Top > Announcement > Press Conference by the Press Secretary of MOFA > 20 September 2012

Press Conference by the Deputy Press Secretary, 20 September 2012

  1. Agreement between Japan and the United States on the new aircraft in Japan (MV-22)
  2. Dispatch of an election observer to the parliamentary elections of the Republic of Belarus
  3. Fourth round of negotiations to conclude a Japan-Kazakhstan Investment Agreement
  4. Question concerning the Senkaku Islands

1. Agreement between Japan and the United States on the new aircraft in Japan (MV-22)

Deputy Press Secretary Ms. Naoko Saiki: Good afternoon. I would like to start with a few announcements before taking your questions.

Ms. Saiki: First, on the agreement between Japan and the United States with respect to the new aircraft in Japan, MV-22. The Japanese Government has strenuously carried out various consultations with the Government of the United States on the matter. As a result, the two countries agreed on concrete measures regarding the basing and operations of the MV-22 aircraft into Japan, including flight safety, noise abatement, and low level flight training, yesterday, on 19 September.

2. Dispatch of an election observer to the parliamentary elections of the Republic of Belarus

Ms. Saiki: The second announcement I would like to make is concerning the dispatch of an election observer to the parliamentary elections of the Republic of Belarus. The Government of Japan has decided to dispatch an election observer to the International Election Observation Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) / the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to support the fair conduct of the parliamentary elections in the Republic of Belarus scheduled for 23 September. The upcoming parliamentary elections will be held following the end of the term. The international community including Japan has been watching the progress towards democratization in Belarus after the presidential election of December 2010. And it is important that these elections will be conducted in a fair and democratic manner, with a view to promoting stability in Belarus and the region as a whole.

3. Fourth round of negotiations to conclude a Japan-Kazakhstan Investment Agreement

Ms. Saiki: Third, and last, on the fourth round of negotiations to conclude a Japan-Kazakhstan Investment Agreement. On 20 and 21 September in Kazakhstan, the fourth round of negotiations to conclude a Japan-Kazakhstan agreement on investment will be held. At the meeting, it is expected that, on the basis of the achievements made in the preceding negotiations, the substantive contents to be included in the agreement will be further discussed.

With these initial announcements, I would be happy to take your questions.

4. Question concerning the Senkaku Islands

Q: In relation to the Senkaku Islands, Chinese media has reported that the reason why China is upset is that the nationalization of the Islands means the violation of the agreement to shelve this issue concluded in the past between Japan and China. What is the Japanese Government’s view on that?

Ms. Saiki: Thank you for the question. The position of the Japanese Government on the point is clear as Minister Gemba stated yesterday at his press conference in response to a question made. There is no such agreement about shelving the issue regarding the Senkaku Islands vis-a-vis China. From time to time we have precisely communicated and explained our view of this to the People’s Republic of China as appropriate.

Are there any other questions? Then this concludes today’s conference. Thank you for coming.

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