Press Conferences

Mr. MOTEGI Toshimitsu, Minister for Foreign Affairs: I would firstly like to announce one issue: the provision of vaccines by Japan.

To this date, Japan has provided over 23 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines produced in Japan to Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, Pacific Island countries, and the like. Upon requests for support from abroad, Japan has recently decided to provide 500,000 vaccine doses to Taiwan, 400,000 vaccine doses to Viet Nam, 300,000 vaccine doses to Thailand, and 100,000 vaccine doses to Brunei. We plan to transport the vaccines to the various countries and regions once the preparation is completed.

So far, Japan has provided a total of 3.4 million vaccine doses to Taiwan. With the additional 500,000 doses, we will have provided 3.9 million doses to Taiwan. In addition, Japan has provided 3.18 million vaccine doses to Viet Nam to date. With the additional vaccine doses we will provide, we will have provided a total of 3.58 million doses.

We plan to continue our vaccine provision by considering various aspects, including situations of domestic production and use, the infection conditions and vaccine needs in various countries and regions.

Various countries have expressed their gratitude each time Japan has provided vaccines. That is all from me.

NHK, Yamamoto: I would like to ask about the Japan-U.S.-ROK Director-General Level Talk. I believe the talk is still going on right now. What achievements do you expect from the talk, given that the theme is North Korea?

Minister Motegi: The Japan-U.S.-ROK Talk on North Korea began from 9:30 at MOFA, and I believe the meeting could be adjourned anytime now. The talk had been scheduled before North Korea’s recent missile launch. I expect that talk to be an opportunity to exchange our views regarding the recent situation in North Korea, and confirm our continued close trilateral cooperation among Japan, the United States, and the ROK.

NHK, Yamamoto: I would like to ask about the Quad. The White House announced that it will hold a summit meeting on September 24 and that Prime Minister Suga is invited from Japan. Could you please tell us again about the coordination situation regarding his attendance at the summit? Also, I believe that this visit to the United States would be right before Prime Minister Suga steps down, so please tell us again about the significance of his participation in the Quad.

Minister Motegi: Early this morning Japan time, the United States government announced that it will hold the in-person Quad Leaders Summit in Washington D.C. on September 24. The United States invited Prime Minister Suga because they wished to hold the Quad Leaders Summit at this time to discuss novel coronavirus countermeasures, including vaccine cooperation, as a major topic during the summit.

Based on the invitation from the United States and in light of the importance of promoting Quad cooperation and strengthening Japan-U.S. relations, coordination has begun for Prime Minister Suga to visit Washington D.C. and attend the Summit, if various circumstances allow.

During the first-ever Japan-Australia-India-U.S. Leaders’ Video Conference held in March 2021 which Prime Minister Suga attended, the leaders agreed to hold the first in-person Japan-Australia-India-U.S. summit meeting in history.

I believe that the upcoming summit will be a good opportunity for the Quad to confirm their strong commitment to cooperate towards realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leadership election will be held and a new leader will be selected. I believe that no matter who is selected to become the leader of the LDP and Prime Minister of Japan, the direction of strengthening the Japan-U.S. Alliance and realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” will remain unchanged. Amidst various government-related schedules, I believe the date of September 24 for the summit was chosen to coincide with the United Nations General Assembly. I believe that scheduling the summit during this time was appropriate.