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Summary of Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's Visit to G8 Countries

10 May 2000
Ministry of Foreign Affairs

From 28 April to 6 May Prime Minister Mori made a round of visits to the G8 countries, where he met with the respective leaders. The main schedule of the visit is outlined below:
29 April Meeting with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation
1 May Meeting with President Romano Prodi of the European Commission
2 May Meeting with Prime Minister Giuliano Amato of the Italian Republic
Meeting with President Jacques Chirac, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin of the French Republic
3 May Meeting with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of the Republic of Germany
Meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair of the United Kingdom
4 May Meeting with Prime Minister Jean Chretien of Canada
5 May Meeting with President Bill Clinton of the United States of America


1. Meeting with President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation

(1) Building of mutual trust between the two Leaders, future advancement of dialogue between the Leaders

  1. Both Leaders spent a total of seven hours together, including a meeting between the two Leaders alone, an expanded meeting, lunch and cultural programs. During this time, the two Leaders paved the way for the building of relations of mutual trust with one another.
  2. Both Leaders agreed to closely move forward with dialogue at the Summit-level in the future, in particular agreeing on the timing of President Putin's official visit to Japan at the end of August.

(2) Japan-Russia cooperation in the lead-up to the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit

  1. Prime Minister Mori explained the basic agenda for the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit.
  2. Prime Minister Mori proposed the idea of President Putin briefing on continuation and further progress of Russia's reform efforts at the Summit, and reaffirmed the G8's support for them.
  3. President Putin stated that there was significant importance in the G8's support for Russia's reforms, and expressed Russia's interest in particularly discussing the international order in the 21st century, measures to counter terrorism, and the Russian debt issue.

(3) Direction of Japan-Russia relations toward the 21st century

  1. Both Leaders agreed on the strategic importance of Japan-Russia relations in the 21st century.
  2. Prime Minister Mori proposed to simultaneously move forward with three key issues toward the 21st century: 1) promotion of strategic and geopolitical relations between the two countries; 2) wide-ranging economic cooperation; and 3) the conclusion of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia. President Putin gave his basic agreement to this proposal, and expressed his opinion to aim to promote relations across all areas, including the conclusion of a peace treaty.
  3. Discussion took place from a broad perspective on the importance of concluding a peace treaty for Japan-Russia relations. As a result of the discussion, both Leaders reaffirmed their commitment to respecting in full the series of agreements and declarations made so far, including the Tokyo Declaration and the Moscow Declaration.
  4. Furthermore, both Leaders welcomed Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Alexy II's visit to Japan in May as symbolizing the development of relations between the two countries.

2. Meetings with Leaders of Italy, France, Germany, the U.K., and the EU

(1) Kyushu-Okinawa Summit

  1. Prime Minister Mori emphasized two points concerning the Kyushu-Okinawa Summit, in which Japan will assume the Chair: (i) that Japan views the Summit as the most important agenda in this year's foreign policy, and will exert maximum effort to ensure the Summit's success; and (ii) that he wished to deliver a positive message from the Summit, the keywords of which are as follows:
    1. Greater Prosperity: Information technology (IT) will be the central theme of this year's Summit (The Summit will be used to further promote the IT revolution and raise the issue of IT education, which at the same time will incorporate the element of the "digital divide" for developing countries.) The issues of debt, infectious diseases, and human resources development will also be raised in an effort to alleviate worsening poverty and to ensure that developing countries can reap the benefits of globalization.
    2. Deeper Peace of Mind: The issues of crime, food safety, aging, environment, and drugs will be raised in order to respond to the various anxieties of people from both developing countries and G8 countries.
    3. More Stable World: Efforts to address the major issues that have continued to surface in the post-Cold War period, such as regional conflict, disarmament, and non-proliferation, will also be raised.
  2. Each Leader expressed his endorsement of Prime Minister Mori's explanation, and pledged their close cooperation toward ensuring the success of the Summit.

(2) Russia

As a result of the Japan-Russia Summit Meeting held on 29 April, Prime Minister Mori's impression of President Putin was that he had a good grasp of the issues at hand, was dynamic, was a politician he could talk and work with, and had a very sharp mind while at the same time displaying a very human side. Prime Minister Mori also highlighted the importance of avoiding Russia's isolation and calling on Russia to work together as constructive partners. All the respective Leaders, including Prime Minister Blair, who had himself recently met with President Putin, thanked Prime Minister Mori for his comments, and stated that they shared his view.

(3) Other issues

  1. Prime Minister Mori expressed conviction that the Japanese economy would soon be revitalized, to which the Leaders responded that they firmly believed or hoped for a recovery of the economy.
  2. As long as time allowed for in the remaining discussions, the following issues were also raised: bilateral relations with respective countries; Japan-Europe relations, including the holding of the Japan-EU Summit (European Commission, France); the situation in Asia, including the Korean Peninsula (Italy); United Nations Reforms (the importance of comprehensive reforms to strengthen the United Nations, including Security Council reform) (Italy, Germany); cooperation toward the launching of a new round of the World Trade Organization negotiations (European Commission, Germany); and culture and educational reforms (France).

3. Meetings with the Leaders of Canada (4 May) and the United States of America (5 May)

(1) Kyushu-Okinawa Summit (discussed with both Canada and the U.S.)

Prime Minister Mori explained Japan's view toward the Summit (see 2 (1)), gaining the approval of both the Canadian and American Leaders, as well as their pledge to cooperate closely toward ensuring the success of the Summit.

(2) Russia (discussed with both Canada and the U.S.)

Prime Minister Mori explained his views on Russia (see 2 (2)). Prime Minister Chretien expressed his view that President Putin would remain in power for a lengthy period, while President Clinton said that he planned to visit Russia next month for talks with President Putin.

(3) Individual elements of the meeting with Prime Minister Chretien of Canada

Japan-Canada relations: Prime Minister Mori remarked that Japan-Canada relations would be further bolstered by the follow-up to last year's Team Canada, led by Prime Minister Chretien, as well as the Japan-Canada Business Conference. Prime Minister Chretien stated that the Japanese market was important for Canada and that he wanted to make Canada to be an important market for Japan in the future. He also expressed his gratitude for the fact that even though Japan had been recently experiencing economic difficulties, Japan has not reduced its Official Development Assistance it was providing.

(4) Individual elements of the meeting with President Clinton of the United States of America

  1. Japan-U.S. security relations: Prime Minister Mori began by stating that the Japan-U.S. security alliance was indispensable for the peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region, and that he wished to exert efforts to further improve its reliability. Prime Minister Mori explained that the position of the Government of Japan in relation to the relocation of Futenma Air Station was that it had seriously taken note of the requests of Okinawa and made a Cabinet decision. And this position had already been explained to the U.S. side at the ministerial level. He further stated his wish to continue to closely cooperate with the U.S. based on the SACO (Special Action Committee on Okinawa) Final Report and the Japan-U.S. Joint Declaration on Security. President Clinton responded by saying that the Japan-U.S. partnership was of utmost importance, and expressed his appreciation for Japan's efforts. He further stated that both countries must resolve both the issues at hand and any future issues that arise.
  2. Japanese economy and other issues: Prime Minister Mori stated that he would take measures to effect bold structural reforms of the Japanese economy (On NTT interconnection charges, Prime Minister Mori mentioned that the issue should be resolved as promptly as possible through the efforts of both Japan and the U.S. and that the officials of both sides should continue to engage in discussions.) President Clinton, while applauding Japan's fiscal and financial policies, emphasized the importance of structural reforms as the key to the revival of the Japanese economy and welcomed Prime Minister Mori's interest in the telecommunications issue.
  3. WTO: President Clinton said that it is possible to launch a new round during this year, and hoped that efforts would be made to reach a consensus in this regard. He further commented that making the anti-dumping rule a subject for negotiations would create problems given the vast amount of US trade deficit. Prime Minister Mori expressed that he agreed to the launch of a new round responding to the wide range of interests of WTO members, and hoped to engage in positive consultations. Commenting that many countries held much interest on the anti-dumping issue, Prime Minister Mori stressed the need to engage in further discussion on this matter.
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