    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
    [July 6, 1993]
    [Pages 1015-1018]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa of
    Japan in Tokyo
    July 6, 1993

        Prime Minister Miyazawa. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. Now I
    would like to lead off with a brief explanation. I would like to, first
    of all, extend my warmest welcome to President Clinton and his
    entourage. And it also is, I believe, most meaningful that President
    Clinton has chosen Asia as the first overseas visit this time. Of
    course, his visit is for the summit meeting as well, but he will meet
    with President Soeharto of Indonesia as well. And I had mentioned,
    therefore, that I very highly rate the fact that he has visited Asia
    this time and made the Japan-U.S. leaders meeting as well.
        Our relations, the Japan-U.S. relations are built on three pillars:
    security, global cooperation, and our bilateral economy. In April we
    said in Washington that we should be establishing a framework for our
    economy, and both of us at the working level had been working on this,
    but time had lapsed. So I sent a personal letter to President Clinton,
    and today I also received a very kind response to that personal letter.
    And we wanted on a working level to expedite their work on this matter
    as quickly as possible. And at the working level, both sides are
    working. Both of us are determined that a proper framework must be put
    in place.
        And in the summit meetings starting tomorrow, we've agreed that we
    shall cooperate with each other in bringing the summit meeting to a
    success.
        Mr. President, please.
        The President. Thank you very much. First of all, it's very good to
    see Prime Minister Miyazawa again. We had a fine meeting in Washington
    in April at the White House, and

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    I was honored to have the opportunity to come here and meet with the
    Prime Minister before the beginning of the G-7 summit.
        It bears repeating again that the United States has no more
    important bilateral relationship than our relationship with Japan. We
    are strategic allies and our futures are bound up together. We have one
    of the world's most important trading partnerships. We have an array of
    regional and global alliances. And our historic relationship, as it
    undergoes change, must also maintain some continuity. I have invested a
    lot in both the change and the continuity because I think they are
    terribly important. And I was glad to have the opportunity to discuss a
    wide range of issues with the Prime Minister today.
        We discussed the need for a successful conclusion to the Uruguay
    round and our hope that we can agree, among the G-7 leaders, on market
    access, on a range of manufacturing products. We discussed the need to
    coordinate economic strategies of the world's wealthiest economies in
    the hope of restoring some growth and job opportunities to our own
    people and to the global economy.
        We discussed the issue which the Prime Minister mentioned on the
    framework of our own relationships, and I'll have a little more to say
    about that. But before I do, I want to say something about our security
    relationship which too often is overlooked.
        I emphasized to the Prime Minister that the United States intends to
    maintain our forward military presence, our presence in Japan, our
    presence in Korea, and our security agreements in this area. We intend
    to maintain a full engagement in this region. We discussed some of the
    difficulties that we face here, but we feel confident, looking toward
    the future, that our security partnership, which has kept us free of war
    and which has maintained a strict nonproliferation approach in this
    region, can continue, and we hope that it will.
        I also expressed my support for the extraordinary work Japan has
    done in supporting the process of reconciliation in Cambodia, in
    supporting United Nations efforts in Somalia and elsewhere. And I also
    want to say how much I appreciate the support that Japan has given to
    the efforts the United States has made with the G-7 to support democracy
    and market reforms in Russia. I believe that we will see a very positive
    outcome to those common efforts here at the G-7 meeting.
        The primary focus of our relationship was strengthening the economic
    relationships between our two nations. We are moving away, I hope, from
    continued tension toward greater shared benefits. The changes I seek in
    our relationship are not changes that I hope will benefit the United
    States at the expense of Japan but changes that I believe will benefit
    the people of both nations. We discussed this back in April. We
    discussed it again today.
        As the Prime Minister said, we reaffirmed our belief in the
    importance of creating a framework and establishing basic principles for
    our trading relationships. I remain convinced that we can conclude an
    important agreement on this issue. The negotiations have not been free
    of difficulty, but frankly, some significant progress has been made. And
    we agreed in our private meeting that our respective sides would
    continue to work in good faith and with real intensity during the next
    few days to see what we can do.
        The best way we can strengthen our historic friendship, as we must,
    is to make our trade and investment genuinely in the best interests of
    the peoples of both countries. I hope we will have more trade, not less,
    more openness, more growth, and more jobs in both Japan and the United
    States. And I believe we can achieve that with the proper framework.
        Finally, let me say that it's a great pleasure for Mrs. Clinton and
    I both to be back here in Japan. I came here several times when I was a
    Governor. I suppose, Mr. Prime Minister, I won't have quite the freedom
    of movement that I once enjoyed as a more private citizen, but on the
    other hand, I'm being treated to an enormous amount of Japanese
    hospitality, for which the United States is very grateful, and I look
    forward to the next few days.
        Prime Minister Miyazawa. Thank you very much. Now questions, please.

    Framework Agreement

        Q. I would like to ask this question of both leaders. I understand
    from your remarks just now that you have not reached an agreement on the
    framework which is a matter of focus. I wonder, on these matters of
    great contention between Japan and the United States like the setting of
    targets with reduction of surplus, or on the Japanese side, there is a
    compromise idea for specific sectors, and I wonder if there has been any
    move closer to each other. If so,

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    how far have you been able to move to each other?
        Prime Minister Miyazawa. Well, if you asked, we not reached any
    agreement, that is wrong. Over the past several days, I myself, and
    President Clinton have exchanged letters and through that process, the
    working level of both sides, setting the target of the summit, decided
    to finalize our work. And that exercise was conducted very intensively,
    and that effort is continuing.
        The President. Let me say that I agree with what the Prime Minister
    said. Late last week, after the sides had concluded the last round of
    negotiations without an agreement, the Prime Minister took the
    initiative and sent me a very thoughtful letter which reached out across
    the gap between our two positions. I then responded to that letter, and
    we concluded that both sides should go back to the table. That is where
    they are.
        Differences remain, but enough progress has been made that we
    believe they should continue to work during this critical period, and
    that is what they will do. And we have hopes. We don't want to raise
    false hopes, but we have hopes.
        Q. Mr. President, in light of the possible pending changes in the
    Japanese Government, how crucial is it that this framework is reached at
    this summit? And how likely do you think that would be? And if I could
    also ask the Prime Minister if he could help Americans understand what
    the difficulty is that the Japanese have with the idea of numerical
    targets.
        The President. Well, let me say, if we can get an agreement, the
    sooner we get it the better. I have been very impressed over the last
    several days with the terrific amount of energy and engagement that
    Prime Minister Miyazawa has personally brought to these negotiations and
    to the openness with which we have discussed these issues and the clear
    willingness of the Japanese Government and the Prime Minister himself to
    reach an agreement if we can in good conscience.
        There are still issues which divide us. Even if we make an
    agreement, there will be some issues which divide us. But our purpose is
    to make progress in dealing with the enormous trade imbalances and also
    with dealing with the need for our two countries to integrate our
    economic relationship so that both sides can benefit more. And I believe
    that it is possible. Conventional wisdom would have it that it would not
    be possible at such a political moment, but the Prime Minister has
    defied conventional wisdom. That does not mean that we will get an
    agreement. We don't know that yet. But at least we are trying, and
    that's I think a great credit to him.
        Prime Minister Miyazawa. Well, both of our countries have a market
    economy. And even if the government wants to do this or that, that
    cannot be translated into reality in a market economy. That is what
    market economy is about.
        Now, it is true that the Japanese current account surplus is too
    large, and we would like to somehow reduce this--work hard at reducing
    it. There is no doubt about it. But when it comes to suggesting that
    this surplus should be down to a certain percentage of GDP, you can't
    control GDP itself. And also since the world trade is free trade, you
    cannot determine exports and imports. We cannot control either the
    denominator or the numerator. Therefore, we cannot do that. That's a
    very simple reason.
        Any question from the Japanese side?

    Japanese Elections

        Q. I would like to ask this question of President Clinton, a
    question on Japanese politics. In your press conference in Washington,
    DC, I think you expressed some hope and expectations for Japanese
    politics. Does that contain your expectations for a change in
    government? I wonder what sort of expectations do you have of Japanese
    politics?
        The President. First let me say I wish I had been able to answer the
    previous question a little bit. We have a slight difference of view on
    that. But my views on the trade issue I think are well-known to the lady
    in orange. So there's no point in bringing them up again.
        I'm glad you asked the question about Japanese politics. The United
    States takes no position, and I take no personal position on how the
    people of Japan should vote or will vote. That is a matter for them to
    decide. What I said and what I believe is that no matter how the vote
    comes out in terms of the distribution of party preferences for seats in
    the Diet, this is a period of change and ferment in Japan. It is a
    period of change and ferment in the United States. It could hardly be
    otherwise. There is a global crisis of slow growth in the wealthiest
    countries. There is a global crisis of job growth in the wealthiest
    countries. Many

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    wealthy countries, even when they have economic growth, are not now
    creating new jobs.
        There is a global feeling among all the democracies of the world
    that there ought to be more political reform. There is a thirst for
    political reform in my country, in Japan, in South Korea, in virtually
    every major democracy in the world. So you see these trends developing
    around the world.
        The point I wanted to make is that, no matter whether the LDP wins
    the election or there is some different or modified result--however it
    comes out, this is already a period of change in Japan, and I would hope
    that that would be viewed with hope and not with fear by the Japanese
    people. That is a part of the process of democracy, and we can make it a
    good thing in your country as we are attempting to make it a good thing
    in ours.

    North Korea

        Q. Mr. President, last week in an interview with columnists in
    Washington, you expressed your worst nightmare in Asian security
    questions would be a North Korea that would have the bomb and be willing
    to use it. And your second worst nightmare was a Pacific arms race that
    could lead to--you used the example of development of a nuclear
    capability by Japan. Could you explain how you feel that might be
    brought about? And, Prime Minister Miyazawa, would you explain whether
    you believe that's ever possible under any circumstances, please?
        The President. Well, the two were related. I don't think it would
    ever happen in the absence of the development of nuclear capacity by
    North Korea and some retrenchment by the United States.
        I want to say again, the United States has no intention at this
    moment or in the future of weakening its security ties in the Pacific,
    not to Japan, not to South Korea. We intend to stay engaged, and the
    security commitments we have given with regard to nuclear and defense
    issues to Japan are as strong today as they have ever been. And they
    will so remain.
        I very much want North Korea to stay in the NPT and to fully comply
    with all the requirements of doing so. I think it is in the interest of
    North Korea to do so. I just simply was recognizing the fact that if
    North Korea did not do that, that would create a lot of difficulty and
    concern here in Japan. Whatever North Korea does, the United States will
    honor its commitments to our allies and friends in this region on the
    nuclear issue and on security issues generally.
        Prime Minister Miyazawa. For Japan, if the people's Democratic
    Republic of Korea acquire nuclear weapons and also acquires launch
    capability, that in itself would be a direct threat. It will be a direct
    threat for Japan. I'm sure you will understand that. We have, obviously,
    no intention of producing nuclear weapons, and therefore, we will--and
    definitely we'd be very concerned if we are to be exposed to that sort
    of threat.
        Thank you very much for the press conference.

    Note: The President's 19th news conference began at 6:04 p.m. at the
    Iikura House.