Visit to Australia by Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan (Overview)

February 24, 2010

1. Schedule of Visit

Mr. Katsuya Okada, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, visited Australia from Saturday to Sunday, February 20 to 21. On the 20th, he had meetings with The Hon. John Faulkner, Minister for Defence, and The Hon. Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia in Sydney. On the 21st, Foreign Minister Okada had a meeting with The Hon. Stephen Smith, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia in Perth.

2. Security Cooperation

(1) Both sides agreed to adjust schedules for holding the Japan-Australia Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial Consultations ("2 + 2") in Tokyo in the first half of this year. They also decided to commence negotiations on an agreement concerning mutual logistics support between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Australian Defence Force in early March, and to work towards an early conclusion of the agreement.

(2) Foreign Minister Okada shared the view with Foreign Minister Smith and Defense Minister Faulkner that the presence of the United States continues to be important for regional peace and prosperity, recognizing the importance of strengthening the trilateral cooperation among Japan, Australia and the United States.

3. Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA)

In light of the importance of overall Japan-Australia relations, Prime Minister Rudd requested to advance the negotiations for the agreement swiftly through the political leadership. In response, Minister Okada explained that the Japanese side was working hard under the political leadership, and noted the importance of advancing EPA negotiations in a pragmatic manner while paying due attention to the sensitivity of agriculture and other matters.

4. Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation

The two Foreign Ministers issued a joint statement (see attached [PDF]) entitled "Toward a World without Nuclear Weapons," and shared their intention to pursue a package on practical nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation measures for the NPT Review Conference in May.

5. Whaling

(1) With Australia indicating its position of emphasizing the maintenance of safety on the open seas, Japan and Australia shared their position of strongly denouncing violent protests by Sea Shepherd.

(2) While recognizing that Japan and Australia have different positions on whaling, the two sides agreed to continue calm and constructive discussions toward diplomatic resolution of the matter through the IWC and bilateral dialogues. On the other hand, Australia explained that it would soon submit to the IWC a proposal to eliminate whaling in the Southern Ocean after a certain time period, and that it would consider filing a suit in the International Court of Justice in the event that a diplomatic resolution of the matter is not possible.

(3) Finally, Japan and Australia agreed that it is important for both governments to make efforts to ensure that the whaling issue does not undermine the overall extremely good relations between Japan and Australia.

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