Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I would like to change the subject to China’s development of gas fields in the East China Sea. During today’s Diet Committee deliberations, Minister for Foreign Affairs Kishida responded once again that China has been proceeding with the development of an offshore platform since June 2013. What exactly is the Government’s understanding of how the development work has proceeded?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: First of all, the Government has confirmed that China is building a new offshore platform on the Chinese side of the median line of the East China Sea since June 2013. Japan has repeatedly lodged protests to China over its unilateral development activities, including the construction of a new platform in an area in the East China Sea where borders are not demarcated, and requested the suspension of the development work. To date, the Government has refrained from responding to questions about new information it has collected on gas fields in the East China Sea, as disclosure of such details would reveal the nature of the Government’s activities and could interfere with Japan’s information collection and diplomatic negotiations. We will, however, consider disclosing information that should be made public, to the extent allowable.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I have a different question. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has released its annual report regarding employment in OECD countries. In the report, Japan’s employment rate of people aged 15 to 64 is significantly higher than the average in the OECD study. The report gives credit to the Japanese Government’s push to encourage more women to work. At the same time, however, according to the report’s analysis, workers who become unemployed tend to remain jobless. What are your views in this regard?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY SUGA: First, active participation by women, which was recognized in the annual report released by the OECD, is one of the priority initiatives of the Abe Cabinet. We will continue our efforts to steadily create an environment in which all women are able to fully demonstrate their capabilities along whatever path they choose. In this context, the report notes that those who are unemployed tend to remain out of work. The percentage of long-term unemployed among the total labor force is significantly below the OECD average. In addition, Japan’s total unemployment rate is far below the OECD average. Therefore, among the unemployed population, the percentage of men who are middle-aged and older who have difficulties finding reemployment is relatively high. As a result, in terms of the numbers, the percentage of long-term unemployed among all those who are unemployed is higher than the OECD average. The Government will take steady steps to enable the long-term unemployed to find employment based on their individual situations, including through the provision of vocational training.