Press Conferences

Ms. Saiki: First, on a Prime Minister’s overseas trip next week. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is planning to visit Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Turkey from April 28 to May 4. It is going to be the first time in 10 years that a Japanese Prime Minister officially visits Russia. The last visit by a Japanese Prime Minister to Russia was in January 2003: one by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Prime Minister Abe’s visit, we hope, will lend new momentum and a long-term vision to the development of Japan-Russia relations. And the Prime Minister’s visit to the Middle East is aiming at strengthening energy security and promoting economic and business cooperation as well as enhancing the comprehensive partnership including the support for democratization and regional stability and the expansion of cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Ms. Saiki: Second, on a meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs and Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. As you know, the OECD released this year’s official economic survey with respect to Japan the day before yesterday. Prior to that, on April 22, there was a meeting between Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida and Mr. José Ángel Gurría Trevino, Secretary General of the OECD, who was visiting Japan. At the start of the meeting, Minister Kishida stated that next year, 2014, will mark the 50th anniversary of Japan’s accession to the organization. He noted that at that time, membership in the OECD along with membership in the United Nations and signing of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade had been matters of extreme importance as measures for Japan to rejoin the international community. He continued to state that Japan wishes to serve as the Chair of the 2014 OECD Ministerial Council. In response, Secretary General Gurría welcomed the enthusiasm expressed by Japan to serve as the Chair of the Ministerial Council in the year that should be commemorated by marking the 50th anniversary of Japan’s accession. He stated that he expected other countries would welcome Japan’s enthusiasm as well. And they exchanged opinions on a number of issues such as strengthening OECD outreach activities towards Asia, the Economic Survey of Japan, which I briefly touched upon at the outset, Japanese personnel working in the OECD, and the future of the OECD.

Ms. Saiki:Third, on Agreement in principle on Tax Information Exchange Agreements. One is with the British Virgin Islands, and the other with the Macao Special Administrative Region. The Government of Japan and the Government of the British Virgin Islands, and the Government of Japan and the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, respectively, as the result of the intergovernmental negotiation, have agreed in principle on an Agreement for the exchange of information relating to tax matters. These Agreements provide for the effective exchange of information regarding tax matters between the tax authorities in accordance with the international standards, and are expected to contribute to the prevention of international tax evasion and tax avoidance, the importance of which has been recognized at international conferences. The Government of Japan is determined to contribute to the strengthening the information exchange network aimed at the prevention of international tax evasion and tax abuse by concluding these agreements as early as possible.
 
With these initial announcements I will be happy to take questions. The floor is open. Yes, please.

Q:Two quick ones, it has been in the records in the local media that there is a plan on delegation, I believe, in the Defense Ministry to go to Beijing for talks with its counterparts. If you know anything about this, maybe you can share knowledge if it’s happening or not. And my second question is related to whether there are any plans for similar contacts on the Foreign Ministry side.
 
Ms. Saiki:Thank you for the question. Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga stated in his press conference that Japan and China have been coordinating planning on a schedule of bilateral talks between the defense authorities. But my understanding is that the concrete date and venue have not been fixed. With respect to the second question raised, I am not aware of any particular plans, as far as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is concerned, to hold senior officials’ dialogue in the near future.

Q:I presume energy issues will fit into the margin of planned discussions with Europe and the UAE, and also possibly Turkey. First, is that correct? And secondly, I noticed the announcement this morning that the nuclear power reactors are likely to restart in September. Will that strengthen Japan’s negotiating position in these talks?
 
Ms. Saiki: Thank you very much. About energy issues, in fact, agreement in principle on a nuclear cooperation agreement has been already reached but I don’t know as to when the signing will be conducted. On the second point, I am aware of the press report which you have just referred to about the probability of the restart of nuclear facilities as early as in September this year, but I am not in a position to confirm it.
 
Q:I see. Sorry, agreement in principle between...
 
Ms. Saiki:Japan and Turkey.

Q: Regarding Japan-China relations, do you know what the basic topics are of the talks which Japan and China have worked to hold?
 
Ms. Saiki:Are you asking in relation to the question raised by the first gentleman?
 
Q:Yes, exactly.
 
Ms. Saiki:I understand that agreement in principle was reached back in June last year with respect to the establishment of the maritime crisis management, or maritime communication mechanism, between the defense authorities of Japan and the PRC. However, unfortunately, the implementation or the operationalization of the agreed maritime communication mechanism has not been realized yet. So, I guess the first and foremost objective of holding a meeting between the defense authorities at this point in time is to operationalize the maritime communication mechanism between the two authorities so that unexpected contingencies can be averted.

Q:Regarding Russia, basically what energy projects, including pipelines, will be discussed in the meeting?
 
Ms. Saiki:Thank you for the question. I’m not going to get into details as to what subjects the two leaders will take up in their summit meeting. But I hope Prime Minister Abe and President Putin will be able to set out a long-term vision to develop overall bilateral relations in all areas, including economy, security and energy cooperation. I am not in a position to specifically mention each and every site or project in the area of energy cooperation. In due course I will be able to get back to you with the concrete result of the meeting, in particular, the fruits of the meeting in the area of energy cooperation.
 
Q: When will you be able to do that? Do you have any idea when it would be? The next press conference?
 
Ms. Saiki: After the summit meeting takes place, I will be in the position to disclose what has been discussed and what concrete outcome we have achieved. Prime Minister Abe will be visiting Russia from April 28. So, perhaps sometime at the beginning of May, I will be able to get back to you with more information.

Q: Just coming back to the point I raised before about international law. Now, this is an extremely complex area, but are there any informal discussions going on behind the scenes involving China and Japan and possibly Korea too on possible approaches?
 
Ms. Saiki: Thank you very much for raising that particular point of international law: the importance of the international law in terms of solving conflict. For instance, the Japanese Government officially proposed that the territorial dispute between Japan and the Republic of Korea over Takeshima should be brought to the International Court of Justice. The matter has to be referred to the ICJ in The Hague, the Netherlands. That’s what the Japanese Government officially proposed to the ROK, in fact, three times in the past. But very unfortunately, the Government of the ROK officially rejected these Japan’s proposals. This is one of the evidences how the Japanese Government attaches great importance to seeking peaceful resolution of a dispute in accordance with the international law. After all, that is the core concept of the rule of law: all the conflicts or disputes have to be resolved through dialogue in a peaceful manner.
 
Q: Yes, I understand that. And the current situations seem to remain intractable at first, but despite that, are there any forums that these issues are being discussed involving the three countries? Even on an informal basis?
 
Ms. Saiki: The three countries?
 
Q: Well I’m talking about...
 
Ms. Saiki: Oh, bilateral, two bilaterals.
 
Q:Yes, two bilaterals. In other words there seems to be, at least on the surface of things, a disagreement in cases to which international law applies. I was just wondering whether you had any knowledge of anything that’s going on – any background discussions. So to say well, what approach can you take? What is a realistic way to try to find a way through this?
 
Ms. Saiki:Thank you for the question. To institute proceedings before the International Court of Justice is one of the many options in terms of making best use of international laws and rules. As Prime Minister Abe and other Ministers of his Cabinet repeatedly state, we believe that the relationship between Japan and the PRC, or the relationship between Japan and the ROK, is one of the most important relationships for Japan and for the entire region in maintaining peace and stability. Therefore, we have made utmost efforts to ease those tensions in a peaceful manner from a broader perspective, and we’ll continue to resolve to do so.

Q: I understand you can’t go into details, but given it’s the first visit for 10 years, do you think on the visit to Russia by Prime Minister Abe, is there going to be any discussion of human rights at all? Any developments, do you think?
 
Ms. Saiki:Are you referring to human rights situation in Russia? I’m afraid I don’t have the answer. I have to check with the Prime Minister, because it’s really up to the Prime Minister as to which subject he’s going to bring up to President Putin.

Q: Given that relations with South Korea are of utmost importance, it doesn’t seem that the Japanese Government has made much progress to lowering the tensions, especially this week with the visits of ministers to the Yasukuni Shrine. I guess I understand the South Korean Foreign Minister cancelled his trip to Japan. What are you going to do to basically loosen the tensions in this regard? Of course the island issue is part of the whole problem, but this is not a trigger for the recent cancellation. So what are you going to do to even restart a kind of dialogue?
 
Ms. Saiki:Thank you for the question. First of all, let me make it clear that the phrase of “cancellation of the visit by the Foreign Minister of the ROK to Japan” is not correct because no plan had been finalized for the Foreign Minister of the ROK to come to Tokyo. There was a talk between the two countries through diplomatic channels exactly because Japan and the ROK have been making efforts to ease the tension. However, again, let me be clear that no formal decision has been made with respect to the ROK’s Foreign Minister’s visit to Japan. Therefore, the “cancellation” is not the correct word. That being stated, the door for dialogue is always open, and the Japanese Government is ready to engage in dialogue with the Republic of Korea in order to improve our relations.

Q: In this regard, the South Korean Government invited or called the Japanese Ambassador to Korea on the Yasukuni Shrine issue recently?
 
Ms. Saiki: Yes, that is correct. However, as Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga stated in one of his press conferences, first it is natural for a lawmaker including a Minister of the Cabinet to offer condolences for the spirit of those who lost their lives for the country during the war, and furthermore those lawmakers and Cabinet members were acting as private citizens, not in their official capacities, not representing the position of the Japanese Government. That is one thing.
The other thing of importance is that we should not politicize the issue, and we should not make it adversely affect our overall relations. Moreover I hasten to add the fact that Japan squarely faces the past, and has expressed its sincere apologies and feelings of deep remorse over the suffering and damage caused in the Second World War. And we have a resolve not to repeat this tragedy. That is why for over 67 years since the end of World War II, Japan has been making contribution to peace, stability and prosperity in the international community through various means such as ODA, PKO, and bilateral and multilateral diplomatic efforts. This is the fundamental position of the Japanese Government, supported by its people.
 
Thank you for coming. Unfortunately next week I will be traveling with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Kishida, so we will not be able to have a press conference here next week. But the week after next I will look forward to having everyone again. Thank you very much.