Japan Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Canada Prime Minister Stephen Harper Press Conference Transcript

June 28, 2006

Canadian Prime Minister Harper announced in this press conference that he discussed international parental abduction to Japan with Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi. Koizumi has no comment on this matter.

Skip to comments in English

Skip to comments in French

TRANSCRIPTION/TRANSCRIPTION
Media Availability/ Disponibilité aux médias
Transcription prepared by Media Q Inc. exclusively for DFAIT
Transcription préparée par Media Q Inc. exclusivement pour MAECI

DATE/DATE: June 28, 2006 11:30 a.m.
LOCATION/ENDROIT: Room 237-C Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa
PRINCIPAL(S)/PRINCIPAUX: The Right Honourable Stephen Harper,
Prime Minister;
Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan
SUBJECT/SUJET: Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Japanese Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi Hold a Joint Media Availability.

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Bonjour. Je suis honoré d’avoir le Premier ministre du Japon, le Premier ministre Koizumi avec nous aujourd’hui. Ce matin le Premier ministre et moi avons discuté de moyens de renforcer les relations entre nos deux pays. Le Canada et le Japon partagent des valeurs communes — la liberté, la démocratie, les droits de la personne et la primauté du droit — autant de valeurs qui sous-tendent notre relation.

En tant que démocratie présente dans le monde entier le Japon est un précieux partenaire dans la lutte menée pour renforcer la paix et la sécurité. Le Japon a, par exemple, fait une contribution appréciable à la reconstruction de l’Afghanistan. Notre gouvernement espère que le Japon continuera de jouer un rôle clé dans ces efforts importants au niveau international.

Nous avons aussi discuté d’une autre question de portée internationale, celle des enlèvements d’enfants par les parents. J’ai exprimé également l’espoir que le Japon adhère à la Convention de La Haie sur les aspects civils de l’enlèvement international d’enfants, convention qui offre des recours concrets et efficaces en la matière.

Le Premier ministre Koizumi et moi avons discuté des relations économiques entre nos deux pays. Nous avons convenu d’adopter une approche ambitieuse et tournée vers l’avenir en ce qui concerne l’étude conjointe de nos relations commerciales actuellement en cours au titre du cadre économique Canada-Japon. J’ai aussi abordé brièvement la possibilité de négociations d’un accord libre échange entre le Canada et le Japon dans l’avenir.

Enfin, le Premier ministre Koizumi et moi avons en outre discuté de l’Asie de l’Est, en particulier de la question de la Corée du Nord. J’ai dit au Premier ministre que le Canada s’inquiète aussi des programmes nucléaires et de missiles balistiques de Pyongyang. Nous estimons que la position adoptée par Pyongyang sur ces questions, particulièrement celle touchant le contrôle des armements et la prolifération des armes nucléaires, présente une menace réelle à la paix et la stabilité internationale. Le Canada continuera donc d’appuyer le Japon et nos autres alliés qui défendent avec fermeté contre les gestes de provocation qui pose la Corée du Nord.

Avant de conclure, je tiens à parler du rapport du Forum Canada-Japon que le Premier ministre Koizumi et moi avons reçu aujourd’hui. J’aimerais féliciter les membres de ce groupe de leur contribution aux relations entre le Canada et le Japon. Je suis convaincu que nos discussions d’aujourd’hui marqueront le début d’une nouvelle ère d’étroite collaboration.

Je tiens à remercier le Premier ministre Koizumi de nous avoir rendu visite aujourd’hui.

And I’ll repeat. This morning, Prime Minister Koizumi and I discussed ways to strengthen relations between our two countries. Canada and Japan share common values — freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. These are the values that underlie our relationship.

As a globally active democracy, Japan has been a valued partner in the struggle to enhance peace and security. Japan, for instance, has been making a valuable contribution to the reconstruction of Afghanistan. It is our government’s hope that Japan will continue to play a key role in this important international effort.

We also discussed another issue of international significance, that of parental child abductions. I expressed my hope that Japan will assent to The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, an agreement that provides concrete and effective civil remedies to child abduction.

Prime Minister Koizumi and I discussed bilateral economic relations between our respective countries. We agreed to pursue an ambitious, forward-looking approach to the joint study of our commercial relation now ongoing under the Canada-Japan Economic Framework. Furthermore, I also briefly touched upon the subject of the possibility of free trade negotiations between Canada and Japan in the future.

Finally, Prime Minister Koizumi and I also discussed developments in East Asia, in particular the question of North Korea. I told the prime minister that Canada shares his country’s concerns about Pyongyang’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It is our view that Pyongyang’s stance on these issues, particularly those relating to arms control and the proliferation of nuclear weapons poses a very real threat to international peace and stability. And so Canada will continue to support Japan and our other allies who are standing firm in the face of provocative acts by North Korea.

Before closing, I’d like to acknowledge the report of the Canada-Japan Forum that Prime Minister Koizumi and I received today. I’d like to commend the members of this group for their contribution to Canada-Japan relations. It’s my belief that today’s discussions will mark the start of a new era of closer cooperation.

I’d like to end by thanking Prime Minister Koizumi for visiting us here today. He has been a successful leader who is engaged in transformative change in his country and we’re genuinely delighted that he’s been able to visit us before he leaves office. And I turn to him to say a few words. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi: (As interpreted by translator.) My visit to Canada this time has been the first in four years since the Kananaskis Summit in 2002 and this was my very first meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and I was able to have a very candid exchange of views with him today. I’m most grateful for the very warm welcome extended to me on this visit by the government and the people of Canada.

As Prime Minister Harper said, Japan-Canada relations have indeed progressed in a very favourable manner to date but of course there still remains plenty of potential for further strengthening and movement of our bilateral relations.

The Canada-Japan Forum, the eminent persons group which has been studying various ways and means to expand exchanges between our two countries in various areas presented their report to us today and the report makes various recommendations regarding future development of our bilateral relations — very constructive recommendations. So we’d like to build on this report and further grow and expand the friendly ties between Japan and Canada.

As Prime Minister Harper said just now, we discussed not just bilateral issues but also discussed North Korea related issues. The G-8 Summit is approaching and there are various areas on the international stage where Japan and Canada can discuss -- can cooperate with each other. And also the Canadian government and I understood directly from Prime Minister Harper is very sincerely concerned about parental rights and so we would like to engage in consultations with the Government of Canada and cooperate as much as possible on this matter.

We also discussed the reform of the United Nations as a matter for the international community. Through our discussions I very much hope that Japan-Canada relations I their entirety will continue to develop. Next month we will have the G-8 Summit in St. Petersburg, Russia and on that occasion as well I look forward to cooperation between our two countries as we address various international issues. And I’m convinced of that possibility having met Prime Minister Harper this morning.

This was, as I said, the very first meeting I had with Prime Minister Harper. In September I shall be leaving office and whoever succeeds me I assure that the relations between Japan and Canada will only continue to grow and expand. Prime Minister Harper is a very young leader on the world stage and I very much wish him success and wish further prosperity of Canada as well. Thank you very much. (Translation ends.)

Moderator: Good morning. Good morning. Bonjour. Il y aura un total de quatre journalistes — deux canadiens, deux japonais — une question par journaliste. A total of four reporters — two from Japan and two from Canada. One question each. And we’ll start with Bob Fife, CTV.

Question: Prime Minister, can you answer this in French and English, please. There is a report out of Britain today that -- a British report saying Canadian troops and Afghan civilians are paying with their lives because of failing U.S. policy that focusses on the elimination of the opium poppy crop. This has driven rural farmers into the arms of the Taliban. Is it not time for Canada to reevaluate some of its policies in Afghanistan if what we’re doing is seeing farmers being pushed into supporting the Taliban. And if at all possible could the prime minister of Japan please respond to this as well since Japan has an investment in Afghanistan?

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Thanks, Bob. A couple of things. First of all, we’ll take a look at the report. I’m not sure that we would necessarily share the conclusions. We have to realize that Canada has two important national security priorities in Afghanistan. One is obviously responding to the threat of terrorism and eliminating the possibility of the terrorist threat emanating from that country in the future. But the other is we are equally concerned about the drug trade in Afghanistan and while Canada is not as a nation directly involved in poppy eradication ourselves, we certainly support efforts to eliminate poppy production and provide alternatives for agriculture. And you will recall that recently, for example, Canada, we announced important new investments in irrigation in Afghanistan for precisely the purpose of supporting the development of alternative crops.

Je peux mentionner la même chose. Le Canada a deux priorités nationales importantes en Afghanistan. Une est l’élimination de la menace présente et à l’avenir du terrorisme. Mais aussi nous voulons éliminer le trafic des drogues aussi qui crée des problèmes dans nos rues. Pour cette raison, nous appuyons les tentatives de la communauté internationale d’éliminer la production des drogues illégales. Comment dit-on encore poppy? Pavot? Pavot. Évidemment nous ne sommes pas directement engagés dans l’élimination de la cultivation du pavot mais nous appuyons ces efforts et nous appuyons des efforts de donner des alternatives à la population. C’est la raison pour laquelle nous avons récemment nous avons investi des fonds importants pour l’irrigation en Afghanistan pour encourager des opportunités aux fermiers dans ce pays. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi: (As interpreted by translator.) To construct a democratic government in Afghanistan I understand that Canada has been providing very positive support and the Japanese government pays tribute to Canada for that. There was a question regarding the poppy cultivation. Poppy cultivation is a major source of income for Afghan farmers and therefore I understand it is difficult for them to stop that but without growing poppies what source of income can they ensure? That is a question we have to think about. Now Japan of course shares with Canada the policy of supporting the building the democratic government in Afghanistan but I think there are some differences between our two countries in terms of how we support that and that’s fine. Next week, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will be visiting Japan and in Japan the Tokyo International Conference on the Consolidation of Peace in Afghanistan will be held in Japan and on that occasion President Karzai will be comingand I shall attend the meeting as well and I shall discuss this matter in full with President Karzai as well.

Male Speaker: (As interpreted by translator.) May I now invite the Japanese press?

Question: (As interpreted by translator.) A question for both prime ministers. It was the first meeting for both of you in order to further grow bilateral relations. What are the priority agenda you would like to address? Also Prime Minister Harper earlier referred to the North Korean missile issue and you said you will provide support to Japan and allies. Specifically, what sort of cooperation do you think Canada can provide in this regard and I wonder what Japan expects?

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi: (As interpreted by translator.) First with respect to Japan and Canada, as a common agenda there are various challenges. We need to grow our economic relations and I think there still remains plenty of potential to do that. Of course for Canada I believe Japan remains an attractive market and Canada of course also is an attractive market for Japan.

In the meeting this morning time was short and we could not cover it and I would like to discuss this over lunch later but there is the challenges of environmental protection and economic growth and also promotion of tourism. I should like to discuss these matters in the bilateral context and also in terms of international cooperation. As for Canada’s exports to Japan — wood products, pork — these are major export items to Japan and Japan exports automobiles, IT-related products and so on and in these there is -- many Japanese companies are aware that Canada is a very attractive market and many of them want to enter the Canadian market. The investment climate is very good and having visited this country several times I understand you’ve got a very wonderful environment.

With regard to North Korea I did discuss this matter in the early meeting and the Canadian government as well as Prime Minister Harper expressed their concern regarding the nuclear issues, production and missile issues and have expressed their desire to cooperate with us and Japan also wishes to cooperate with Canada although Canada is not a matter of the six-party talks with regard to North Korea but Canada is a matter of the G-8 and we feel that we can expect a lot of cooperation in Canada in regard to North Korea as well. (Translation ends.)

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Just in -- I won’t get into details. As the prime minister said, our discussions have only begun in general terms. Obviously there are two principal fronts on which we want to see relations move forward. One is our economic and particularly our trade relationship. I said to the prime minister this morning that Canada-Japan relations and commercial relations have been relatively free of irritants. I think -- and you know there’s been obviously important growth in our trade relationship, in direct investment between our two countries, on our side in financial services, on their side particularly in the auto sector. But I would say that because we’ve been relatively irritant-free we perhaps haven’t tended to the relationship as closely as we should. We’re looking forward to getting the report of the Canada-Japan study group this fall and hopefully it will give us some concrete ideas on moving and developing our commercial relations and exploiting some of the areas that Prime Minister Koizumi’s mentioned.

On the security front, under Prime Minister Koizumi, as you know, Japan has become much more engaged in the world on a range of peace and security matters. This is a development we welcome. We work hand in hand with Japan on many different fronts including Afghanistan. Obviously, as the prime minister said, we’re involved in the six-party talks but we’ve made it clear, our government has made it clear to the Government of Japan we share their concerns and are willing to do whatever we can to bring pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions and join the -- become a respected member of the world family of nations.

Je peux -- je dois le répéter?

Modérateur: Pas nécessairement. On peut passer à la prochaine question.

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Okay.

Moderator: Yves Malo, TVA.

Question: Ma question est pour les deux premiers ministres. Monsieur Koizumi, le Canada dit qu’il est incapable de respecter l’accord de Kyoto. Avez-vous discuté de ce sujet avec monsieur Harper? Sinon, souhaitez-vous que le Canada respecte les objectifs de Kyoto? Monsieur Harper, en français et en anglais, s’il-vous-plaît.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi: (As interpreted by translator.) On this matter, as I mentioned earlier, I would like to discuss this over lunch. Since this press conference was waiting and time was flying by so we did not discuss that matter in the early meeting but we’d like to cover that over lunch.

That said, now with regard to Prime Minister Harper’s stance vis-à-vis the Kyoto Protocol I was informed beforehand that it will be very difficult for Canada to live up to the obligations. Japan also faces very difficulties. It would somehow like to achieve their target. Now it is important to do both environmental protection and economic growth. Economic growth should not be a negative for environmental protection. So the Government of Japan works to achieve both the environmental protection and economic growth and that is one of my top priority matters for the administration. So over lunch I should like to discuss this matter with Prime Minister Harper. (Translation ends.)

Le très honorable Stephen Harper: Merci. Encore, comme le Premier ministre vient de dire, nous n’avons pas encore discuté ce sujet mais l’admission du Canada que nous pouvons pas atteindre nos objectifs de Kyoto ne nous donne pas une position unique dans le monde. C’est la raison pour laquelle nous travaillons au co-présidence -- à la co-présidence, par exemple, du processus international pour développer -- pour développer une position internationale plus efficace qui inclut pas seulement des pays qui ont signé le Kyoto, le protocole de Kyoto mais aussi tous les pays du monde et nous avons l’intention de discuter ce sujet qui -- et notre position qui je pense représente de plus en plus des pays du monde et nous avons l’intention aussi de discuter la participation du Japon et des autres dans l’AP-6 qui est un des processus pour développer un programme international et nous encourageons tous les pays de participer à n’importe quel processus et nous sommes en train de développer aussi nos positions pour la déclaration du G-8. Le Canada insiste que nous faisons du progrès mais pas seulement par le processus, par le protocole de Kyoto. Et je pense, comme je viens de dire, que c’est une position d’un plus grand nombre de pays chaque jour.

So I can say the same thing. We haven’t -- Prime Minister Koizumi and I have not yet discussed that subject. But, as you know, we continue to work as part of the co-presidency of the international process to develop an effective international approach to climate change not just in terms of the Kyoto process but in terms of a range of other processes as well and we want to involve not just those who signed Kyoto but all countries in this international dialogue. Canada’s admission that it will not achieve its international target I think is obvious, does not make us unique. At the same time, many countries are struggling with the same problem and struggling on how to move forward. We’re working with our partners on that. We’ll be -- I’ll be raising with the prime minister our desire to participate in the AP-6 process along with a number of other international processes and we’re trying to ensure that the G-8 keeps its options open in terms of moving forward.

Male Speaker: (As translated by interpreter.) I’d like to invite the last question from the Japanese press.

Question: (As translated by interpreter.) The question regarding UN reform, in your meeting this time did you discuss Japan’s permanent membership for the UN Security Council? If so, could you share with us what you said, the two of you? If it was not discussed, what is your view, Prime Minister Harper, with regard to Japan’s permanent membership?

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi: (As interpreted by translator.) We did discuss UN reforms. As far as Japan is concerned we feel that UN reform is necessary. UN’s fiscal reform is necessary and administrative reform is necessary. Also Japan sought Canadian understanding and support for Japan’s permanent membership on the Security Council.

Canada’s position and Japan’s position, these positions are not identical but as far as UN reforms are concerned both our countries share the view that these reforms are necessary. And so we’d like to engage and continue close consultations with Canada on these matters. (Translation ends.)

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: The prime minister did raise with me the question of the United Nations and Security Council reform this morning although we have yet to have an opportunity to discuss it in any detail. Canada has been engaged actively in the United Nations reform process. In fairness, our emphasis has not been on changing the seat allocation at the Security Council. It has been principally on other matters such as financial and administrative reform but I certainly look forward to discussing Japan’s view in detail with the prime minister over lunch.

Est-ce que tu veux que je répète cette réponse? Oui. Okay, je peux mentionner pour les médias français que le Premier ministre a mentionné la position du Japon sur la réforme des Nations Unies ce matin mais nous n’avons pas encore le discuté dans les détails. L’emphase -- le Canada est engagé sur des discussions de la réforme des Nations Unies, surtout les réformes administratives et financières. La réforme du Conseil de sécurité n’est pas notre priorité majeure mais j’attends avec impatience de discuter les perspectives du Premier ministre quand nous aurons le déjeuner.

Modérateur: Merci beaucoup. Thank you very much.

Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper: Thank you.