistance from overseas countries and territories, as of yesterday, 146 countries and territories as well as 39 international organizations have expressed their intention to extend assistance. I will skip the details. The next paper is on the donations for the earthquake accepted at Japanese diplomatic establishments overseas. The total amount of the donations that the Japanese diplomatic establishments abroad received amounted to 4.16 billion yen, as of 15 April. We announced this on 22 April. The donations we calculated are only those donations received by Japanese Embassies and Consulates-General, so we did not include the donations directly made to, for example, the Japanese Red Cross Society and others. The Government of Japan would like to express its deep appreciation for the warm support extended by the international community. As for the number of Embassies temporarily closed in Tokyo, this decreased to three as of 16:30 yesterday. We appreciate the understanding of the Embassies, and we hope that the remaining Embassies will resume their activities soon.

    As for the problems of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, last week the Government designated, in addition to a restricted area of 20km radius of the power station, a deliberate evacuation area - you will notice in the map it is surrounded by a pink line - and also evacuation prepared areas, that are outside this 20km radius. The Government will make its best efforts to cooperate with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) to resolve the situation in accordance with the roadmap announced by TEPCO on 17 April. As we will keep briefing foreign media through the daily briefings by the relevant Ministries and Agencies of the Government, we hope, through you, among others, that foreigners will monitor the situation calmly and respond calmly.

  2. Statement by the Press Secretary on the Thai-Cambodia Border Situation

    3. Mr. Sobashima: The next topic is the Statement by the Press Secretary on the Thai-Cambodia Border Situation. We have distributed the statement issued on 26 April. Concerning the clashes in the border region between Thailand and Cambodia, since the clashes occurred in February this year, Japan has called on the two countries for a peaceful resolution of the situation. The international community has also worked toward improving the relationship between the two countries. Despite these efforts, however, clashes have occurred again since Friday 22 April, and we understand that the clashes still continue. Thus Japan is concerned about the situation. Japan strongly expects that the two countries pay heed to the mediation efforts by ASEAN and its chair country Indonesia, and quickly bring the situation to a close in a peaceful manner through dialogue. 

  3. Meeting between Foreign Minister Matsumoto and Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah, Minister of State for International Cooperation of the State of Qatar

    4. Mr. Sobashima: Next, I would like to inform you about two meetings of Foreign Minister Matsumoto. The first is a meeting with Minister of State for International Cooperation of the State of Qatar Dr. Khalid Bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah held yesterday. Minister Matsumoto expressed his gratitude for the warm message of sympathy delivered from His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, as well as from the Qatari people, and for the increased supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Japan, in the wake of the earthquake. In response, Minister Attiyah conveyed a message of condolence and sympathy for the victims of the earthquake and tsunami, and also expressed the intention of the State of Qatar to donate 100 million US dollars for early recovery from the disaster. Minister Matsumoto expressed his gratitude once again. The two ministers discussed other issues, including climate change and the Middle East. 

  4. Meeting between Foreign Minister Matsumoto and Mr. Antonio Milososki, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

    5. Mr. Sobashima: Next is Minister Matsumoto's meeting with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Again, this took place yesterday. Minister Matsumoto expressed his gratitude for the condolences and donations sent by the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The visiting minister expressed his sympathy and also said that the reason why he has visited Japan is to show that the situation in Japan is back to business as normal. The two ministers discussed bilateral relations, as well as cooperation in international fora. The visiting Minister, among others, supported Japan as a candidate for a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. 

  5. Millennium Development Goals Follow-Up Meeting

    6. Mr. Sobashima: Then, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Follow-Up Meeting. The Government of Japan decided to host the MDG Follow-Up Meeting in Tokyo from 2-3 June, co-organized by the UNDP, UNICEF, the World Bank and JICA. This meeting is a follow-up of the announcement made by Prime Minister Kan at the High-Level Plenary Meeting of the 65th UN General Assembly of September last year. 

  6. Planned visits of Foreign Minister Matsumoto

    7. Mr. Sobashima: These are for the distributed documents. I have an oral explanation of the visits of Foreign Minister Matsumoto.

    Today, as formalities have been concluded, we have made an announcement formally and have issued a press release in Japanese already, and the English Translation is coming. Foreign Minister Matsumoto will visit Washington D.C., Berlin, Dakar and Brussels, from 29 April - 4 May.

    In Washington D.C., Foreign Minister Matsumoto will have a Japan-US Foreign Ministers' meeting and also meet Government officials of the United States.

    In Berlin, Minister Matsumoto will participate in the 2nd Foreign Ministers' Meeting on Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. The 2nd meeting of Foreign Ministers of that particular group established of the initiative of Japan and Australia. And then Germany became a main participant of this Foreign Ministers' meeting of ten countries. This time Germany will be hosting this meeting in Berlin.

    In Dakar, Senegal, Foreign Minister Matsumoto will be co-chairing, together with the Minister of Senegal, the 3rd TICAD Ministerial Follow-Up Meeting for the development of Africa.

    In Brussels Foreign Minister Matsumoto will be participating in the Japan-EU Economic Ministerial Meeting, and also meet Mr. Barroso, President of the European Commission and Mr. Michel Barnier, European Commissioner. He plans to pay a courtesy call on H.E. Mr. Yves Leterme, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium. Further, he will meet NATO Secretary General, Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

    So these are the topics that I would like to share with you, and now I invite your questions.  

  7. Questions concerning Foreign Minister Matsumoto's visit to Europe

    8. Q: If I may ask, when will Minister Matsumoto arrive in Berlin?

    Mr. Sobashima: He is expected to arrive in Berlin in the morning of 30 April, Saturday. I think the Foreign Ministers' Meeting will start in the morning of 30 April.

    Q: Will he stay overnight, or will he go further on to Belgium?

    Mr. Sobashima: He doesn't have time to stay overnight in Germany. 

  8. Question concerning Embassies temporarily closed in Tokyo

    9. Q: A different question regarding your mentioning of the Embassies that are still not here. Can you specify which three embassies these are?

    Mr. Sobashima: I would like to refrain from mentioning the names of these Embassies on this occasion. 

  9. Questions concerning the Japan-China-ROK Trilateral Summit Meeting

    10. Q: Another question, regarding the trilateral summit - this was scheduled originally for the first half of this year. You already had a Foreign Ministers' Meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and ROK Foreign Minister Kim Sung-Hwan. Do you have any plans as to when the trilateral summit will take place?

    Mr. Sobashima: Do you refer to the trilateral summit of Japan, China and the Republic of Korea?

    Q: Yes.

    Mr. Sobashima: I think we have announced the dates already. That is 21-22 May in Tokyo. We recently announced that a Japan-China-ROK trilateral summit will be held in Tokyo on 21-22 May.

    Q: Where is the meeting of June 2 and 3 going to happen? In Tokyo?

    Mr. Sobashima: You mean the venue for the June (MDGs) meeting in Japan?

    Q: Yes.

    Mr. Sobashima: In Tokyo. The further details should be announced later.  

  10. Questions concerning donations received in response to the Great East Japan Earthquake

    11. Q: One last question regarding the donations, perhaps you can help me. I know there is lots of money coming into Japan, through the Red Cross Society, for example, as well as several agencies, you mentioned the Embassies and General Consulates. When are you going to distribute this money, and how will you distribute it?

    Mr. Sobashima: As for when we need to check. As for how, basically, the donations for a large part, have come to the Japanese Red Cross Society. These are kept. I understand that already, the representatives of Red Cross Society and the representatives of the affected Prefectures have met and had discussions. Perhaps there may be already some sort of guidelines on how to use these. We have this organization to decide on the distribution, and if the decision is made by this organization, it will be done. This is the procedure, with the participation of relevant authorities, including the Red Cross Society and the representatives of the affected areas.

    Q: Who is also in this committee from the Japanese Government? There are the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Prefecture representatives. Then from the Government, do you know who is there?

    Mr. Sobashima: I am sorry, I have to check. I will come back to you. Is that okay? (Note: Members of the committee for distribution of donations are the representatives of the affected Prefectures, the associations of City Mayors, Town Mayors, and Village Heads and donation organizations.)

    Q: Yes, of course.

    Mr. Sobashima: If you do not have any further questions, thank you very much. 

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