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| Top > Speeches and Statements by Prime Minister |
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Press Conference Following the APEC Leaders' Meeting and Official Visit to Chile
November 22, 2004
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[Opening Statement]
The APEC meeting brought together the leaders of 21 economies. We discussed the expansion of economic exchange and also talked about developing an environment conducive to investment in the region. We covered the structural reform of APEC, the need to strengthen security measures, antiterrorism, and nonproliferation, among other issues. In addition to the group gatherings, I also met with US President George W. Bush, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Chinese President Hu Jintao. Following the APEC meetings, I carried out an official visit to Chile. I was grateful for the invitation to meet with President Lagos. In the interest of developing deeper ties between our two countries, we agreed to encourage further broad-based cooperation between Japan and Chile, with the possibility of a free trade agreement sometime in the future. I believe the meeting was very productive. Time is limited, so I'd like to open the floor to questions now.
Prime Minister Koizumi: With respect to North Korea, the Japanese government has maintained a policy of using both dialogue and pressure in order to seek a peaceful settlement through diplomacy. This stance will not change. President Bush has been reelected, and we believe the six-party talks need to be restarted as soon as possible. President Bush and I see eye-to-eye on this issue. We attach great importance to the forum of the six-party talks. We also hope to convince the North Koreans that they have little to gain by possessing nuclear weapons and huge benefits to gain from abandoning their efforts to obtain them. In our meetings this time around we discussed what could be done to make the North Koreans understand this. With this idea in mind, we will continue to encourage the North Koreans to agree to the early resumption of the six-party talks. We will be discussing the abductions of Japanese citizens and the North's missile program as well as the nuclear issue, encouraging North Korea to respond to these issues in good faith. Again, I hope to make them understand that they will need to face no extra concerns by giving up nuclear weapons; rather, the benefits they will gain by doing so will be considerable. Together with the other countries, Japan hopes to make North Korea understand this point. Question: I would like to ask you what exactly Chile needs to be a "platform" for Japanese economic activities in South and Central America. I would also like to ask about the study on the feasibility of a free trade agreement between Chile and Japan. If the results of this study are positive, how long will Japan take to make a decision in this connection? Prime Minister Koizumi: Japan and Chile are geographically separated by a huge distance. This has been my first visit to Chile, but I have felt the warmth of the Chilean people and enjoyed the beautiful scenery, the wonderful climate, the great food, and the marvelous food resources that make these dishes. It is a very attractive country. I have also met with Japanese businesspeople who are here in Chile. They tell me that the Chilean people work very hard, that they always deliver on their promises, and that they are trustworthy. I understand that the Japanese business community in Chile regards the local people very highly indeed. Considering economic ties between Japan and Chile, I believe there are more areas where we can complement one another rather than compete against each other. Take copper, for example. Chile is a huge producer, and Japan is an importer of this material. We have cooperated in some areas like fisheries and forestry in the past, and I believe there are other areas where we will be able to cooperate further in the future. Looking at Latin America, I believe that if we can sign an FTA with Chile we will be able to use it as a base for expanding these economic ties with the region as a whole. That is why we agreed with Chile to launch a joint study group with members of the business community, the government, and academia to consider the feasibility of a Japan-Chile FTA. I have great hopes for this group. We are also engaged in FTA negotiations with other countries. It is not, however, our intent to wait for results in these other discussions before moving on to talks with Chile. Rather, we intend to actively pursue an FTA with Chile as early as possible. I have great expectations of an FTA between Japan and Chile, and with that in mind I was able to meet with President Lagos and discuss this with him. I hope to further pursue to the possibility of an FTA with Chile. I hope we will be able to launch negotiations as early as possible. The study group will be working hard to come up with their recommendations for this agreement. Question: I would like to ask about Sino-Japanese relations. You had a summit meeting yesterday with President Hu, and some strong opinions were expressed there. What is your opinion of the strong Chinese response to your visits to Yasukuni Shrine, which were mentioned again yesterday? How do you respond to this issue with China, and moving forward, how can you work to improve relations between Japan and China? Prime Minister Koizumi: The importance of the Japan-China relationship is huge, and will only increase in the future. These ties are important not just for our two nations, but for the global community as a whole. In fact we are seeing increasing cooperation between out two countries in the international arena. These relations are of course important for Japan itself. Looking at trade relations, in the past Chinese exports to Japan caused damage to Japanese companies, who felt threatened by China as a result. In recent years, however, Japanese firms have been able to export more of their products to China. Exports and imports between Japan and China have been on the rise. Considering that reality, the importance of developing friendly ties between our nations can only continue to grow. We need to further strengthen the Japan-China relationship. This is a view shared by both myself and President Hu. In all areas we intend to pursue further exchanges between Japan and China. The specific issue of Yasukuni Shrine did come up in our discussion, and I listened to the view expressed by the Chinese side. I explained in my response that I pay my respects at Yasukuni out of my belief that we must never again fight in wars. The current peace and prosperity that we enjoy in Japan was not made possible only by those who are alive today; it is also thanks to those who had to go to war against their will and who lost their lives. Our peace and prosperity is built on their sacrifices as well. I go to Yasukuni Shrine to pray that we will see no more wars and also to pay my respects to these victims. There are many in the media who always bring up the issue of Yasukuni Shrine. But I believe that Japan-China relations, which are important for our two nations and for the entire world, are more diverse than this. There may be problems between us from time to time, but when we see these issues with a negative impact we should examine them from a broader perspective, dealing with these problems in a way that will not impact our bilateral relations and focusing also on the positive side. I hope to see a candid exchange of views between our two countries, involving representatives from all different fields. I believe we need exchange between Japan and China on all different levels. We will continue to cooperate with China in various ways in the international community, for instance in the context of Japan-China-America ties and in the six-party talks that also involve Russia, South Korea, and North Korea. Japanese coordination with China will be important in these efforts. In addition to the meeting I had during this visit with President Hu, I will be meeting him again next week in Laos at the ASEAN + 3 meetings. In Laos I plan to meet with Premier Wen Jiabao as well. I plan to use those occasions to further deepen our ties with China. Question: I'd like to ask about prospects for trade between Chile and Japan. Specifically, What products aside from copper are of particular interest to Japan? Second, what kind of Japanese investment can we expect to see in Chile, given that Japan has for some time been saying that Chile could be a commercial "platform" for Japanese economic activity in Latin America? Prime Minister Koizumi: As I mentioned earlier, Chile is a country in which Japan has great interest because of its copper and other mineral resources. More recently, Chilean salmon and wines have become quite popular in Japan. As we pursue potential free trade arrangements between Chile and Japan, I feel we will see growing exchange and deepening ties between our two countries. If we are successful in concluding an FTA with Chile, I believe this country will form a platform for Japan to expand its economic activities in Latin America as a whole. For Chile, too, I believe there will be a chance to go beyond Japan and expand its exchanges in Asia. Japan and Chile are situated on opposite sides of the globe. Our nights and days are reversed, and our winters and summers are also the opposite of each other's. as I said before, I believe we are in more of a complimentary relationship than a competitive relationship. In that respect as well, Chile is very attractive for Japan. The nation has abundant tourism resources. I believe they are still "dormant" to the Japanese; that they have not yet been fully tapped. I hope that the various exchanges between Japan and Chile continue to grow. |