Press Conferences

Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs: I have an announcement on Japan’s provision of vaccines to Thailand, Viet Nam, and Taiwan.

Early September, Japan has decided to provide a total of about 440,000 AstraZeneca vaccine doses to Thailand, Viet Nam, and Taiwan. The provision of vaccines will be implemented after making comprehensive decisions based on the local infection conditions, medical care systems, and vaccination situations, as well as vaccine needs and requests of Japanese nationals residing in the countries and region.

Vaccinations are currently being implemented for people including Japanese nationals who reside in Thailand, Viet Nam, and Taiwan. Japan expects that this provision of vaccines will further advance vaccination of Japanese nationals and the local people who wish to be vaccinated. That is all from me.

Asahi Shimbun, Sato: I would like to ask about Japan-Russia relations. President Putin stated previously that Russia has an unique and unprecedented proposal regarding the Japan-Russia joint economic activities in the Northern Territories. There are reports that he might explain the specific content of the proposals at the Eastern Economic Forum, which is currently convened in Vladivostok. I assume what he plans to explain would conflict with the agreement between the governments of Japan and Russia to not harm either side’s legal position. Please tell us your thoughts on Russia’s move and how Japan will respond to the joint economic activities.

Minister Motegi: Russia has not made any decision on a proposas that would conflict with Japan’s position, not has Russia sent Japan any sort of notification.

Japan and Russia agreed to implement economic activities that do not harm the legal positions of both sides. Japan will continue to consult constructively with the Russian side toward implementing joint economic activities in such manner.

TBS, Kanehira: I am Kanehira from the TBS Japan News Network. Please tell us about the response MOFA and the Government of Japan made for the protection of Japanese nationals, as well as protection of local embassy staff and their families, after the collapse of the administration in Afghanistan. During your press conference on August 31, you stated that you believe the dispatch of SDF aircraft was not late by any means. However, since then, there are still members of the ruling and opposition parties as well as the Japanese public who view the late timing of the dispatch as problematic.

Moreover, it is a fact that there are still people with the view that only a small number of Japanese nationals were evacuated. The reality is that a considerable number of local embassy staff is left in Afghanistan.

What are your thoughts on the biggest factor behind not being able to evacuate them outside of Afghanistan? Just to give an example of other countries, France issued visas to local staff and encouraged them to evacuate at a considerably early stage. Of course, there are countries that did not take such actions as well. Please tell us why Japan could not take similar measures.

Minister Motegi: One of MOFA’s most important duties is to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals residing in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas as well as other related people, and to enable them to safely leave foreign countries if they wish to. For example, when the novel coronavirus outbreak began last January in Wuhan, Japan quickly dispatched charter planes to Wuhan and Hunan Province in China for over 800 Japanese nationals and their families.

Although I do not intend to say that everything went well only for Japan, I believe that what kind of measures we take change depending on various conditions.

For example, the militaries of France and other NATO countries were actually in Kabul before Kabul fell. In that sense, they were able to start their operations swiftly with their militaries. In some aspects, we cannot treat all the countries in the same way.

Anyway, I believe our most important duty will continue to be ensuring the safety of Japanese nationals and related people, and supporting the evacuation of those who wish to evacuate.

The difficulty was that only an extremely small number of people predicted that Kabul would fall in only 11 days, including the Biden administration. Furthermore, regarding the August 26 terrorist attack which involved 170 people near the airport, although there was a risk of terrorism, I believe it was impossible to predict specifically what time on which day it would occur.

Japan knew the deadline for U.S. withdrawal, and we carried out operations based on the consideration on when to implement using which method would be the safest and fastest for evacuation. As of late August, only a few Japanese nationals were still in Kabul. We asked all of them if they want to leave Afghanistan soon. Amidst the tense situation, we told them not just once but several times that it would be quite difficult to leave the country from September, and only one of them told us that he wanted to leave. We were able to evacuate that person using a Self-Defense Forces (SDF) aircraft.

Unfortunately, there are still many local embassy staff and JICA workers in Afghanistan. We will continue to provide support for their evacuation in the safest and fastest manner.

Looking back, I wish that the terrorist incident had not occurred on August 26. I still believe that it was dangerous to continue our operations right after the terrorist incident and the chaos that followed throughout the city including the Taliban checkpoints. Unfortunately, we were not able to finish withdrawal within the deadline of August. The reality is that many local embassy staff, JICA workers, and others are still in Afghanistan. We will continue to consider our support measures while firmly thinking about what methods would be the safest and swiftest.

Radio France, Nishimura: I would like to ask about border enforcement measures. Many foreign athletes and artists have been able to come to Japan recently, but exchange students are still unable to enter the country. What is the reason behind that?

Minister Motegi: Due to the novel coronavirus, Japan has temporarily suspended the new entry of foreign nationals into Japan from all countries and regions. Additionally, it has been decided to allow the entry into Japan on a case by case basis if it meets the test of urgency and public interest, premised on fully taking infection control measures. People in the field of arts fall under such cases. I believe that accepting foreign exchange students is important from the perspective of the internationalization of Japanese universities and enhancing education and research capabilities. We will continue to consider according to the infection conditions inside and outside Japan.

Radio France, Nishimura: I do not understand why artists meet the test of urgency. Why was it decided that for example, a one-year artist project is more urgent than exchange students entering university?

Minister Motegi: No, I said that because you mentioned athletes and people related to academia. I did not say that all artists are allowed to enter Japan. As I said before, entry into Japan is allowed for artists, for example, on a case by case basis if it meets the test of urgency and public interest.

TBS, Kanehira: I would like to follow up on my earlier question. There are still local people affiliated to the Japanese embassy left in Afghanistan. For example, Japan evacuated 14 Afghani people at the request of the United States. Considering this number 14, why did Japan evacuate less people compared to other countries? For example, the Republic of Korea (ROK) evacuated more Afghani people. There are countries that evacuated far more people. Those other countries all faced obstructive factors like the terrorist incident on August 26 that you mentioned, so why was it only Japan that evacuated less Afghani people? To put it plainly, the national sentiment is that the government was coldhearted in the handling of those working at the embassy. I of course understand that you had a priority to protect Japanese nationals and those who were related. Nevertheless, when compared with other countries, do you believe you can gain public understanding on why it turned out to be this way for Japan?

Minister Motegi: Firstly, in terms of the United States and other countries, there are still people with U.S. citizenship left in Afghanistan. I am sure you are aware of this.

We have been treating the protection of Japanese nationals as our first priority, not just in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, there was only one Japanese national who wished to leave, and she was able to do so safely. There are local people who worked in embassies and JICA still in Afghanistan. Other countries also have different kinds of people still in Afghanistan. Some countries have more local staff left in Afghanistan than Japan. There are also some countries that had more local staff leave Afghanistan than Japan. This depends on the individual circumstances and measures, such as whether the country’s troops were already present in Afghanistan and could conduct operations. Furthermore, I believe many different decisions had to be made, such as which route to take to reach the airport and whether that was a completely safe method or not. There was a considerable amount of danger involved in helping people leave the country. If it turned out well in the end, it does not mean that everything was okay. I believe each case needs to be verified on its safety and whether it was conducted at the swiftest timing.

At the very least, there are still many local embassy staff and JICA workers still in Afghanistan. We will continue to consider support measures in various forms to ensure their safety and to help people who wish to leave the country be able to do so.

Independent Web Journal, Chiura: The Taliban has indicated that it wants to begin diplomacy with Japan. Will Japan make the independent decision to recognize the Taliban of Afghanistan as the legitimate administration, or will Japan follow the stance of the United States and others? What will happen in terms of protection and rescue of Japanese nationals as well as people who cooperated with Japan who wish to be evacuated but are still in Afghanistan? Please tell us about the communication and the building of relations with the Taliban administration.

Minister Motegi: We will monitor the situation in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s actual actions before making a decision. We will monitor whether people who wish to leave Afghanistan can safely travel and what the public safety conditions within the country would be like. The Taliban will probably create a new administration, so we will also monitor what measures the new administration take and whether it will return to the extremely strict system like the past, or whether it will create a society that further respects the human rights of women and girls and respects freedom in a way that meets the expectations of the international community, as the Taliban has been saying it will do. We must monitor the Taliban’s actions, not their words.

Asahi Shimbun, Sato: Allow me to ask another question and change the subject to the LDP leadership election. It was explained in yesterday’s faction meeting that it is important for the faction to take a unified response. Please tell us again whether you intend to support Prime Minister Suga, and the reason for it.

Minister Motegi: I am currently a minister and part of the cabinet.