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

Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 28 July 2011

  1. ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' Meetings
  2. Japan's Fact-Finding Mission to Benghazi
  3. Visit to Japan of the IAEA Director General
  4. 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament in Matsumoto
  5. Preparations for the Hague Convention
  6. Foreign Minister's Commendations for FY 2011
  7. Planned Visits & Events
  8. Questions concerning North Korea
  9. Questions concerning the Building of an Emergency Rice Reserve System for Food Security
  10. Question concerning Foreign Minister's Commendations for FY 2011
  11. Questions concerning the Hague Convention

  1. ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' Meetings

    2. Deputy Press Secretary Hidenobu Sobashima: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. As you may have noticed, we have distributed the agenda for today, as we did last week, together with materials.

    Mr. Sobashima: The first point I would like to explain briefly is the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' meetings. As you may have noticed, we have distributed the papers on ASEAN+3 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the Japan-ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the Mekong-Japan Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers' Consultation, the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Ministerial Meeting, and the trilateral joint statement by Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. On the occasion of the ASEAN-related Foreign Ministers' meetings, Mr. Matsumoto also had bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia, Canada, and Vietnam – as I explained there was a trilateral meeting – then with the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Mongolia. Foreign Minister Matsumoto said to the Japanese media in Jakarta that the participation in these meetings was fruitful, because he was able to have an exchange of views frankly and freely with his counterparts on very important issues, such as nonproliferation and maritime security, among others. As for the East Asia Summit Foreign Ministers' Consultation, the United States and Russian Federation participated officially for the first time, and he proposed that, in addition to the five priority areas, perhaps EAS may focus on the discussion of political and security issues, because the United States and Russian Federation have joined the other members.

    So much for the multilateral meetings, except for the trilateral meeting of Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the United States. We have distributed a two-page trilateral joint press statement. The three ministers recognized that the US-Japan and US-Republic of Korea alliances and the Japan-Republic of Korea partnership are essential to the maintenance of peace and security in Asia. There were various issues, but I would like to particularly refer to relations with North Korea. In the third paragraph, the Ministers reiterated their commitment to the 2005 joint statement of the Six-Party Talks, and shared their belief that North Korea must make sincere efforts to improve relations with the Republic of Korea before the Six-Party Talks can be resumed. They emphasized that the inter-Korean dialogue should be a sustained process going forward. They pledged to maintain close consultations on policy toward the DPRK, continue efforts to dissuade North Korea from taking provocative actions, and encourage the DPRK to take concrete steps to demonstrate a genuine commitment to denuclearization. They referred also to abduction issues and the importance of cooperation with China and Russia.

    Toward the end of the first page, it says that they agreed to continue coordination on an appropriate response to North Korea's uranium enrichment program, reiterating that this is a violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 and is inconsistent with North Korea's commitments under the September 2005 joint statement. They also agreed that North Korea's uranium enrichment program must be also addressed in order to allow for the resumption of the Six-Party Talks.

    I will stop here. We understand that today, in U.S. time, in New York, the dialogue between the United States and the DPRK will be taking place, and in this relation I would like to explain two things.

    First, on the occasion of the trilateral Foreign Ministers' meeting, Mr. Matsumoto said that he will support the trend that inter-Korean dialogue or North-South dialogue should make progress and then perhaps later there will be dialogue between the United States and North Korea and dialogue between Japan and North Korea before resumption of the Six-Party Talks. In this regard, the three Ministers, as I explained in the statement, confirmed their intention to continue close consultation among the three countries.

    Second, when Secretary Clinton announced that there would be dialogue between the United States and North Korea, she said, on 24 July, "The United States has invited North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kae-gwan to New York later this week. Vice Foreign Minister Kim will meet an interagency team of U.S. officials for discussions on the next steps necessary to resume denuclearization negotiations through the Six-Party Talks. This will be an exploratory meeting to determine if North Korea is prepared to affirm its obligations under international and Six-Party Talk commitments, as well as take concrete and irreversible steps toward denuclearization". This is what she said. So, certainly, we are watching closely what will happen in New York. This has been agenda item one.

  2. Japan's Fact-Finding Mission to Benghazi

    3. Mr. Sobashima: The second topic is Japan's fact-finding mission to Benghazi. We have distributed a press release. Last week, I reported on the Fourth Meeting of the Libya Contact Group and I explained that Parliamentary Vice-Minister Tokunaga participated from Japan, and that this was the first participation at the political level from Japan. I also explained that Japan regards the Transitional National Council as the legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people. Parliamentary Vice-Minister Tokunaga had a bilateral meeting with Dr. Jibril, Chairman of the Executive Board of the Libyan Transitional Council, and, on that occasion, he invited Dr. Jibril to come to Japan. Last week, I said that Japan would consider expansion of its relationship with the Transitional National Council. As a follow-up of what Parliamentary Vice-Minister Tokunaga stated in the meeting of the Libya Contact Group, we sent a fact-finding mission, headed by Mr. Tsukasa Uemura, Deputy Director-General of the Middle Eastern and African Affairs Bureau, consisting of four officials of the ministry, to visit Benghazi on 24, July, last Sunday.
     
    The mission held discussion with the Libyan Transitional National Council. The mission had talks with Mr. Saleh Al-Din Al-Bashari, Deputy Head of Foreign Affairs of the TNC Executive Board – he is a kind of Deputy Foreign Minister – and several members of the TNC. On this occasion, the Japanese side once again conveyed Japan's position that we regard the TNC as the legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people. The mission also reaffirmed its official invitation for Dr. Mahmood Jibril, Chairman of the TNC Executive Board, to visit Japan.

    In addition, the mission also exchanged views with officials from the United States, the United Kingdom, and the United Nations, who are based there in Benghazi, regarding issues like the situation in Libya. This is the report that we are continuing this process of consideration of addressing the issues of Libya. This is the second topic.

  3. Visit to Japan of the IAEA Director General

    4. Mr. Sobashima: The third topic is the visit of IAEA Director General Amano to Japan. He had meetings with Prime Minister Kan and Foreign Minister Matsumoto, and, later, Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano, and we have distributed the summary record of discussion between Director General Amano and Prime Minister Kan.

    The meeting took place on 26 July. In the second paragraph, Prime Minister Kan said that the Government of Japan had announced the completion of Step 1 toward the resolution of the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station on 19 July, and that as a result he considered that a hurdle toward resolving the accident had been overcome. The Prime Minister also said that the Government of Japan was going to continue working to resolve the accident by making continuous and concerted efforts, and that he wished to complete Step 2 at the earliest possible juncture. The Prime Minister assured the Director General that the Government of Japan would continue to provide fast and accurate information to the international community including the IAEA in a transparent manner. Director General Amano valued the Prime Minister's efforts and said that the international confidence in Japan has been increased as a result of the report of the Government of Japan to the IAEA Ministerial Conference on Nuclear Safety held in June. Director General Amano expected that execution of Step 2 would also proceed favorably.

    Prime Minister Kan said that Japan wished to achieve the highest standard of nuclear safety based on what has been learned from this accident, and the Government of Japan would cooperate with the IAEA including in the implementation of an "Action Plan" under consideration by the IAEA. He also gave assurance that the Government of Japan would continue to cooperate closely for the success of the international conference on nuclear safety, which has been scheduled by Japan and the IAEA for the second half of next year. Director General Amano replied that the IAEA would continue to cooperate closely with Japan by making use of Japan's experience and actual performance shown in the area of nuclear safety.

    A similar conversation took place between the IAEA Director General and our Foreign Minister, and I presume also with the Chief Cabinet Secretary. 

  4. 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament in Matsumoto

    5. Mr. Sobashima: This is a good introduction to the next agenda item or topic, which is the 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues in Matsumoto. We have distributed the program on the UN Conference on Disarmament Issues. We have distributed it separately. Please have a look through this program. In the opening section, Ms. Hannelore Hoppe, Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs of the United Nations, made opening remarks together with those made by the mayor of Matsumoto City, Dr. Akira Sugenoya. Welcome remarks were made by our Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hisashi Tokunaga, and also, I presume, by the Mayor of Nagasaki City, Mr. Tomihisa Taue. The keynote address was made by IAEA Director General Amano.

    I will only explain the titles of the sessions: Session One is entitled, "We the People: Sustaining the Momentum toward Peace and Disarmament"; Session Two, "Implementing the 2010 NPT Review Conference Action Plan"; Session Three, "After the New Start: What's Next on Nuclear Disarmament?"; Session Four, "The Conference on Disarmament and Prospect for the Negotiation on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty"; Session Five, "Pressing Challenges: The Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy"; and Session Six, "A Nuclear Weapon Convention: From Aspiration to Negotiation". Tomorrow, 29 July, Friday, there will be the concluding session. We also have a special session for high school students, entitled, "The Peace and Disarmament Talk".

    This has been the program. I hope that there will be good results coming from this conference.

  5. Preparations for the Hague Convention

    6. Mr. Sobashima: The next topic is the preparations for the Hague Convention. We have distributed a press release issued last week. The press release is entitled, "Holding of the First Meeting of the Round Table on the Modality of the Central Authority for the Implementation of the Hague Convention". This is the announcement of the holding of the first meeting of the Round Table in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In fact, this meeting was held yesterday. We have issued a press release on this in Japanese already. Unfortunately, however, it is not yet in English; I will therefore explain the gist of the press release made in Japanese.

    The first meeting of the Round Table was held yesterday, Wednesday, 27 July, from 4 PM to 6 PM, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With the participation of academics (on administrative law and family law), representatives from the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and relevant ministries, it was decided that Professor Mitsuo Kobayakawa of Seikei University's School of Law will be the chair of this Round Table. Parliamentary Vice-Minister Yamahana made the welcome remarks, and explained that the Government of Japan decided to make preparations for concluding the Hague Convention, the Ministry of Justice has already held Legislative Council meetings on issues of the Hague Convention, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just started considerations in the format of a Round Table. The Ministry of Justice is dealing with legal procedures, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be responsible for deliberation on the Central Authority's mission and actions it should take pursuant to the Hague Convention and the Central Authority's actual power and responsibility.

    The Parliamentary Vice-Minister requested that the members discuss relevant issues for the purpose of consideration of establishment of a good system that will contribute to the welfare of children. The outlines of discussions and materials distributed in the Round Table meetings will be uploaded to our ministry's website, although I don't know to what extent we will be able to do this in English, in any event, we will be providing information on our website in Japanese. So please refer to it. This has been about the preparation for the Hague Convention.

  6. Foreign Minister's Commendations for FY 2011

    7. Mr. Sobashima: The final topic is the Foreign Minister's Commendations for FY 2011. This morning, our Ministry had a ceremony for the Foreign Minister's Commendations for FY 2011 followed by a reception at Iikura House. This year, the Commendation will be awarded to 68 individuals and 30 groups, of which 52 individuals and 27 groups are from overseas, who will be presented with award certificates and commemorative gifts: pure silk furoshiki. The Foreign Minister's Commendations are awarded to individuals and groups of outstanding achievements in international fields, to acknowledge their contribution to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries. The commendation also aims to promote the understanding and support of the Japanese Public for their activities. We have distributed a list of awardees.

  7. Planned Visits & Events

    8. Mr. Sobashima: As for the visits and events, I already explained about IAEA Director General Amano's visit to Japan. He is in Japan until 30 July. I have also already explained the 23rd UN Conference on Disarmament Issues held in Matsumoto until tomorrow. Earlier, we already announced that we have the APEC Workshop on Private Sector Emergency Preparedness from 1 to 3 August. This will be the first international conference held in Sendai and in the affected areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake, organized by the Japanese Government.

    And we announced the visit of the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Laos to Japan from 1 to 4 August.

    From Japan, former Prime Minister Hatoyama will be participating in the inaugural ceremony for the new president of Peru, today, in their time, that is 28 July, in Lima.

    And Parliamentary Vice-Minister Kikuta will be participating in the inaugural ceremony of the new president of Micronesia tomorrow, 29 July.

    So these are the topics and the information I would like to share with you. Now I would like to invite your questions please.

  8. Questions concerning North Korea

    9. Q: I have a question about the negotiations between the United States and North Korea. What would be the worst possible outcome for Japan of these negotiations, since you mentioned that the Japanese side is watching them?

    Mr. Sobashima: We don't like to expect the worst scenario, but in any event, if the situation remains or is the short of our expectations or short of what we expect should be developing, certainly we would continue to urge North Korea to respond positively to the calls from the international community, that they should observe existing commitments, they should be forthcoming with concrete positive steps, because we are concerned with the current situation. So if the situation is not satisfactory we should continue to urge North Korea to respond more positively in coordination with the United States, with the Republic of Korea and indeed with the international community. But we hope that there should be positive developments, if not necessarily coming immediately. We hope that the positive reaction should be made.

    Q: What kind of positive actions would these be for Japan, and what would be the priority of those positive actions. You said just positive actions in your answer, and it is also in the summary here under the regional situation point number two, under the Japan foreign policy update from 27 July. It says, "Concerning the abduction issue, Minister Matsumoto pointed out the importance for North Korea to put the August 2008 agreement into practice without delay, demanding North Korea's positive actions". What is "positive actions"?

    Mr. Sobashima: I would like to refrain from sort of defining the "positive actions", however, procedurally, as I explained, Japan, the United States and Republic of Korea would consult and coordinate closely, so in the process we would determine whether or not the actions taken by North Korea are satisfactory or not. Certainly we will have consultations. Simply I would like to refer to the words that you mentioned, without sort of interpreting or defining what is mentioned here, I simply would like to repeat what is written here. We are urging North Korea to honor their commitments made at the Six-Party Talks, and also we urge them to comply with the UN Security Council Resolutions.

    Without giving my definition or interpretation, I may give you some hints. I may not be able to quote something from this trilateral statement, but Secretary Clinton said on 24 July that "We are open to talks with North Korea, but we do not intend to reward North Korea just for returning to the table. We will not give them anything new for actions they have already agreed to take. And we have no appetite for pursuing protracted negotiations that would only lead us right back to where we have already been". In these manners, we are really looking for concrete positive actions.

  9. Questions concerning the Building of an Emergency Rice Reserve System for Food Security

    10. Q: Somewhere it is mentioned under food security about rice reserves, that Japan is thinking to establish some rice reserves to help with food security. I forget where it is, but it is mentioned in these papers. So what kind of rice reserves is Japan thinking to establish or construct?

    Mr. Sobashima: I am sorry, I don't have the appropriate information to respond to your question now. I will check and come back to you. But certainly, we are ready to cooperate with ASEAN members to prepare for the situation and Japan should be ready for cooperating with other members for this system of rice reserve. But I don't know the actual situation. I would like to check and come back to you. Is it okay?

    Q: Is Japan thinking to build these rice reserves within Japan or some other rice producing country?

    Mr. Sobashima: As a general comment, if we have a rice reserve available for international cooperation, of course after going through the procedures necessary, we may be able to provide supplies to the countries in need in the ASEAN and other regions. This is the first thing. Another thing is that if there is agreement to cooperate between ASEAN and other participating members in the Bali meetings, then certainly Japan should be forthcoming. However, I don't know the actual situation more than the general comment I have just made. So may I come back to you on the situation, what is the state of actual consideration vis-à-vis this proposal made in the ASEAN-related meetings?

    Q: Maybe a little bit more information about this. While I was working with the United Nations University (UNU) we had a big report about wastage of staple foods in staple food producing countries because of lack of warehouses, where the governments have in some countries for staple foods – rice, wheat and other foods, wastage because of non-availability of warehouses and centers for keeping them safe.

    Mr. Sobashima: I will check, but generally speaking once again, as you are aware we are extending official development assistance (ODA) as a sort of emergency assistance to the countries affected by disasters and others, which are in need of assistance, sometimes directly, bilaterally, providing commodities in need, and other times in cooperation with international organizations. So we have various tools in the ASEAN context and others that you are interested in. I am afraid I don't have the specific information available, so may I check and come back to you?

  10. Question concerning Foreign Minister's Commendations for FY 2011

    11. Q: Thank you. I will be anxious to have that. My other question is about the commendation awards given to Japanese and foreign nationals in Japan. If possible I would love to have what kind of criteria the Ministry of Foreign Affairs uses, and how they choose to award people, because I see in this list, particularly for the foreign recipients of this award, are from very few countries. Maybe, I don't know, it is lack of communication with other countries, or what. So if you know the criteria for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs I think it will be helpful, at least for foreign journalists working in Japan.

    Mr. Sobashima: I cannot add more than what is written in Paragraph 3 of the distributed paper, that "The Foreign Minister's Commendations are awarded to individuals and groups of outstanding achievements in international fields, to acknowledge their contribution to the promotion of friendship between Japan and other countries". So the contribution to the friendship between Japan and Pakistan, between Japan and Asian countries, the Netherlands, etc.

    As for procedure, this is the Minister's commendations, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is attentive to achievements by individuals and groups, therefore the Headquarters, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs itself in Tokyo, and our Embassies and Consulate Generals overseas, they have recommendations. And finally, the Minister himself will decide. This is the procedure. So if you have a recommendation, perhaps you would talk to the Divisions concerned in the Ministry, the Division covering a particular country, for example, or other relevant Divisions. I am also responsible, for example, for the Public Diplomacy Department, and the Public Diplomacy Department is dealing with cultural exchanges, and if you are aware of someone who has outstanding achievement in the field of cultural exchanges then our Department, the Public Diplomacy Department, may be interested in listening to your recommendation, or Japanese Embassies overseas, and they should be attentive. And then we will evaluate the achievements of those people and groups

  11. Questions concerning the Hague Convention

    12. Q: I have a question concerning the Hague Convention. I head that as Japan prepares for the accession to the treaty, I think there is a movement in the US Congress and some lawmakers in the United States. I think that they proposed that the United States and Japan sign a memorandum of understanding to address the past parental abductions because the Hague Convention only deals with future cases after Japan joins the treaty, and the current issues or past issues are not addressed by the Hague Convention. So how does the Japanese Government respond to such a request if the US Congress adopts a resolution on this issue?

    Mr. Sobashima: Thank you. First, we should be attentive to the various views expressed, and certainly we should be attentive to the views expressed by the US Congress, among other people. This is the first point. Secondly, diplomatic relations are dealt with between the governments, and as for the United States, of course the Japanese Government would have communication with the US Government. This is just general comments. I will refrain from predicting what will be happening in the future. Certainly we should be attentive to various views, and the various comments which may be forthcoming from Governments. Your point is well taken, that if we have become the members of a certain treaty then the treaty will be effective only as of the date of entry into force of that treaty for Japan, and that does not cover what happened in the past. But I think what to do with these things is a rather political measure, rather than a legal measure, and it is up to the political consideration by the political leaders of the Government of Japan. But in any event, I would like to refrain from predicting what will be happening, but I just say that we should be attentive to various views, and certainly we should be attentive to comments coming from Governments, but at this stage we would like to refrain from prejudicing the conclusion of our considerations.

    If you don't have further questions, thank you very much for coming.

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