Press Conference by the Press Secretary 3 December 1999
- Announcement on the Establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive Committee
- Announcement on the visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs David Levy of the State of Israel
- Questions relating to the visit of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama to North Korea and the possibility of the normalization of relations
- Questions relating to the recent visit to Japan of the Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh of the Republic of India and matters pertaining to the normalization of Japan-India bilateral relations and other issues
- Announcement on the Establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive Committee
Deputy Press Secretary Chikahito Harada: Good afternoon. I would like to make two announcements at the outset. The first announcement is on the Establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive Committee. The Government of Japan heartily welcomes the Establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive Committee on 2 December. It is expected to greatly advance the Northern Ireland Peace Process. I understand that there has been no self-government in Northern Ireland for 27 years since 1972. The Government of Japan highly appreciates the tenacious efforts by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and all those concerned who finally brought the establishment of the Northern Ireland Assembly Executive Committee by solving a number of problems, and expects that this will prove an opportunity to further advance the peace process.
Related Information (Japan-Ireland Relations)
- Announcement on the visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs David Levy of the State of Israel
Mr. Harada: My second announcement is on the visit to Japan by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs David Levy of the State of Israel. Deputy Prime Minister Levy will visit Japan from 12-14 December as a guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This is his second visit to Japan following his first one in February 1997, in the same capacity of the former Netanyahu Government. It is also the first ministerial visit from Israel since the formation of the Barak Government. Deputy Prime Minister Levy was scheduled to attend an Ad-hoc Liaison Committee on Assistance for Palestinians in October, but was unable to make it because of the budgetary deliberation by the Knesset. Deputy Prime Minister Levy is known as one of the Ministers in the Government of Israel who attaches the most importance to Japan in Asia. He will meet Minister for Foreign Affairs Yohei Kono and others to exchange views on the Middle East Peace Process and the development of bilateral relations. We would like to listen to Israel's assessment of the current situation of the Middle East Peace Process and would also like to convey our position to make political and economic contributions to promote the Peace Process. This visit is part of a series of our active diplomacy toward the Middle East.
I will enumerate here only the main events which have taken place this year: The visit of former Minister for Foreign Affairs Masahiko Koumura to the Arab Republic of Egypt, the State of Israel, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Lebanon in January. The visit to Japan of Minister for Foreign Affairs Farouk Al-Sharaa of the Syrian Arab Republic in March and President Mohammad Hushi Mubarak of the Arab Republic of Egypt in April. The visit to Japan of President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority in April and the visit of former Foreign Minister Masahiko Koumura to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Republic of Turkey in August. Japan also hosted an Ad-hoc Liaison Committee on Assistance to Palestinian People in October. Presently, King Abdullah Il Bin Al-Hussein of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is visiting Japan this week.
- Questions relating to the visit of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama to North Korea and the possibility of the normalization of relations
Q: Regarding the news of the decision to start negotiations toward normalizing the relations between Japan and North Korea, do you have any more information on that? For example, when this would start? Is there a timetable?
Mr. Harada: As you know these are party-level talks being conducted by Japan's Suprapartisan Mission headed by former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and representatives of the Workers Party of North Korea. We have not got the details of this visit so it is a bit premature to make concrete comments. But, as a preliminary comment I can say that this visit has produced very good results. We would like to obtain a detailed report from the Murayama Mission which is coming back this afternoon. I guess the Murayama Mission will meet Prime Minister Obuchi soon after they return to Japan. After that we would like to consider and decide the position of the Government of Japan. That is all I can say at this stage.
Q: Is there any chance the Government would decide not to re-open the talks?Mr. Harada: As I said, first we would like to listen to the detailed report directly from the Mission and then decide our position. At this stage, I do not want to pre-judge our decision to be made at a later stage. As I already mentioned, this visit has produced very good results.
Q: When do you think the Government might make a decision?
Mr. Harada: It is difficult to tell the exact timing of the decision. Having received the report from the Mission, the Government will consider how to cope with the situation.
Q: Regarding North Korea, could you comment on the meeting between Foreign Ministry officials accompanying the Murayama Mission and North Korean officials?
Mr. Harada: As far as I know, we have not got information that there was such a kind of contact. As you know, our colleagues accompanied that Mission as observers upon the request of the Mission. I do not know if they had contact with North Korean officials.
- Questions relating to the recent visit to Japan of the Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh of the Republic of India and matters pertaining to the normalization of Japan-India bilateral relations and other issues
Q: Can you give us your assessment of the Indian Foreign Minister's recent visit and talks here? How would you evaluate these talks and have they normalized the Japan-India relationship? Do you consider Japan-India relations to be normal?
Mr. Harada: Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh of the Republic of India met Foreign Minister Kono and they had a very good exchange of views on bilateral relations and also on international issues, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty(CTBT) issue. On bilateral issues, they agreed on the following points: Firstly, to continue to promote dialogue to normalize bilateral relations, which has been stagnating since the nuclear test; secondly, to agree to promote political dialogue, such as the visit to Japan of the Minister of Defence George Fernandes of the Republic of India and the visit to India of former Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto; thirdly, to set up the Japan-India 21st Century wisemen committee; fourthly, to conduct dialogue on security, defense and nuclear non-proliferation issues; fifthly, to hold Vice-Misiterial political consultations as a follow-up to the Ministerial Meeting held this time; sixthly, to dispatch a Government Economic Mission to India. They also agreed to make efforts to increase the exhange of students and youth between the two countries.
Regarding the CTBT, Foreign Minister Kono repeated our position and urged that India sign the CTBT as soon as possible. In response to that, External Affairs Minister Singh said that India would not disturb the CTBT from entering into force and will make efforts to build a broad consensus as soon as possible for India's entry into the CTBT.
As a whole, External Affairs Minister Singh's visit has promoted our bilateral relations. I would hestitate to say that relations have already normalized, but as I mentioned, we agreed to continue to promote dialogue to normalize the bilateral relationship.
Q: Will there be any follow up to Vice Minister Yamamoto's visit to India?
Mr. Harada: At this stage, I do not think that State Secretary for Foreign Affairs Ichita Yamamoto is planning to visit India. As far as high-level visits are concerned, Defence Minister Fernandes is coming to Japan, but the concrete date has not been fixed yet. Also, former Prime Minister Hashimoto will visit India sometime next February.
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