Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I would like to give an overview of the Cabinet meeting. The meeting approved three general and other measures as well as cabinet orders and personnel decisions. With regard to statements by ministers, the Minister of Defense made a statement concerning Prime Ministerial approval for anti-piracy operations, the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications made a statement concerning the results of the administrative evaluation and monitoring relating to improving environment to receive foreign travelers to Japan and Prime Minister Abe made a statement concerning acting Ministers while Ministers in charge are away on overseas visits.

In ministerial discussions following the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Abe; Minister Amari; Minister Mori; the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications; the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare; Minister Ota, in his capacity as acting Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; and the Minister of the Environment each made statements concerning building up local regions initiatives and initiatives to overcome the decreasing population.

As was the case on July 4, today the Cabinet approved some personnel decisions in relation to senior officials of ministries and agencies. Please allow me to inform you of some of the major decisions. The first, preferment of women to senior positions, one of which being the appointment of Deputy Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Kumiko Bando to the position of Secretary General of the Consumer Affairs Agency. As a result, the number of women holding positions of director or above has increased from eight to fifteen. This means that women now account for 6.2% of those positions. The number of women serving as senior officials has increased from 16 to 23, which means that women now account for 3.7% of those positions. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology will, for the first time, appoint Deputy Director-General level officials from other ministries and agencies in addition to prefer from the private sector. Thanks to these initiatives, 23.3% of all senior officials have been prefered through personnel exchange among ministries and agencies. Additionally, there have also been cases of bold placement of personnel, where Division Director-level officials are promoted to the Director General level, two levels higher than division director. There have also been instances in which staff have been assigned to positions in fields that they may not necessarily have been initially employed to work in. The Government will continue to allocate human resources strategically to ensure that the Cabinet as a whole employs the right people in the right positions.

I would now like to report on the Cabinet Office personnel decisions approved at the Cabinet meeting. As of July 22, Director General for Okinawa Affairs Motomi Inoue will be appointed the Vice-Minister for Policy Coordination of the Cabinet Office. Hiroyuki Seki, the Deputy Director-General of Minister's Secretariat in charge of building up regional force, will become Director General for Okinawa Affairs. Vice President of the Economic and Social Research Institute Mamoru Maekawa will be appointed Director General for Economic and Fiscal Management. Hiroshi Tawa, the Minister’s Secretariat Director General for Policy Coordination will be appointed Director General for Economic Research. Director General of the Public Relations Office Keiko Takegawa will be appointed Director of the Gender Equality Bureau.

In ministerial discussions following the Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Abe made a statement concerning building up local regions initiatives and initiatives to overcome the decreasing population. As outlined in the distributed documents, Prime Minister Abe spoke on his decision to form the Headquarters for building up Towns, People and Jobs and his desire to prepare for its formation as soon as possible. The Prime Minister also said that the objective of the headquarters is to serve as the leading organization in enabling the Government to commit itself to addressing the serious and urgent issue of a decreasing population and extreme aging in rural towns. The Government is planning to form a preparatory office as early as next week.

During the Cabinet meeting and the National Security Council (NSC) meeting held prior to that, a decision was made in relation to Prime Ministerial approval for anti-piracy operations. The overview of the decision is as outlined in the distributed documents. Ensuring maritime transportation safety is imperative not only for Japan's economy, society and the daily lives of its citizens, but also for the peace and prosperity of the international community. As such, the Government is committed to fulfilling this important responsibility.

Prior to today's Cabinet meeting, the first meeting of the Headquarters for Water Cycle Policy was held. During the meeting, the participating Cabinet members shared the importance of ensuring a healthy water cycle. We also confirmed our plans to organize various events to be held on Water Day, which is stipulated in the Basic Act on Water Cycle Policy to take place on August 1. Additionally, we confirmed that we would proceed with the creation of a basic plan, with the aim of completing it as soon as possible before next summer. For more details on this topic, please contact the secretariat of the Headquarters for Water Cycle Policy of the Cabinet Secretariat.

Q&As

• The issue of Malaysia Airliner’s crash
• The anticipation of the lifting of the ban on casinos in Japan
• The issue concerning the overseas transfer of defense equipment

REPORTER: I would like to ask a question concerning the Malaysia Airlines airplane. Could you share with us the information that the Japanese Government has obtained at this stage? Is the Government understanding that the aircraft was shot down? Could you also share with us the status of any Japanese nationals that may have been affected?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, I am deeply shocked by the crash of the Malaysian airliner over the eastern part of Ukraine and the tragic loss of many lives. I would like to express my deepest condolences to the victims and their families. The Japanese Government strongly hopes that the causes of the crash need to be identified immediately. Moreover, we believe that the relevant parties should fully cooperate for that purpose, and Japan will cooperate as much as possible. The Government of Japan is currently trying to determine the passenger list through the Embassy of Japan in the Netherlands and is requesting provisions of relevant information through the Embassy of Japan in Ukraine. We are currently confirming the facts. I have been informed that no regular flights of Japanese airline companies fly through the region in question in Ukraine. As for the safety of Japanese nationals, we are currently confirming the situation, but for now we have not received any information that suggests any Japanese nationals have been affected. Furthermore, we are still presently collecting information on the cause of the incident. Therefore, I must refrain from answering your hypothetical question. However, if the Malaysian airliner was actually shot down, the international community needs to strongly condemn such a flagrant act.

REPORTER: I would like to ask for clarification. You said that the Government is currently confirming the situation in relation to the safety of Japanese nationals. Does that mean that the Government has confirmed the situation to some degree, but there are things that it does not yet know?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I have been informed that as far as can be told from the names, there does not appear to be anyone that sounds like they could be Japanese, but we have not yet confirmed the nationality of all passengers. Therefore we cannot say anything with certainty at this point.

REPORTER: I understand that an NSC meeting was held earlier today in relation to this incident. Could you share with us any instructions that the Prime Minister may have given?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Following the incident, the Prime Minister first expressed his deepest condolences to the victims and their families. The Prime Minister also said that Japan is fully prepared to provide necessary cooperation. Prime Minister Abe instructed council members to immediately determine if there were any Japanese passengers aboard the plane. These were the instructions given by the Prime Minister immediately after the incident and we are acting accordingly.

REPORTER: We are now entering the summer holiday season. Following this incident, does the Government plan to issue any kind of alert to the public?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: The Government is of course currently collecting information to determine the cause of the incident. At this time no regular flights of Japanese airline companies are flying through the region in question. Nevertheless, the Government will issue thorough alerts to the public.

REPORTER: The U.S. expressed its belief that the incident requires an international investigation. Could you share with us what the Japanese Government has in mind in terms of the form of cooperation it may provide for an investigation?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, we believe that the entire international community must investigate the cause immediately. The Japanese Government intends to provide its full cooperation to any such efforts.

REPORTER: Please allow me to ask another question. You spoke earlier about a hypothetical situation in which the airplane was shot down. If that hypothesis turns out to be true, do you believe that strict sanctions or other such measures should be levied against the perpetrating party?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: We are currently still collecting and analyzing information so I would like to refrain from answering any hypothetical questions. Nevertheless, if that turns out to be the case, the international community would of course heavily and strongly condemn the perpetrating party.

REPORTER: I believe that there are currently three groups that may be responsible; Ukraine, Russia and the pro-Russia separatists operating in Ukraine, all of whom have denied being responsible. Could you share with us your thoughts on this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, I understand that all nations concerned are collecting and analyzing information. In any case, the international community has a responsibility to identify the causes of the crash immediately. In this regard, Japan attaches much importance to the secure access to the site of the crash by the relevant parties and that they fully cooperate for that purpose. Therefore, cooperation between the parties concerned is extremely important.

(Abridged)　

REPORTER: I would like to ask a question concerning casinos. It has been reported that in anticipation of the lifting of the ban on casinos in Japan, an organization to deal with casinos will be formed under the Cabinet Secretariat. Could you please inform us of the facts?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Firstly, rather than this being a question of casinos, the revised Japan Revitalization Strategy for 2014 states that the ministries and agencies concerned will hold discussions on the development of integrated resorts, while taking into account the status of the Integrated Resort Development Bill and public debate on integrated resorts. Based on this, the Government will appoint a Councillor of the Cabinet Secretariat to be specifically responsible for this matter and we will appoint individuals from various ministries and agencies to form an organization and serve under the Councillor as we hold discussions.

REPORTER: Please allow me to ask another question on this topic. When is the Government planning to make these appointments?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: We are hoping to make the appointments in the near future. We believe that we must take the state of Diet discussions on the Integrated Resort Development Bill into consideration and study examples of integrated resorts overseas before establishing a discussion agenda. The aforementioned organization will make preparations for all these things.

REPORTER: I believe that an NSC meeting was held yesterday evening. Could you provide us with an overview of the meeting?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: During the meeting we made some decisions concerning the overseas transfer of defense equipment.

REPORTER: Some media outlets have reported that Japan is planning to export missile components to the U.S. and other countries, as well as co-develop missile components with the UK. Could you elaborate on this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Specifically, during the meeting, we assessed individually, and very thoroughly, the appropriateness of the destinations of the transfer and the associated national security concerns. Furthermore, we agreed yesterday that the overseas transfer of defense equipment for the purpose of security and defense cooperation with the U.S. and the international co-development and production of defense equipment with the UK should be deemed appropriate, provided we can ensure that the defense equipment will not be used for unintended purposes and will not be transferred again to a third country. The Government will remain cautious and uncompromising as we advance the transfer of defense equipment so as to adhere to the three principles on transfer of defense equipment and its implementation guidelines.

REPORTER: You stated that Japan can ensure that the defense equipment will not be used for unintended purposes and will not be transferred again to a third country. Am I right to understand that the meeting confirmed that the equipment would not then be transferred nations directly involved in armed conflicts?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: During yesterday's meeting, discussions took place on Patriot Advanced Capability-2 (PAC-2) units and seeker gyros. Components for this equipment will be delivered to the U.S., who is the license holder. Therefore, under the three principles on transfer of defense equipment, we deemed that appropriate management would be ensured after we confirmed that the export destination has the requisite management capabilities. It is anticipated that while the equipment will be transferred to third countries, the U.S. Department of Defense, who has centralized control over the management of defense equipment transfer, has in place very strict restrictions on transfers to countries that do not use PAC-2, and we verified the system the U.S. Department of Defense has in place.

(Abridged)