Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary

JAPANESE

Q&As

REPORTER: Yesterday in his press conference the Prime Minister indicated a positive stance towards the separation of the power generation and transmission functions of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). In what sort of timeframe does the Government discuss this issue, along with other matters including investigation of the causes of the incident and an assessment of TEPCO's assets?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First of all, the main priority is to extend utmost efforts to bring the situation at the nuclear power station under control. At the same time, a thorough investigation must be implemented to clarify the causes of the incident. Based on the results of that investigation, discussions will be advanced on issues that the Prime Minister mentioned yesterday, including future nuclear power administration and energy policy in general. I understand that is the general framework of discussion.

REPORTER: Some people have voiced concerns that if power generation and distribution are separated it may hinder a stable supply of power, while others have opposite opinions. How does the Government intend to take such concerns into consideration?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: It is of course one of the major responsibilities of the Government to ensure a stable power supply. However, looking at the situations of other countries, it is apparent that there are various formats and structures available, and I think that discussions on this issue will be advanced taking different examples of other countries into account.

REPORTER: On a related note, yesterday in his press conference the Prime Minister stated that if safety could be ensured, the Government would approve the restarting of nuclear power stations. What would be the safety standards and requirements for restarting operations of nuclear power stations?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: At the moment all electric power companies are implementing their own emergency safety measures. Once the Government has thoroughly checked the content and status of implementation of these measures, further consideration will be given to restarting operations, taking into account local sentiment.

REPORTER: Is there any plan or outlook to create new standards or criteria, on the basis of international discussions, for example?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that there will be various international discussions in light of the nuclear power station incident in Japan, including at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other bodies. Then of course there will be the Government investigation into the causes of the incident, in which we might need review or further discussion on some aspects in view of international debate. However, this is only my outlook for the future and we will seek to ensure the fullest safety measures conceivable at the time.

REPORTER: The GDP figures for the January to March period have been announced, showing a large drop of minus 3.7% on an annualized basis. How does the Government view this announcement and what plans are there for pump-priming measures for the national economy as a whole, not limited just to disaster reconstruction?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that the results for the first quarter are largely affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. For the time being the impact of the disaster will continue to weaken economic activities, but work is ongoing towards recovery, and although there may be differences in the status of progress in different regions, progress is definitely being made towards reconstruction. On the basis of this progress I expect that manufacturing activities will recover and this will lead to an overall upswing in the economy. The Government seeks to move forward steadily with recovery operations and ensure that power supply restrictions and delays in bringing the supply chain back to full operation do not become potential factors for a further downturn. At the same time, for the medium term, based on the Guideline for Policy Promotion that has been approved by the Cabinet, discussion has been relaunched with an eye to enabling recovery of growth in potential and work will be accelerated further.

REPORTER: With regard to the discussion on the accession of Japan to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, or Hague Abduction Convention, what is the possibility of accession and is the Government seeking to accede to the Convention?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Today a meeting of relevant ministers was convened to discuss the Hague Convention. Based on the results of discussions that have taken place to date at the senior vice minister level, today the relevant ministers gave their approval of various items to be included in draft legislation that are required before Japan can conclude the Hague Convention. Given this approval it is expected that the Cabinet meeting tomorrow will give consent to various preparations to be made for conclusion of the convention and to the necessary draft legislation to be formulated. Once Cabinet approval has been gained to clearly express the intention of the government, I will report the details of the decision to you.

REPORTER: Yesterday the President of the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Mr. Atsushi Saito referred to your comments calling on financial institutions to cooperate with debt forgiveness for TEPCO, stating that he did not understand from what stance you made your comments, and that TEPCO is a private company with shareholders, not a government company. Your comment was made only in the context that the measures being implemented by TEPCO would be unlikely to gain the understanding of the public. However, even in that context, it was probably unavoidable that you receive criticisms that you referred to a matter that is purely between private sector entities. How do you see such criticisms made?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First of all I have not heard the comments by the president of the Tokyo Stock Exchange directly nor heard the details of the comments so I would like to refrain from commenting directly on his statement. However, with regard to TEPCO the Government has decided on a special scheme for compensation. Under this scheme the Government aims to minimize the public burden for compensation and particularly the tax burden, however the content of the scheme is such that it requires the Government to take responsibility and have some degree of involvement. With this scheme as the basic premise, if it was the case that the matter could be cleared up without the Government having to be involved then it would probably be a matter purely for the private sector. However, to the extent that the Government must extend a certain degree of assistance to ensure that three objectives for the public purposes are met, namely: payment of compensation to victims; continuing efforts to bring the situation under control; and efforts to ensure a stable power supply to the Tokyo Metropolitan area; then I think it is only natural that TEPCO is different from other ordinary private companies.

REPORTER: In that regard, yesterday the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) indicated to the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) that this scheme does not assure the Government's responsibility to provide compensation. Questions have therefore been raised that while TEPCO and other electric power companies are being required to bear a burden, the Government's responsibilities remain unclear. What are your views on such opinions?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First of all, under the scheme that has been decided, other electric power companies are not required to bear the burden for compensation to be provided by TEPCO. While all efforts are being made to ensure that there is no reoccurrence of such accidents, it is regrettably the case that this incident has happened and has caused trouble and hardship for many people. It is in the context of preventing a future occurrence that other electric power companies are being requested to bear a burden and they are not required to directly bear the burden of compensation to be paid by TEPCO. Also, as I have said on previous occasions, the Government has a responsibility to examine in what form the incident can be contained, and what measures can be taken to minimize the extent of the damage which affect the amount of compensation for damage. There are many areas where the Government must demonstrate responsibility and must continue to do so, for example: ensuring full support to victims; and working to ensure that there is no further spread of damage, including improvement of the soil and other operations. By undertaking these responsibilities, if the result is that further damage can be contained, then further compensation could also be reduced, and if the amount of compensation required to support victims is reduced then the burden on TEPCO will accordingly decrease. Therefore, as you can see, the Government is by no means placing the entire burden of responsibility for the incident on TEPCO. By ensuring that TEPCO continues to make every effort to fulfill its responsibilities from its position as a business entity, and ensuring also that the Government does likewise, from the perspective of protecting the lives and assets of the public, I believe that the total compensation for victims could be sufficient.

REPORTER: Listening to the discussions thus far, I understand the idea of the Government fulfilling its responsibility by reducing the amount of compensation to be paid. But regardless of how far the amount needed for compensation payments can be reduced, I haven't heard any discussions about, for example, the Government's intention to work to streamline its own operations and come up with new forms of cash flow through such means as a special account - which is something that has been discussed in the past. Is this because you think it is still too early for this, or do you have the intention of carrying out such steps at a certain point if necessary?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As for the various financial matters of Government, including a special account, what kind of action can we undertake? This is in part related to TEPCO's financial accounting including measures such as virtually setting aside a certain amount of money. It is my understanding that thorough deliberations will be carried out on this.

REPORTER: Going back to a topic discussed earlier about your comment on debt forgiveness, one of the major criticisms expressed by financial institutions is that if a bank waived the debts held by a company that has not gone bankrupt, the bank would risk facing a shareholder lawsuit. The criticism is that you may have spoken without taking such risks into consideration. What is your view on this point?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I said before, I was asked if we would "be able to gain an understanding of the Japanese people," and to that, I replied, "I believe that may be quite difficult," or something to that effect. Specifically, from now on, TEPCO, the main actor here, will be asking for various forms of cooperation not only from loaners, but also from stockholders and various other stakeholders, based on its financial situation on this premise that it receives no assistance from the Government. TEPCO should report this to us and then disclose it to the Japanese people. And, as we are a democratic society, if TEPCO cannot gain the understanding of the Japanese people, the Government will not go forward with the proposed scheme. Through such processes, I believe we will eventually be able to settle the situation in a rational manner.

REPORTER: The logic of the financial institutions is that it would be impossible to waive TEPCO's loans at all. Any financial institution that agrees to a loan waiver could face a shareholder lawsuit, and so logically, I don't believe these institutions will in any way be able to make such a decision. Wouldn't you agree?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I am not in a position to make a direct comment on what kind of logic financial institutions base their decisions on. What I shared was my view in response to the question of whether we would be able to gain an understanding of the Japanese people, and my view was that "I expect not." And as long as we are a democratic society, there is no way for the Government to assist TEPCO without the understanding of the citizens of Japan. Therefore, I expect that the various shareholders will make decisions from their respective positions in the private sector, based on the premise that no Government assistance will be offered without public understanding.

REPORTER: Changing the subject a bit, the Prime Minister reviewed a number of requests at a meeting with members of the Iitate Village Assembly of Fukushima Prefecture yesterday. At the time, he stated, "The local leaders are, how to put it, under pressure from voters making difficult demands." I want to ask about the use of the expression "under pressure." Is that what the Prime Minister and the Government really think about those living in the disaster-affected areas, that they are "pressuring" the local leaders?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: That is not how we feel. I have not confirmed what the Prime Minister said and in what context.

REPORTER: On a related but slightly separate point, Special Advisor to the Cabinet Oriza Hirata has said that the release of irradiated water from the power station in Fukushima was something requested by the United States. He has since retracted this statement, saying that he was mistaken. However, this is an issue in which a Special Advisor, someone with a public position, made a careless statement about a matter of international concern. Please tell us once again what you think about this.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have been contacted by Mr. Hirata on that point; he told me that his statement was careless and mistaken, and he was sorry. I have not heard yet such details as to whether he is still abroad or if he has returned by today, but either way, I will be demanding a full explanation of the background.

REPORTER: I would like to go back a couple questions. I would like to ask about the likely direction of debate regarding the separation of the management of power distribution and generation services, which is something the Prime Minister mentioned in his press conference yesterday. Do you imagine that this will affect every power company in the country? Will it be all-or-nothing debate? Or do you imagine they would consider the possibility of introducing such a separation for only TEPCO's grid or a certain other grids? I would appreciate it if you could answer any of these questions.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First, just as the Prime Minister stated yesterday, I believe that the discussion will move forward while looking at a number of possible choices. Considering the latest incident and the effect it has had, and as we will also be moving forward with debate on the Basic Energy Plan, I do not want to make any predictions at this point. I simply want to proceed forward with the discussion.

REPORTER: Yesterday and today in the Sankei Shimbun and Yomiuri Shimbun newspapers, Speaker of the House of Councillors Takeo Nishioka called for Prime Minister Kan to resign from his post. Any comments?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I think that to a certain extent it is only natural for politicians to say various things, including with regard to the administration of the Government, as they are politicians. However, the position of the Cabinet right now is that we are in charge of taking care of the many people who are currently being evaluated to live away from their homes, as well as many people who are facing enormous difficulties due to the effects of the earthquake and nuclear incident. Being in such a position, the only thing on our minds is to carry out our responsibilities to the greatest extent possible.

REPORTER: Yesterday evening, a meeting was held between Secretary-General Okada and Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Sengoku from the DPJ, and Mr. Ishihara and Mr. Oshima from the LDP. I have heard that the two members of the LDP proposed that the two parties form an alliance for a limited time, and that Mr. Okada refused. What are your thoughts on the DPJ forming an alliance with the LDP for a certain period of time?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I realize that there have been reports about this, but Secretary-General Okada has not reported to me or consulted with me about any of it. I imagine that I would have received a report or been consulted if it was necessary.

REPORTER: Concerning the editorial written by Mr. Nishioka calling for the Prime Minister to resign, his basis for the demand is that the response to the incident at the nuclear power station has not been appropriate. I understand that you said the Cabinet will fulfill its responsibilities, but I think that if the leader of the legislature does not understand that, it will have a tremendous affect on your work. Do you feel that your explanations as the Government to the legislature and to Mr. Nishioka have been inadequate? Or, do you have any plans to offer further explanations?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I said before, to a certain extent I think it is natural that politicians would offer a variety of opinions on administration from different perspectives. The Government, on its part, will exert every effort to fulfill its responsibilities to the public. I think that this should obviously include further explanations to the people of the nation on the responses we have made up until now, in order for us to gain sufficient understanding from everyone.

REPORTER: Am I correct to understand then that you view the statement by Mr. Nishioka this time as being not from a purely policy-based perspective but as having a political-side to it?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Either way, as all politicians have their own perspectives, it is natural that they should express a variety of political opinions. The Government will continue to listen carefully to every different opinion and thoroughly fulfill its responsibilities.