What Japan Wants to Achieve at the Denver Summit

June 20, 1997

1. Overview

Summits are changing. This change is underway in response to changes accompanying the globalization of the international community.

The Summit was originally a forum for maintaining the solidarity of the Western alliance and coordinating economic policy. However, this is changing because of the advance of globalization, and specifically because of changes in the international economy (the liberalization of trade, investment and finance, and the emergence of the newly industrializing countries), as well as the conclusion of the Cold War. A broad range of globalization issues were taken up at last year's Lyon Summit. The Denver Summit is expected to consider concrete ways in which international systems can be enhanced and maintained in order to respond to the various issues which the Lyon Summit pointed out.

Specifically, there are three focal points of the Denver Summit.

1) The first is how to reform the existing international institutions such as the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO and others, which were created before and during the Cold War, so that they are in line with the realities of international society today.

2) The second is to encourage Russia and China to be integrated more and more into the system of globalization and to prevent the marginalization of Africa and promote their participation in the global international order as responsible members under such common concepts as democracy, market economy, and others.

3) The third issue is dealing properly with detrimental factors of the global international system, which include:
a) political and military factors such as regional conflicts in the Middle East, the former Yugoslavia, the Korean Peninsula and elsewhere, terrorism and the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction,
b) macro-economic and trade factors such as unemployment and protectionism in view of securing prosperity and development,
c) economic and social factors such as the environment, AIDS and other infectious diseases, aging population, unemployment, etc, which can undermine the global international system from within.

2. What Japan Wishes to Achieve at the Denver Summit

The United Nations, Africa, regional issues including the situation on the Korean Peninsula, the environment, and active aging are all areas which Japan will place particular importance upon during this Summit. Japan hopes to see discussion on these issues and a concrete direction for cooperative efforts set at the Summit.

3. Reform of the Existing International Institutions (notably of the U.N.)

Among the institutional reforms, the U.N. reform is a matter on which Japan places particular weight.

The United Nations must be reformed so that it may continue to adequately fulfill its role in the 21st century. It is an urgent agenda to push ahead with reform of the Security Council, fiscal reform and reforms in social and economic areas in an overall balanced manner within this year as the momentum for the U.N. reform is strong, while maintaining the principle of responsibility-sharing.

In regard to the first area, reform of the Security Council, in light of the major increase in the number of member states and the emergence of member states which have attained a degree of influence equal to that of the current permanent Security Council members, a working group on the reform of the Security Council is striving to boost the legitimacy, credibility and effectiveness of the Security Council while maintaining its efficiency. More specifically, Japan takes the position that new permanent Security Council members should be chosen from the limited number of developed and developing countries which possess the will and the capacity to fulfill global responsibilities. In view of the importance of ensuring the efficient functioning of the Security Council and its effectiveness, a figure in the low twenties including a limited number of new non permanent members would be a realistic framework for the total number of the members. Regarding vetoes, no state should use its veto to further parochial national interests particular to itself. Possible discrimination in the status between the new and existing permanent members will arise if power to veto is not provided to new permanent members. In any case this question should be resolved at the final stage of the negotiations as a part of a comprehensive package regarding Security Council reform. Japan commends the proposal made by General Assembly President Razali Ismail (to choose two developed countries and a total of three developing countries- one each from Asia, Africa and Latin America / the Caribbean - via election by the General Assembly) as providing a sound basis and a realistic springboard toward realizing Security Council reform.

Turning to the second area, which is fiscal reform, Japan is the second largest contributor to the United Nations, with a share of 15.65% (1997) of total contributions. While Japan has no intention of shirking the large financial responsibility it bears in terms of supporting the United Nations, we would at the same time like to emphasize the importance of financial support being proportionate to responsibility. It would also be inappropriate to go forward with fiscal reform while neglecting political reform (in other words, reform of the Security Council) as this would mean losing overall balance.

In regard to the third area, the reform of economic and social areas, particularly given that more than two thirds of United Nations member states are developing countries, Japan stresses development issues. Japan has continued to emphasize the importance of strengthening the functions and role of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and of ensuring consistency with other relevant U.N. development issues.

4. Integration

(1) Russia

a) The fundamental policy of Japan toward Russia is to do its utmost to accomplish complete normalization of bilateral relations by solving the Northern Territory issue based on the 1993 Tokyo Declaration and signing of a peace treaty with Russia, while supporting the reform efforts of Russia and strengthening cooperation in wide-ranging areas including multilateral fora.

b) Japan welcomes Russia's participation in the Denver Summit and looks forward to deepening cooperation at the future Summit of the Eight. Japan sincerely hopes that Russia will take concrete steps toward contributing to the traditional Summit subjects which the G7 have been jointly tackling, as well as to new subjects which will emerge in the future.

c) Now that Japan and Russia are working together at the Summit of the Eight as partners, it is needed to fully normalize the bilateral relations to realize what I have just described. Japan hopes Russia will agree with the need to fully normalize bilateral relations with Japan.

(2) China

1997 is a very important year for the Japan-China relationship in the sense that this year marks the 25th anniversary since the normalization of Japan-China relations. In a March meeting between the Japanese and Chinese Foreign Ministers in March, they agreed on Prime Minister Li Peng's visit to Japan and Prime Minister Hashimoto's visit to China in the near future. It is now the common position of Japan and China to encourage the development of Japan-China relations which are important not only to the two countries, but to the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region and hence the entire world. Both countries are making efforts for the development of Japan-China relations based on mutual trust, so that the people of both countries can heartily celebrate the 25th anniversary of these relations.

Japan will continue to support China's reform and open policy and at the same time to promote further cooperation between China and the international community through supporting China's early accession to the WTO and other means.

(3) Africa

As globalization is underway, Africa ought not to be left behind the trend of the rest of the world. Globalization must not result in the marginalization of Africa. Japan thinks it is very timely to focus on Africa at this Summit.

In order to promote trade with African countries, Japan applies preferential customs duties to imports from 41 African countries. Imports from Africa to Japan increased by 12.3% in 1995 from the previous year. (Both imports and exports with Africa account for 1.5% of the total value of Japan's trade.) While Japan is successfully investing in infrastructure in Asia, it has limited investments in Africa (0.7% of Japan's foreign investments are in Africa). Japan has emphasized grants and technical assistance to Africa over investment because we feel basic needs such as the capacity to build and access to secure water supplies are important areas of African development and economies.

Japan`s aid to Africa is second only to its aid to Asia at US$1.353 billion in 1995, or 12.6% of total bilateral aid. In 1996, Japan announced a comprehensive package of concrete measures for human resources development assistance, including Education for All (the aim of which is to give all children access to primary education by the year 2015) and Health for All (which supports the eradication of polio by the year 2000) and the holding in 1998 of the Second Meeting of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD II), in order to formulate an Action Plan for the development of Africa toward the 21st century. One of the most important components of the Action Plan is how to transfer the experiences and lessons of economic development in Asia to the future development of Africa. Asia has much to contribute to African development.

5. Democratization

Japan stresses that democratization is essential to the integration of nations into the global community. If a country faces issues of democratization and human rights in a forward-looking manner with a shared set of values, it will be helpful in terms of economic development. From this viewpoint, Japan has been providing assistance to elections and holding democratization seminars. For example, in the area of assistance for democratization, Japan dispatched election monitors and extended financial cooperation for the purchase of material necessary for the holding of presidential and parliamentary elections to Cote d'Ivoire and Tanzania respectively. Also, Japan, in corporation with the United States within the framework of the Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective, is working to promote the development of a civil society in El Salvador. In March of this year, grants were given to relevant NGOs, and democratization seminars targeting relevant persons from El Salvador are scheduled to be held in Japan and the United States this summer.

6. Regional Issues

(1) The Korean Peninsula

Military confrontation between the South and the North exists on the Korean Peninsula in spite of the end of the Cold War, and the situation has been unstable and uncertain. Japan is seriously concerned with the situation in North Korea, and it attaches importance to the realization of four party talks with the goal of achieving permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. In response to the famine in North Korea, Japan provided 500,000 tons of rice as well as financial assistance to the amount of US$500,000 in 1995 and US$6,000,000 in 1996. The issues of the suspected kidnapping of Japanese nationals and the home visit of Japanese wives remain unresolved. As for humanitarian assistance for 1997, Japan is making comprehensive consideration with various factors in mind.

(2) Hong Kong

As for the reversion of Hong Kong to China this July, the Japanese government believes that it is important that the free and open systems under the rule of law which have sustained Hong Kong's prosperity will be maintained after the reversion.

(3) Myanmar

Japan welcomes Myanmar's accession to ASEAN and intends to continue to urge further efforts to advance democratization and to improve the human rights situation in Myanmar. It is not appropriate to isolate Myanmar from international society, but it is important to give Myanmar the incentive to behave appropriately as a member of the international community.

(4) Cambodia

Japan, actively cooperating toward Cambodia's peace and rehabilitation, is of the view that peace in Cambodia should not retreat. For Cambodia's rehabilitation, stability of domestic politics based on solid cooperation among the leaders of the country and strengthening democracy through free and fair elections are the most important. As Cambodia's accession to ASEAN was decided recently, Japan strongly expects that it will contribute to the political stability and economic development of the country.

(5) The Middle East and Bosnia

As a country with global responsibilities, Japan has been engaging in various types of cooperation in line with the nature of the different regional conflicts outside the Asia Pacific region, including financial aid, humanitarian assistance activities and peacekeeping operations.

For example, in the Middle East, Japan has engaged in a wide range of activities, including contributing US$252 million to the Palestinians, dispatching a 77 personnel monitoring team, the largest from a single country, to observe the Palestinian elections, and supporting the peace process in the Arab countries surrounding Israel, namely Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. The Bosnia issue is also important from both a humanitarian point of view and with a view to building a post-Cold War international order. As a member of the PIC Steering Committee, Japan is participating actively in efforts to restore peace in this area, contributing around US$410 million in assistance in rehabilitation and reconstruction, as well as in humanitarian and refugee assistance. (As a point of reference, the EU`s contribution to KEDO in 1996 was US$6.30 million.)

7. Terrorism

The basic principles confirmed repeatedly at annual Summit meetings are to firmly condemn and combat all forms of terrorism and to make no concessions to terrorists. At the Denver Summit, it is expected that Japan will share lessons of hostage-taking at the Japanese ambassador's residence in Peru with the other leaders. Furthermore, Japan recently established a network for exchanging information on terrorism with ASEAN. This permanent network consists of contact points/ persons designated by the relevant authorities. Japan will also sponsor a Japan-ASEAN counterterrorism conference this autumn in Tokyo.

8. Environment, AIDS, Aging Population

Detrimental factors, in moving forward with globalization include not only the political and military factors, but also economic and social factors such as the environment, AIDS, the aging population, and unemployment.

(1) Environment

Since deterioration of the environment has a global impact, it is essential for countries in the world to tackle the issue together. At the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Japan clearly indicated its intention to engage actively in global environmental issues and declared before the world that it would expand and strengthen its environment-related assistance by 900 billion to 1 trillion yen over five years from 1992. As a result, Japan`s environment-directed ODA between 1992 and 1996 totaled 1.44 trillion yen.

Japan places particular importance on arresting the global warming. Japan aims at stabilizing per capita as well as total emissions of carbon dioxide in Japan to its 1990 level by the year 2000. Toward the Kyoto Conference of the Parties (COP3) of the Climate Change Framework Convention, Japan is proposing a legally binding commitment regarding emissions of CO2 that is fair, substantially effective in preventing global warming and highly feasible to implement. Specifically each country should set for itself the goal of reducing either per capita or total emissions of CO2 after the year 2000.

The Government of Japan emphasizes the improvement of developing countries` capacity to deal with environmental issues and has established Environmental Centers in countries such as China, Thailand and Indonesia as part of its grant assistance, as well as working on technology transfer and human resources development in the environmental field, utilizing Japan`s own experiences and achievements in overcoming pollution.

Measures within the framework of the Japan-U.S. Common Agenda include environmental protection, such as the "Protection of Biological Diversity in Indonesia" project, while Japan intends to engage further in environmental education in developing countries, coordinating with the Global Legislators Organization for a Balanced Environment (GLOBE), which was proposed by Vice-President Albert Gore.

(2) Japan also tackles AIDS and population issues very seriously. Japan is making an active international contribution to AIDS-related cooperation, focusing on technical cooperation and grass-roots grant assistance to NGOs, and promoting the Global Issues Initiative on Population and AIDS (donating US$33.6 million in the area of AIDS alone in 1996).

(3) The Aging population is also an issue common to all advanced countries. In this regard, at the Lyon Summit last year, Prime Minister Hashimoto proposed "An Initiative for a Caring World", under which countries will share their knowledge and experience, working toward the development of better social security systems. In terms of domestic efforts, in order to view aging in a positive light, Japan will engage actively in developing an employment environment for the elderly and an economic regime with the capacity to absorb the aged across society as a whole.

9. "Six Areas of Reform"

In order to achieve sustainable economic development in harmony with the global economy, Japan has been engaging in six reforms under the initiative of Prime Minister Hashimoto.

(1) Looking at financial system reform, or Japan's version of the "Big Bang", regulations are being revised so that individuals' financial assets amounting to 1200 trillion yen can be operated advantageously, with the aim being to restore the financial market to a par with international financial markets such as those of London and New York by the year 2001.

(2) In terms of fiscal structure reform, a thorough review of spending will be undertaken. The budget deficit is to be reduced from 7.3% of GDP (as of April 1997) to 3% or less by the year 2003. ODA budget will also be reduced. The ceiling for the FY 1998 budget is 10% below that of FY 1997. Japan intends to implement ODA effectively by prioritizing budget allocation to ensure that Japan does not lose its stature as a contributor to the international community.

(3) In response to the trend toward the birth of fewer children and an increasingly elderly population, Japan aims to achieve a balance between social security benefits and burdens through reform of Japan's social security system.

(4) In addition, Japan is also engaging in administrative reform, with the objective of slimming administrative services so that the administration can provide services sought by the people at the minimum cost while responding flexibly to the changes in economy and society.

(5) In the area of economic structural reform, the Action Plan for Economic Reform was created this May in order to increase the attractiveness of Japan's business environment through sweeping deregulation in such areas as telecommunications.

(6) Japan is also undertaking educational reform, which stresses the development of each individual's capacities, creativity and the spirit of challenge.

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