Press Conferences

Deputy Press Secretary Ando: On April 19 and 20 the Ninth Round Meeting of the Japan-China High-Level Consultation on Maritime Affairs will be held in Sendai City. Representatives of the diplomatic, defense and maritime sectors from Japan and China will participate in the consultation this time.

The Japan-China High-Level Consultation on Maritime Affairs is a regular consultation mechanism related to all aspects of the maritime issues of Japan and China, and the maritime institutions of the two countries plan to conduct exchanges of views together about a wide range of issues in which they have an interest.

On the occasion of the summit meeting between Prime Minister Abe and President Xi Jinping held in November last year, the two leaders agreed to continuing communicating in order to make the East China Sea a “Sea of Peace, Cooperation, and Friendship.”

In this context, I expect that trust between Japan and China will be enhanced and practical cooperation in the maritime field will be strengthened through the present consultation.

Deputy Press Secretary Ando: On April 23 the 14th Intergovernmental Consultation on Japan-China Cultural Exchange will be held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Manabu Miyagawa, Director-General for Cultural Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Xie Jinying, Director-General of the Bureau for External Cultural Relations in the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, and representatives of the related ministries and agencies and cultural institutions of both countries plan to attend this consultation.

In this consultation the participants plan to hold exchanges of views about collaboration and cooperation to further encourage cultural projects and human exchanges carried out in the two countries in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China, and also cultural exchanges between the two countries such as culture, sports, youth exchanges, and exchanges in the content area, etc. between the two countries that keep in mind the Olympics and Paralympics that will be held in 2020 and 2022 in Tokyo and Beijing respectively.

Asahi Shimbun, Tajima: There have been media reports that Mr. Mike Pompeo, who has been nominated as the next Secretary of State of the United States, visited North Korea a few weeks ago, so please give us your reaction to this and tell us whether the Government of Japan had ascertained this in advance.

Deputy Press Secretary Ando: Japan and the United States have been always collaborating closely at a variety of levels such as the summit level, including the present summit meeting, the foreign minister level, etc. and we are sharing information and coordinate policies in a firm manner. However, I will refrain from answering about the diplomatic exchanges you indicated.

In any case, we will continue to take every opportunity, in particular the opportunity of the recent visit of Prime Minister Abe to the United States, to draw concrete actions from North Korea through the Inter-Korean summit meeting and US-North Korea Summit Meeting, and to carefully coordinate policy between Japan and the United States and between Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea.