Press Conference

1. Announcements

Today, it has been decided in the cabinet meeting to start on preparations toward the termination of the international peace cooperation activities in Haiti, and it is as was given in the explanation by the Chief Cabinet Secretary. The SDF has been involved in the international peace cooperation activities in Haiti for two and a half years since 2010, and has made a wide variety of contributions to the international community. I feel that it was an activity that had earned high regards, but a Defense Council will be held today to consult on our future responses, and I think there will be an explanation to everyone after said Defense Council has been held.

2. Questions and Answers

Question:
This morning, I think it was after the cabinet meeting, a consultation session regarding the Osprey was held between the Prime Minister, Chief Cabinet Secretary and you. Can you tell us of the content on this as far as you can comment on it?

Minister:
Today, after the cabinet meeting, the related Ministers gathered around the Prime Minister to give their opinions and to explain the situation to the Prime Minister on not only the Osprey but on how to proceed with the Japan-U.S. alliance for the future. There were no specific instructions or orders given from the Prime Minister on this. The Ministers had simply given their explanation on the situation from their levels on the past history and on how to proceed in the future.

Question:
Regarding the arrival and the unloading of the Osprey, which is scheduled for the end of this month, there are opinions coming from both the ruling and opposition parties that this should be postponed in relation to the Yamaguchi prefectural governorship elections and so on. Was there any change in policy related to this in today’s meeting, and can you give your comment on how you feel about such opinions coming from within the ruling parties?

Minister:
I have not yet received a specific notification from the U.S. side on the date that it is going to be unloaded at Iwakuni. We are still confirming this. As I have promised beforehand, I will give an explanation to the local communities as soon as the date on which it will arrive and be unloaded at Iwakuni has become apparent. There are no changes in the response after that, for the moment.

Question:
There are those within the ruling party that are saying that this should be “done later.” How do you feel about this?

Minister:
The discussions were on how the government should respond, and it was not the place to decide on the policies of the party, so nothing regarding the party has been decided there.

Question:
Then again, as a Minister, it is natural to assume that the ruling parties should support the policies of the government, so how do you feel about this situation where such assumptions cannot be taken for granted?

Minister:
I have seen the comments given by the Chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Committee in the press reports. However, I don’t know yet how it was expressed exactly. There seem to be slight differences in the content depending on the press report. For example, we do not yet know what kind of remark was given to the U.S. Ambassador. There were no prior discussions on this, and we have not received any discussions after this. Although this issue has something to do with the Chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Committee, we have been giving an explanation in advance on the kind of responses that we are trying to conduct, so I do feel that there is an understanding on this. However, we would like to continue our efforts to repeatedly explain the government’s thinking to the parties.

Question:
Regarding the autorotation function of the Osprey, it has been revealed through coverage by the Okinawa Times that the MOD does not have a grasp on the distance it can glide with autorotation or the drop rate when the engine stalls. Do you have any thoughts on asking for such data when receiving an explanation from the U.S. side in the future?

Minister:
I think that the glide distance depends on whether it is in fixed wing mode or VTOL mode. How much it can glide in autorotation mode pretty much depends on the altitude in which said autorotation must be used, at what altitudes it occurs, and what mode it was in at the given situation. With regard to this, we are currently studying this internally through listening to the opinions of various experts. If any questions arise, we are thinking of asking this to the U.S. side.

Question:
Do you have a grasp of any accurate data on this for now?

Minister:
No, I don’t.

Question:
In the consultations with the related Ministers after the cabinet meeting this morning, is it correct to assume that there has been no specific change in the directions that you have mentioned so far? Is it correct to assume that it was only to reconfirm what you have been saying in places such as the press conferences and the Diet?

Minister:
You can assume that it is moving towards the direction that I have been explaining to everyone so far.

Question:
You mentioned that a start has been made on the coordination toward the withdrawal from Haiti. Can you comment on how you personally evaluate the activities of MINUSTAH and the kind of significance this activity has had, considering that it is now drawing to a close?

Minister:
I think this activity has been one of the longest that Japan has conducted so far in terms of the PKO activities, or as an international peace cooperation activity involving humanitarian assistance related to handling rubble, developing infrastructure and rescuing lives. Many countries have been involved in this international peace cooperation activity in Haiti, but the fact that our country has decided to go to Latin America -- which is a distant place for us -- and has been involved in this type of international peace cooperation activity has been highly regarded by the U.S. and Europe, which indicates that this activity has been held with high regard not only by countries in Latin America, but also in the U.S. and Europe. Furthermore, its outcome has been very successful, and no personnel involved encountered any exceptional difficulties or became ill or suffered injury, so my understanding is that this international peace cooperation activity in Haiti has been very successful in its outcome as a PKO activity.

Question:
It is said that Deputy Secretary of Defense Carter of the U.S. Department of Defense will be visiting Japan soon. Do you have any plan to meet with him as a Minister? If you do, can you tell us what kinds of things you intend to discuss with Deputy Secretary of Defense Carter?

Minister:
I have heard that he will be visiting Japan this weekend. I would very much like to meet him, and we are currently coordinating the schedule with the U.S. side. With this being on the weekend, and having heard that he has various plans of his own, this is currently being coordinated and no definite date or time has been scheduled. If I am able to meet with him, I am thinking of consulting not only on the Osprey, which is a target of great interest to everyone, but also on a wide range of issues on the future Japan-U.S. alliance as seen from a broad viewpoint.

Question:
I have a question for you as the new Minister of Defense. How do you evaluate the growth of the Chinese military power in creating the first Defense of Japan (Annual White Paper) for 2012?

Minister:
In order to publish the Defense of Japan, we need to coordinate the content with the various Ministries, and it also needs to be approved in the cabinet meeting, which you may already know. We are currently going through this process. We have yet to decide on when this can be announced. The day of announcement will be notified in advance to everyone. Not everything included in the content has been fixed yet, since, as I mentioned just now, it is currently being coordinated between the various Ministries and the cabinet. With regard to your question, since the individual content has not yet been submitted to the cabinet meeting, I would like to refrain from commenting on the content here.

Question:
This is something that was mentioned in the previous question, but Chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Committee Maehara had made a remark during the meeting in the DPJ to the effect that “If this is pushed through forcefully in a form that the local communities cannot accept, the Japan-U.S. alliance will fall apart.” There was also a rally to protest against the deployment that was attended by around 1,000 people yesterday in Iwakuni. As a Minister, do you think that to go forward with bringing this in when there are those voicing such sentiments in Okinawa, Iwakuni and other areas is going to have any effect on the Japan-U.S. alliance?

Minister:
I have not heard the actual remark that was made by the Chairman of the DPJ Policy Research Committee within the party. Also, I am not a party member, so I am not aware of what remark was made as a party, and how much of it was approved. Thus, my understanding is based on what had been covered in the press reports. In any case, as I have been mentioning from before, in order to deploy the Osprey in Japan, the U.S. will have to abide by the promise made between Japan and the U.S. with regard to the two accidents that have occurred in this year in that, “The U.S. side will notify the proper investigation results to the Japan side, and will not conduct flying until its safety has been confirmed,” and I believe that they will do so. Therefore, although this is an issue where the U.S. side is trying to move forward with its equipment replacement plan, we are hoping that this whole issue will turn out in a way in which the U.S. side will deploy a safe and reliable system within Japan with the understanding that this will further enhance the overall deterrence function of the U.S. side within the Japan-U.S. relationship.

(End)