Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: First, I would like to give an overview of the Cabinet meeting. The meeting approved six general and other measures, cabinet orders, and personnel decisions. With regard to statements by ministers, Minister Mori, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare made statements concerning the Guidelines on Measures to Combat Childhood Poverty; the Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications made a statement concerning the results of the labor force survey, consumer price index, and the household budget survey; and the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare made a statement concerning the effective ratio of job offers to applicants. I made a statement concerning the periods of Her Imperial Highness Princess Mako’s enrollment in a graduate school in the United Kingdom and Her Imperial Highness Princess Ayako’s overseas study in Canada; Minister Furuya made a statement concerning the comprehensive disaster prevention drills for 2014 on National Disaster Prevention Day; the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology made a statement concerning the members of the Council for Cultural Affairs and the heads of national university corporations; the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries made a statement concerning personnel decisions related to the heads of government-affiliated corporations; 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, Minister Furuya made a statement concerning the status of the responses to torrential rains in August 2014, among other matters.

This morning, in order to take a whole-of-government approach to child abuse prevention measures, senior vice ministers and others from six relevant ministries and agencies, including the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, held a meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Seko. During today’s meeting, taking into account the fact that the number of consultations handled at child consultation centers is increasing year by year and that the number was over 70,000 last fiscal year, it was confirmed that relevant ministries and agencies would coordinate to strengthen effective measures to prevent child abuse, that the Government as a whole would make every effort to find out about children whose residence situation is unknown, and that a basic stance would be identified by the end of the year. For more information, please direct your questions to the Office of the Assistant Chief Cabinet Secretary.      

Today, the Headquarters for Healthcare and Medical Strategy Promotion held its third meeting through written deliberations and compiled budget requests and wishes related to research and development in the medical sector for FY2015. Specifically, they are designed to take a whole-of-government approach to the realization of the targets listed in the Medical Research and Development Promotion Plan, including further strengthening coordination for the nine projects being coordinated among ministries that were established under my instructions last year. The request budgets 143.1 billion yen for the establishment of a new independent administrative agency and 81.2 billion yen for in-house research institutes. The FY2015 budget will be the first budget established based on the recently compiled Healthcare and Medical Strategy and other relevant measures, and the budget of the first fiscal year of the new independent administrative agency. We hope to finalize the budget request that was compiled today by the end of the year. For more information regarding this matter, please direct your questions to the Office for Healthcare and Medical Strategy.    

During today’s Cabinet meeting, it was decided that His Majesty King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and Her Majesty Queen Máxima will be treated as State Guests from October 28 to 31. Japan and the Kingdom of the Netherlands have a long history of exchanges spanning more than 400 years. The Netherlands is Japan’s largest investment destination and investment source in Europe. Japan and the Netherlands are important partners who respect international law, and are countries in which free trade constitutes the foundation of national prosperity. Furthermore, the Japanese Imperial Family and the Dutch Royal House have a history of particularly close exchanges. It is expected that Their Majesties’ visit will further strengthen the friendly and cooperative relations that have been forged in a variety of areas.

Q&As

• The discussion between Prime Minister Abe and Secretary-General Ishiba
• The budget requests for the next fiscal year
• The policy of vitalizing local regions and overcoming the population decline
• The situation in Ukraine
• The territorial issue in the South China Sea
• The budget for the promotion and development of Okinawa

REPORTER: Today, Prime Minister Abe and Secretary-General Ishiba of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) will be meeting to discuss matters including the Cabinet reshuffle and personnel decisions regarding LDP executives. What sort of discussions do you anticipate will take place?  

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: The Prime Minister, who is also LDP President, and the Secretary-General hold meetings regularly, and I believe today’s meeting is part of this. I gather that a variety of matters will be discussed.

REPORTER: I have a related question. It had been reported that the Prime Minister initially made an offer to Mr. Ishiba to appoint him to the newly created post of Minister in charge of Security Legislation. However, Mr. Ishiba stated on a news program and in other instances that he turned down the offer. It has also been reported that Mr. Ishiba will be offered a different important post. In particular, Mr. Ishiba’s name is being floated for the Minister in charge of Overcoming Population Decline and Vitalizing Local Economy in Japan, which the Abe Cabinet identifies as one of the important policies for the extraordinary Diet session. Do you consider Mr. Ishiba to be suitable for the post?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Any information I have heard about the position of the Minister in charge of Security Legislation is simply from media reports. In any case, this meeting is between the President and the Secretary-General and I imagine that this matter will be discussed from a variety of perspectives.

REPORTER: If I may follow up, in spite of what you say, Mr. Ishiba has stated clearly even on TV that his views on security differ from those of the Prime Minister. What kind of a meeting do you expect will take place between the top two executives of the party?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: As I said, this is a meeting between the President and the Secretary-General. I believe it is not appropriate for me to comment in my role as a Government spokesperson.

REPORTER: The situation between the Government and ruling parties appears to be unlike any other to date. What do you think of this situation?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: I do not really know what you mean by that. I presume that the President and the Secretary-General will hold a straightforward meeting.

REPORTER: All ministries and agencies have submitted their budget requests for the next fiscal year, and the forecast is that the total budget request will be in the 101 trillion yen range, a record high. How does the Government intend to focus on and achieve its priority policies of vitalizing local regions and overcoming the population decline?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Despite what has been reported in newspapers and other media, in principle the ministries and agencies are requested to submit their budget requests by the end of today in accordance with the basic policy that was recently approved as a Cabinet decision. Not all of the budget requests have been submitted yet. I perceive that the overall budget request will be compiled and released sometime next week or later. In any case, the Government deems that it is important to take steady steps to ensure the revitalization of the Japanese economy and fiscal soundness based on the Basic Policies for Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform, and the Growth Strategy.          

REPORTER: I have a question related to this topic. I understand that even after the new Cabinet is formed, the policies of vitalizing up local regions and overcoming the population decline will need to reflect the judgments of Cabinet members and local opinions. Will the Government be incorporating such perspectives frequently?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: Vitalizing local regions of course requires a budget. In any case, the Government intends to carry out comprehensive measures, including incorporating various ideas and relaxing regulations. As all of the budgets have not yet been submitted at this stage, I would like to refrain from commenting on the budget or other related matters. In any case, the Abe Cabinet will indeed work as one and make utmost efforts to build up local regions.   

REPORTER: My question regards the situation in Ukraine. President Poroshenko of Ukraine has canceled his visit to Turkey following the entry of Russian military forces into Ukraine. U.S. President Obama has condemned Russia’s actions. What position will Japan be taking?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: First of all, I have been receiving many reports that the Russian military has invaded Ukraine, and if the reports are true, I am deeply concerned about the situation. Behavior such as this is a grave violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and is completely unacceptable. Japan will continue to take adequate responses while coordinating with the G7 countries.

REPORTER: Related to this, the United States and the European countries have condemned Russian actions as an infringement of sovereignty, and it is predicted that they will strengthen their sanctions. In that case how will Japan respond? 

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: As I stated moments ago, Japan will deal with the situation while coordinating with the G7 countries.

REPORTER: I would like to ask a question regarding the territorial issue in the South China Sea. It seems that China has begun constructing a military facility in the Spratly Islands. Does the Japanese Government have any comments? 

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: First of all, as the dispute over the South China Sea is directly linked to peace and stability in the region, we consider this is an issue that concerns the entire international community, including Japan. In 2002, the relevant countries adopted the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea. Japan therefore views that the relevant countries should behave with self-restraint in line with the spirit and the provisions of the DOC. Prime Minister Abe and Minister for Foreign Affairs Kishida have been communicating this to the relevant countries at international meetings and other instances.

REPORTER: I have a question regarding the budget for the promotion and development of Okinawa. In the budget request, the deadline for which was today, the Cabinet Office budgeted 379.4 billion yen for the promotion and development of Okinawa. This amount is practically the full amount that was requested by Okinawa Prefecture. Can you please comment on this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: As today is the deadline, I would like to respond to your question after all budget requests have been submitted. However, the Abe administration has sent out a clear message that the Government will alleviate the burden of the bases on the people of Okinawa and eliminate the dangers of the bases, and in that context, do as much as it can for the promotion and development of Okinawa.