日本外相关于钓鱼岛问题接受采访英文

日本外相就钓鱼岛问题谈中日关系

Mr. Maehara: (The) Senkaku islands is a territory that is inherent to Japan. We have been effectively controlling the islands. However, near the end of World War II, the U.S. ruled the islands. When the Okinawa islands were reverted to Japan on May 15, 1972, so were the Senkaku islands. And in a certain article written and carried in the People's Daily in 1953 of China ... Senkaku-Okinawa was the phrase that was used. It didn't say Senkaku-China.

On top of it, China did not claim the islands up until the early 1970s. However, after finding out that in the seabed of the area there was a presence of natural gas and oil, the Chinese started claiming that. Thus our position is that in the East China Sea, there is no territorial issue there. At the same time, the area is a very good fishing ground. I had three

occasions of flying over the area using aircraft of Japan coast guard since I became a member of the Japanese Diet. If you fish outside of the territorial waters, you are allowed to do so. That is indeed permitted by the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Seas.

However, when it comes to the vessels that come into the territorial waters-this actually happens almost every day. The Japan coast guard ships drive them out of the territorial waters almost on a daily basis.

I have actually seen from the Japan coast guard aircraft as I was watching the situation on the sea the patrol vessel of Japan coast guard driving out the fishing vessels from China and Taiwan. Also these Japan coast guard vessels go to those fishing vessels and make an on-site inspection right there.

And why the (person) in question was arrested on the grounds of obstruction of public duty, the reasons are quite obvious. That is because the vessel that belonged to the skipper of the boat crashed to the - collided — into the Japan coast guard vessel, patrol vessel. Before assuming this current position I was a minister of land, transport,

infrastructure and tourism, which is in charge of Japan's coast guard. I actually took a look at the patrol vessel that was collided into by the Chinese vessel. I thought that if the scar were a little bit bigger the vessel would have sunk.

Q: How big was the scar?

A: I saw a very long scar on the side of the vessel. The hull itself is a void with respect to the structure. At the top I saw about a 50-centimeter hole. So if the seawater goes into it, the vessel would sink. So what was reported to me was that near the Senkaku islands they placed a vinyl sheet over the hole, taped it and did some other measures for emergency rectification before coming back.

At the beginning of the interrogation conducted by Japan's coast guard, the captain of the vessel did admit he intentionally collided with the Japan coast guard vessel. However, as the people at the Chinese consulate office have done many interviews, this person began saying that Senkaku islands were the territory of China so we were talking past each other after that.

日本外相就钓鱼岛问题谈中日关系

So what has happened is, first of all, investigation was made by Japan coast guard and the matter was referred to the prosecutor's office. Then the prosecutors did further

investigations. Based on Japanese laws, judgment was made. So it was not more than that, less than that.

It was the judgment that was made by the prosecutor's office and the matter was just left there undecided and the person in question was released. It is not a fact that there was any exchange. And therefore, the Senkaku islands are an inherent part of Japanese territory and we will continue to do patrol activities in the area. If there are any malicious acts identified, then based on Japanese laws, arrests will be made.

Q: Do you support the decision that was made to release the fisherman and will this make it harder to negotiate with China in the future?

A: The prosecutors made their decision based on Japanese laws, so I have nothing more to say than that. We would like to further strengthen mutually beneficial relations based on common strategic interests with China.

Q: Are you concerned as foreign minister about China becoming more aggressive militarily in the region? And do you think this will over time and even now propel you to strengthen and deepen ties with the United States to provide a check on what you view as an increasing threat from China?

A: The Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of Japan's foreign affairs. Just yesterday, U.S. President (Barack) Obama and (Japanese) Prime Minister Kan agreed to even deepen the bilateral relationship....

Also, (U.S. Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton said to me unequivocally that the Senkaku islands are within the scope of application of Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. security treaty. Also yesterday at the G8 foreign ministers meeting, the objective facts that I just shared with you is something that I explained to the G8 foreign ministers, as well as the high representative of the European Union. I believe my colleagues will understand what I explained yesterday and also this morning I talked with (Foreign) Secretary (William)

Hague of the U.K. and we agreed with each other as countries that share the same values including democracy and freedom, we would further strengthen our collaboration and cooperation.

Q: Could you be more specific? What specifically did you discuss in terms of deepening the relationship with the U.S.?

A: First of all, we have to properly implement the joint statement agreed upon between Japan and the United States on May 28. Yesterday, I talked with Secretary Clinton and in that conversation we said that over the last year our discussion tended to focus more on the Okinawa base issue. However, going forward, actually we agreed that we would have strategic dialogue by cooperating with each other more closely in talking about, say,

日本外相就钓鱼岛问题谈中日关系

DPRK (North Korea), China, the situation of other Asian countries, Iran's nuclear

development issue, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Middle East peace (process) and others. Now my party, the Democratic Party of Japan advocates an East-Asia community. I

explained to Secretary Clinton that this would not exclude the United States. Rather with the U.S., we would like to establish a free market. That's what it means. That's what I

explained to her. And so Japan and the U.S. would like to establish such a system for free trade. And also we'd like to have a close coordination in discussing matters such as the possibility of membership or accession to TPP-Trans-Pacific Partnership-so we discussed the future course of our economic relationships. What I said to Secretary Clinton is the East-Asia Community initiative does not exclude the United States, while Prime Minister Kan said to President Obama that the East-Asia Community initiative includes the United States.

Q: On the subject of trade and free-trade areas, do you think Japan and china will have a free trade (agreement)? Is that a good idea?

A: At this moment in time what we prioritize is the Japan-EU (economic partnership agreements). We are still continuing our consultations with the Indians. Also the day before yesterday I had a conversation with (Acting Foreign Minister) Shin Kak-soo ... for the Republic of Korea. I said to him I would like to resume the (economic partnership

agreements) as soon as we can. So these are the countries that we are prioritizing at this moment in time and also as I said before I would like to continue to seek possibilities with the United States.

Q: To return to the China situation, how would you characterize China's reaction to this incident? Have you learned any lessons?

A: As far as this instance is concerned, it was just a matter of obstruction of exercise of public duty that happened within Japan and the matter was dealt with based upon the Japanese laws. And countries the world over watched how the Chinese reacted to that. Our policy to build upon the mutually beneficial relationship based upon common strategic interests with China remains the same. Also at the same time, the Chinese military expenditure increased 20-fold over the last 19 years according to the reports of think tanks in the United Kingdom as well as the Department of Defense of the United States. The military expenditure is actually two to three times that of announced numbers. So over these points I have a concern. So we would like to ask China to enhance the transparency. And with respect to the question of "Why do they have to spend that

amount of money?" we would like to continue to seek answers from China. We would like to make this effort with our ally the United States and other countries we are friends with. As Mr. (Robert) Zoellick, the former deputy secretary of state, said, we would like China to act as a responsible stakeholder.

日本外相就钓鱼岛问题谈中日关系

Q: Do you believe incidents like this and incidents in the South China Sea will encourage stronger cooperation between the U.S. and Japan and other countries?

Not exactly vis-a-vis China, but President Obama said to Prime Minister Kan that the collaboration or cooperation should be strengthened in the East China Sea, South China Sea and the Yellow Sea.

Q: How does Japan justify its recent yen intervention?

A: In the discussion between President Obama and Prime Minister Kan yesterday there was talk about the renminbi. President Obama said to Prime Minister Kan that the yuan should be revalued. On the other hand, with respect to the Japanese yen, the yen has strengthened, more than indicated by the actual strength of the Japanese economy. There (were) also some speculative moves. So with a very strong determination on the part of the Japanese government, any further appreciation of the yen should be stopped. And with such a strong determination, intervention took place. Going forward, there may be a possibility for the Japanese government to show its very determined intent. Even so, Japan (would) maintain a very close coordination with the United States and European countries and will explain the position of Japan.

Q: You have been on the job seven days ... Are you concerned about the impact of the turnover of governments in Japan in recent years - and that the fisherman incident could give the world a sense that Japan is weaker?

A: I believe there are three major challenges that Japan is faced with. First, Japan's

population started declining in 2004. Number two, the declining birth rate and aging of the population is occurring at a very high speed. Third, Japan has a massive amount of

budget deficit. Because the Liberal Democratic Party left this situation as it was, there was a change of government. We must overcome this situation. We are no longer in a position of an opposition party criticizing what is occurring. I believe key words here are economic growth.

If you go too far in pursuing fiscal reconstruction, there is a possibility that the economic situation deteriorates. So you should try to firstly focus on economic growth and if possible this economic growth should be without fiscal expenditures to the extent possible. We should try to minimize fiscal spending as we try to achieve economic growth. Therefore, Japan should seriously tackle such issues as the reform of regulations and should also work on (free-trade agreements) and (economic partnership agreements). What I said in the press conference immediately after assuming this position of foreign minister is that I will pursue the economic foreign policy. That is promotion of (economic partnership agreements) and (free trade agreements). And we should also strengthen cooperation and coordination with countries in order to secure necessary natural resources and food. We should also export Japan's high technology to countries abroad, including the expressways, high-speed networks, water and sewage systems, and nuclear power

日本外相就钓鱼岛问题谈中日关系

stations. I would like to place the topmost priority on economic growth as I pursue economic diplomacy.

Q: Thank you very much for your time.

A: My pleasure.

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