Press Conferences

Sankei Shimbun, Tamura: It was announced earlier that the local office of the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan, which had been moved to Istanbul, will be relocated to Doha. Please tell us again the aim of and expectations for this measure.

Mr. YOSHIDA Tomoyuki, Press Secretary: Foreign Minister Motegi also answered during his press conference yesterday. He stated that consideration was underway to move the functions of the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan, which is currently evacuated to Istanbul, to Doha, Qatar.

As we have been explaining, I will not share the details of the evacuation activities in Afghanistan, but the operations by Self-Defense Forces (SDF) aircraft finished yesterday. It is expected that as the U.S. forces withdraw, the Taliban will soon build the framework of the new administration.

Amidst this situation, a very small number of Japanese nationals will continue to stay in Afghanistan due to various circumstances. The Government of Japan must continue to ensure their safety and provide necessary support for them to leave the country if they wish to.

Furthermore, in order to ensure the safety of the local Afghani staff and others and safely evacuate them out of the country, we will need to seek evacuation means by urging the Taliban and negotiating with the Taliban, who will probably take power in the next administration.

In doing this, we will probably respond in cooperation with related countries such as the United States as we have done through now. At the same time, Japan has its own communication channel with the Taliban, so we will probably utilize that as well when responding.

Meanwhile, Doha, or I should say Qatar has extremely close ties with Afghanistan. Qatar has provided a great deal of help to Japan as we conducted our operations this time. We are maintaining excellent relations with Qatar as we have been closely cooperating with each other.

The Taliban has a representative office and senior officials in Doha. Comprehensively taking this into account, Japan decided to move the temporary office of the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan to Doha.

I do not know what form Japan’s response will take, but as Japan considers various means, I believe that there will be instances where we need to work not only with Qatar but also various neighboring countries. With this in mind, I believe that it will be necessary to arrange structural support for diplomatic missions in countries neighboring Afghanistan.

TV Asahi, Sawai: We conducted an interview with a local staff of the Embassy of Japan in Afghanistan in Kabul. In the interview, the local staff said that although he advised others including high-ranking Japanese diplomats about the possibility of the worst-case scenario taking place due to the worsening situation, he was told at the time that Kabul would not fall to the Taliban. The local staff also said that he was told not to speak to the media about the issue of their delayed evacuation. Can you confirm that what he said is true?

Press Secretary Yoshida: I am not well aware of the content of the interview you mentioned. You directly conducted the interview, so I would like to refrain from officially commenting on the content at this point.

Explanations have been provided to reporters about Japan’s operations, including yesterday. With regards to the security situation in Afghanistan, since the United States’ announcement in July on its plan to withdraw by the end of August, Japan has been considering the need of evacuation of Japanese nationals and what to do with the embassy structure.

As the Taliban’s invasion rapidly progressed, in the first half of August, Japan fully considered various possible options of safely evacuating Japanese nationals at the appropriate timing and evacuating people including local embassy staff to outside Afghanistan and relocating the embassy.

In a way, what kind of recognition we had at certain stages was affected by the security situation in Afghanistan which was changing every moment, day by day. As stated, the fall of Kabul on August 15 was a sudden change that no countries had predicted, including the United States which had decided to withdraw from the country. Amidst such rapid shifts and moment by moment changes, all of the embassy personnel probably had their own different perceptions of the security situation. Overall, by the first half of August, such consideration had already begun in order to respond to such an unexpected situation and preparation was underway bearing in mind the evacuation of personnel, including the local embassy staff.

As a result, full consideration on the evacuation operations was done with the cooperation of SDF aircraft, but unfortunately it is regrettable that it did not result in evacuating the local staff and others. What I have just stated is the recognition of MOFA and the rest of the Government of Japan regarding the situation in Afghanistan.

Jiji Press, Kondo: Regarding the situation in Afghanistan, the United States declared that the War in Afghanistan is completely over, and President Biden stated that the U.S. withdrawal was a right and wise decision. Please tell us the Government of Japan’s current evaluation of the United States’ 20-year War in Afghanistan, including the U.S. decision on the timing of its withdrawal.

Press Secretary Yoshida: Firstly, as you have stated in your question, on August 31 U.S. time, President Biden gave a speech stating that the 20-year long War in Afghanistan was over and that the withdrawal of U.S. forces stationed in Afghanistan was complete. He also stated that the United States will provide support for the urgent issue of continued evacuation of people who wish to leave Afghanistan, and that it will continue the fight against terrorism in a wider context instead of continuing its 20-year involvement in Afghanistan.

Japan believes that the stability of Afghanistan as a country is extremely important for the peace and stability of the international community. From this perspective, we have conducted various forms of support and involvement for the continuous, self-reliant development of Afghanistan since the beginning of the War in Afghanistan in 2001. I believe our way of thinking on this will not change. From this viewpoint, Japan has worked in cooperation with the international community including the United States, and appreciates the United States’ efforts in Afghanistan until this day.

Japan believes that the current issue of utmost priority is the evacuation of people from Afghanistan who wish to do so. Response to humanitarian issues will be essential. Terrorist attacks have occurred during the evacuations operations period. Terrorism countermeasures will also be essential, especially for the Taliban to cut ties with terrorist organizations. I believe the international community will need to cooperate together on these points and urge the Taliban.

Based on such way of thinking, Japan will continue to work in cooperation with the international community, including the United States, toward peace and stability in Afghanistan.