 |
 |
| Lyon Summit Information |
Overview and Evaluation of Political and Global Issues
at the Lyon Summit
June 29, 1996
At this year's Lyon Summit, global and political issues were addressed first in evening talks on June 27 among the G-7 leaders. The discussion returned to these subjects in a meeting in the evening of June 28, on which occasion Russia also participated, and the results were announced the next morning in the form of the Chairman's Statement.
1. Overall Evaluation of the Lyon Summit
(1) The Chairman's Statement was titled "Toward
Greater Security and Stability in a More Cooperative World."
At a time of progressing globalization and deepening
international interdependence, the participants in the G-7
summit, recognizing the strong influence of their countries in
the international community, discussed how to cope with regional
conflicts and such global issues as arms control and disarmament,
nonproliferation, terrorism, transnational organized crime, and
the environment, and they also exchanged views on how to build a
better international system to achieve security and stability.
(2) The summit went further than previous summits in
dealing with global issues. In the political field it addressed
such concerns as reform of the United Nations, arms control and
disarmament, and nonproliferation, and on the social and economic
front it addressed human rights, the environment, and other
issues. The working-level cooperation in the follow-up to the
Halifax Summit has been producing fruitful results, reflecting
the interdependence of the international community.
(3) In relation to regional issues, discussions focused on
problems that can have a strong impact on the framework for
international security and stability, and on regions whose
situations have been undergoing vast change, notably (1) Bosnia,
(2) the Middle East, (3) the Korean Peninsula, and (4) Russia.
(4) The statements adopted at the summit reflected the
foregoing features. The Chairman's Statement begins with a
passage clarifying the general understanding of the participants
on how today's international order is to be created. It addresses
specific global issues next, and this is followed by key regional
situations. (The "Halifax Summit Follow-up" -- a review
of U.N. reforms in the economic and social fields--is attached to
the Statement.) Separate statements were adopted on Bosnia and
terrorism, two critical issues at the present point in time.
(5) The fruits of the summit were the combination of
debate on key issues by the leaders based on their political
insight and the result of an accumulation of working-level
efforts that went on throughout the preparatory stage.
2. Regional Issues
As noted, the talks on regional issues focused on a limited number of important regions including Bosnia, Russia, the Middle East, and the Korean Peninsula.
(1) Russia
Since the summit happened to be held between the first and second
round of Russia's presidential elections, Russian issues elicited
special attention. Attending on behalf of Russian President Boris
Yeltsin, who stayed home to prepare for the runoff vote, was
Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin. The G-7 conveyed their
expectations and support for the continuation of Russia's reform
in the political and economic fields.
At this summit Russia participated in the discussion on global
issues in a broader way than at previous summits as well as on
political issues. But in the area of economic policy
coordination, where the G-7 members discuss such issues as
macroeconomic management, it was recognized that Russia is still
not in a position for joining the discussions. While the summit
has enabled Russia to strengthen cooperative relations with G-7
members, its format remains "the G-7 plus one."
(2) Bosnia
On the question of Bosnia, where the G-7 countries are concerned
about the progress of the peace process especially on the
civilian front, the talks focused on the elections scheduled for
this autumn and on support for reconstruction. The adoption of
the statement "Decisions Concerning Bosnia and
Herzegovina," which contains specific measures, should give
a powerful boost to the peace process and deserves to be seen as
one of the major fruits of the summit. Both U.N. Secretary
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Bosnia peace coordinator Carl
Bildt, the high representative of the Peace Implementation
Conference, were invited to an informal dinner on June 28, at
which time U.N. reform and the Bosnian situation were discussed.
(3) The Middle East
The summit opened at a time when the peace process in the Middle
East was attracting much attention in the international community
owing to the repeated acts of terrorism, which have interrupted
the peace negotiations, and the results of the Israeli election.
The summit delivered a clear message affirming the importance of
further development of the peace process and urging restraint
upon all concerned, and it reaffirmed the principle of "land
for peace" and the other principles on the basis of which
Israel and its Arab neighbors are expected to make efforts toward
securing peace.
(4) The Korean Peninsula
Sharing the recognition that peace and stability on the Korean
Peninsula are intimately connected to global peace and stability,
just as in Bosnia and the Middle East, the participating
countries urged the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to
engage in dialogue with the Republic of Korea, and they announced
support for the proposal of the United States and the Republic of
Korea to convene a four-party meeting. During the discussion,
European countries were called on to give further support to
KEDO, the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization. The
Chairman's Statement includes the foregoing points.
3. Global Issues
(1) Terrorism
The nighttime bombing of an American military facility in Saudi
Arabia on June 25 killed or wounded a great number of people.
This incident heightened the concern for terrorism in the summit
countries and led to the prompt release of a "Declaration on
Terrorism" at the first evening's dinner. The declaration
contained a condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and
manifestations and a pledge to strengthen international
cooperation for fighting terrorism, and it stated that a
ministerial meeting to consider further actions will be held in
Paris in July. Japan proposed to host a seminar on terrorism
countermeasures and to invite both industrialized and developing
countries to it in the hopes of facilitating cooperation on this
issue.
(2) Arms Control and Disarmament, Nonproliferation
(including the CTBT and land mines)
Since the negotiations on a Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty at the
Geneva Conference on Disarmament were at a crucial stage, the
Chairman's Statement stressed the importance of the CTBT in the
field of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament. The Statement
set a September goal for the signing of the CTBT and, with
respect to nuclear testing, called on all states possessing
nuclear weapons to exercise utmost restraint over the period
until the treaty goes into force.
On the subject of conventional weapons, the leaders revealed
their resolve to clamp controls in particular on such devices as
antipersonnel land mines. Calling for greater international
cooperation in the detection and removal of land mines and the
rehabilitation of people injured by them, Japan proposed to hold
an international conference early next year with a view to
reinforcing international support for, for example, the
mine-removal activities of the United Nations, and Japan's
proposal won the support of the other countries. Japan also
declared that it will actively support the international efforts
toward a total ban on antipersonnel land mines and will take
voluntary measures on, among others, the use of land mines.
(3) U.N. Reform
Noting that the United Nations is being called upon to play an
increasing role as the twenty-first century approaches, the
Chairman's Statement called for an enhancement of the U.N.'s
roles in each field of peace and security, economic and social
affairs, and U.N. finance. Agreement was reached on strengthening
the U.N.'s peace-keeping operations "by further developing
the stand-by arrangements initiative and the rapidly deployable
headquarters team." At the informal dinner on June 28, the
summit participants discussed ways to strengthen the U.N. with
the participation of Secretary General Boutros-Ghali.
(4) The Environment
Next year will be a pivotal year for the environment, as it is
the fifth year after the Earth Summit, and a special session of
the U.N. General Assembly is to be convened to mark the occasion.
The Lyon Summit took note of the need for progress on all fronts
in this field. Japan is applying to host the third conference of
the parties to the U.N. Framework Convention of Climate Change,
and it laid special stress on the importance of this meeting.
(5) Other Issues
Opinions were exchanged on various other global issues including
human rights, transnational organized crime, nuclear safety and
security, and infectious diseases, and the Chairman's Statement
emphasized the need for international cooperation to resolve
problems.
4. Japan's Perspective
(1) The G-7 summits provide Japan both with an opportunity
to engage in top-level talks with other leading countries and
with a valuable forum for coordinating policies. While not all
the major issues discussed at the Lyon Summit, notably the issues
in Bosnia and the Middle East, are geographically close to Japan,
they are nonetheless crucial as they are related to the creation
of an international framework for the post-cold-war period and to
securing supplies of oil. To this day, Japan has participated
actively in the multilateral talks and endeavors pertaining to
the peace processes in Bosnia and the Middle East. At the Lyon
Summit Japan contributed to the discussions, building on the
results it has accomplished thus far. Such Japanese contributions
were highly appreciated by the other participants, which itself
is a reflection of the greater international role Japan has been
playing in recent years.
(2) Seeking to promote the interest of the other summit
countries in Asia-Pacific issues, Japan spoke on the progress and
significance of cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region and also
presented its views on the developments on the Korean Peninsula
and their meaning to international security.
Back to Index