[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1993, Book I)]
[July 7, 1993]
[Pages 1027-1030]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi 
of Italy in Tokyo
July 7, 1993

    The President. Good morning. I have just finished my first personal 
meeting with Prime Minister Ciampi, and I enjoyed it immensely. The 
close ties between the United States and Italy will stand us in good 
stead as we try to meet the common challenges that we face. I told the 
Prime Minister that I admire very much the economic reforms and the 
political reforms that he and his government are undertaking and the 
impressive results they are producing.
    I also mentioned that in appointing one of the United States finest 
professional diplomats, Mr. Reg Bartholomew, Ambassador of Italy, I have 
tried to send a signal of the enormous importance of that bilateral 
relationship to the United States. The fact that Mr. Bartholomew grew up 
in the United States speaking Italian at home reinforces that tie.
    In addition, I invited the Prime Minister to come to the United 
States some time in the next couple of months for a personal visit at 
the White House so that we might discuss the issues of common concern 
further.
    We talked a good deal today about economic  issues  and  the  
importance  of  the G-7 reaffirming our support for a conclusion of the 
Uruguay round this year. This has gone on entirely too long. With 
recession in Europe, slow growth in Japan and the United States, it is 
imperative that we send a signal of economic expansion and hope. And 
both of us, I think it's fair to say, support that approach.
    We also discussed the foreign affairs issues which concern us both, 
including Somalia and Bosnia, and I was very impressed with the comments 
and the points that the Prime Minister made.
    I want to close by thanking Italy for its renewed effort in global 
problem-solving; the humanitarian and peacekeeping assistance in Bosnia, 
Albania, Somalia, Mozambique; its mediation efforts in the Nagorno-
Karabakh. The United States highly values this as well as the critical 
partnership we have enjoyed with Italy in NATO, and we look forward to 
the NATO summit coming up in the next few months to reaffirm that 
partnership.
    Again, let me say, I thank the Prime Minister for his time today. It 
was very enlightening for me. I learned a good deal, and I look forward 
to a continued warm and constructive relationship between the United 
States and Italy.
    Mr. Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Ciampi. First of all, I would like to thank the 
President for having invited me to visit Washington. This invitation I 
accept with great pleasure. I would also like to add that our talks 
today were very cordial and positive. And despite our age differences, 
the spirit was the same.
    I tried to illustrate to the President the great changes that are 
underway in Italy right now. But I also made it a point to emphasize 
that, despite these changes, one thing will not change, and that is our 
foreign policy. Italy will continue, as Italy has continued to do, to 
give its full consent to future problems, the most important problems 
which affect the world scene. It is important that this summit concludes 
by giving clear signals to the operators in the world. This clear-sent 
message would be to enhance a recovery of--to enhance the Uruguay round 
negotiations which have dragged on for too long. This would help to 
contribute our energies to over-


[[Page 1028]]

come the recession that we are going through now and to develop the 
economy in the world and to create new jobs.
    We also discussed the issues which directly affect the U.S. and 
Europe and the U.S. and Italy. We have also exchanged our opinions on 
the two most crucial issues of the day, which are Bosnia and Somalia. As 
far as Somalia is concerned, the most important thing is that we cannot 
forget what our priority goal is. And the goal is to normalize the 
political and social situation in the country, which has undergone 
domestic strife and which has prevented the distribution of food to the 
starving population. And in undertaking our military action, we must 
never forget the political action which, of course, must be supported by 
the military action. And I have found a full understanding on the 
President's part as far as Italy's request to have a greater presence of 
the Italians in Somalia.
    And in conclusion, I must again thank the President of the United 
States, Bill Clinton. This is our first meeting, although we have spoken 
on the phone before in a very cordial and practical conversation. The 
fact that we have finally met personally reinforces in me the sensation 
that the President is a very agreeable person and that we can work out 
our problems together.

Political Reform

    Q. Mr. President, in your university speech, you appeared to be 
going over the head of the Japanese Government when you made this direct 
appeal to the Japanese consumers for open markets. Now, with Japanese 
elections only two weeks away, why shouldn't the Japanese see this as 
intervention in domestic politics? And given the uncertainty of the 
political situation right here now, isn't that somewhat of a political 
gamble on your part?
    The President. No, because I was not trying to interfere in domestic 
politics. I thought I owed it to the Japanese people and especially to 
the young people who were largely the audience today to make the case of 
the United States directly to them. I wanted them to understand clearly 
that the things that we advocate in terms of changing the trade 
relations between our two countries are things which I believe are in 
the interest of the Japanese as well as American workers.
    And just to reinforce the point about not wanting to interfere into 
the domestic politics, keep in mind, a major part of this election is 
being argued out on questions of domestic political reform. Italy is 
dealing with issues of domestic political reform. The United States is 
dealing with campaign finance reform and lobbying reform. This whole 
issue of political reform is very much alive in most of the advanced 
democracies today. The point of that is this: It is impossible for the 
United States to know with any real certainty what outcome of the 
election might produce a government more responsive to the arguments 
we're making.
    The present government has reached out to us in good faith to 
attempt to negotiate the principles behind a basic framework for new 
trade relations. Those negotiations are going on right now. So I want to 
make it clear--I'm very glad you asked the question--we are not, in any 
way, trying to influence the outcome of the election in terms of who 
wins what seats in the Diet. That is up to the people of Japan. But I 
owe it to the people of Japan, since there is no more important 
bilateral relationship than the relationship between the United States 
and Japan, to make the United States case directly to them, and that's 
what I was trying to do today.

Somalia

    Q. Did you discuss the possibility that Italy gets a higher post in 
the high command militarily, and did you discuss the restarting of the 
negotiation towards national reconciliation in Somalia?
    The President. We discussed the former, but not the latter, 
expressly. The Prime Minister did say, and he's absolutely right, that 
the ultimate purpose of our presence in Somalia is to restore normal 
conditions of life and to try to help to build the nation there so that 
people can engage in self-government. Because of the intervention of the 
United Nations, people were saved from starving, medicine was provided, 
schools were reopened, the conditions of normal life have returned for 
most people. The present tension, occasioned by the action of General 
Aideed and then our reaction to that, is really the sort of thing people 
assumed would happen at the beginning of the United Nations 
intervention. But in the end, as the Prime Minister said, we have to try 
to have a political resolution of this.
    Now, with regard to the fact that the major elements there in terms 
of military forces are

[[Page 1029]]

Italian, Pakistani, and American--of course, there is unified United 
Nations Command under General Bir, something that we supported. How all 
the forces relate to General Bir is ultimately a matter for the United 
Nations Command to resolve. But I thought that the Prime Minister raised 
some serious questions and some legitimate issues, and I pledged to 
discuss those with our defense people and to get back to him and also to 
discuss it with the U.N. people. We didn't resolve it, and I can't say 
the United States has a position now, because this is the first 
opportunity I've had to discuss it. But he made a very important case 
that every nation with a substantial military presence there should at 
least have its views heard in some organized way. Perhaps he would like 
to comment, but I think that's a fair statement of where we were.
    Prime Minister Ciampi. I've little to add. It's very clear what I 
said, and it's very clear what President Clinton said.

Japanese Elections

    Q. Mr. Clinton, I recognize that you weren't trying to interfere in 
Japanese politics. You did talk in the speech at Waseda about change. Do 
you see a linkage between the kind of change you're talking about and 
the kind of proposals being offered by the opposition parties?
    The President. Well, let me say again the question of political 
reform is one that every mature democracy has to face. But what I was 
talking about today is the necessity of changing the nature of the 
economic relationships. The opposition parties are in different places 
on a lot of those issues, and the incumbent government in the form of a 
personal letter from the Prime Minister has reached out across a gap to 
us within the last week that has not been bridged in years. So I will 
say again, I have no way of predicting what kind of election outcome 
would produce a government most likely to pursue this course that I am 
advocating, this new partnership with us. My belief is that no matter 
who wins the election, in the end, history is on our side and will 
require a change in the relationships.
    So I want to say again, I maintain a strictly neutral position about 
the people who are running and who should win. That is a decision for 
the Japanese people to make. I am generally supportive of the notion of 
political reform. I have generally tried to reassure the people of Japan 
that I do not think they should be too filled with anxiety in the face 
of these changes. This is the sort of thing that is happening in many, 
many countries, including the United States. But they will have to 
decide which party and which individual candidates and which leaders are 
best for them. That is not for the United States to say.

Electoral Reform and Unity in Italy

    Q. Mr. President, you spoke about changes in democracies. But in 
Italy these changes have been fairly dramatic. There has been fear of 
separation between north and south. There have been proposals for the 
introduction of direct election of the government. Do you share those 
fears that a separation could be possible? And do you think the 
political change could happen fast? And do you think that works better 
where democracy is a direct election of the government?
    And just for Mr. Ciampi, you spoke about the need from the G-7 of 
getting clear messages for the markets. Don't you think that the markets 
are expecting clear messages from Italy that something more should be 
done? Will you go back to Italy proposing the more comprehensive plan 
for restructuring the political and economic systems of the country?
    The President. It is inappropriate for me to express a firm opinion 
about the questions you ask since the Italian people will have to 
resolve that for themselves, just as the Japanese people will have to 
resolve their questions of political reform. But I would make two 
observations.
    First is that the differences in economy and culture between the 
north and the south in your country have some analogy in our country. 
That is, we have some places in our country that are far wealthier than 
others. We have places in our country that are far different culturally 
than others. And that is a continuing challenge. My own view is that 
we're much better facing those things together and trying to create a 
community of interest than we would be if we were to split up. I realize 
the challenge it presents to Italy; I spent time in southern Italy; I 
spent time in northern Italy. I'm well aware of the fact that some parts 
of northern Italy achieve per capita incomes higher than the Federal 
Republic of Germany before the merger of West and East Germany. But I 
think that these are the kinds of challenges that would have to be 
faced, regardless, and the heritage of Italy as a united country is a 
very old one indeed.

[[Page 1030]]

    With regard to the electoral system, at various times the people in 
democracies, when times are tough, tire of the system they have. In our 
country, for example, we had a third party candidate get the highest 
percentage of the vote that a third party candidate has gotten since the 
beginning of this century.
    On the other hand, I believe that the two-party system and the fact 
that we have roughly centrist parties with majority rule, right of 
center, left of center a little bit, but roughly centrist parties, has 
stabilized our political system over the years. Sometimes, people have 
been disappointed that there weren't clear-cut differences and ideas 
throughout American history in the parties, and then sometimes there 
are. But if you have a majority rule system, you tend to have more 
compromise and more stability. Sometimes people grow tired of it, and 
they look for other options. It has happened to us three or four times 
in our history where a new party has come up, and one of our existing 
parties has disappeared over 217 years. But it has served us well, I 
believe, on balance. Nearly any student of American history would say 
that we have been served well by that system. Now, whether it will work 
in Italy is a decision you'll have to make.
    Prime Minister Ciampi. First of all, I would like to add a few 
points, Mr. President, and they will be very brief and very clear. First 
of all, no new party in Italy or no party at all questions the unity of 
Italy. The second point is that the Italian Parliament is currently 
studying electoral reform to solve the institutional problems of Italy. 
Second of all, the Italian Government--and I would hope that you would 
read the relative documentation--is fully supporting the electoral 
reform and is making it the number one priority.
    The President. Thank you very much.
    Q. Progress on trade talks?
    The President. You know, I was out at the university, and then I 
came directly back here to meet with the Prime Minister. So I've 
received no report. I can't say.

Note: The President's 20th news conference began at noon in the Wakakusa 
Room at the Okura Hotel. Prime Minister Ciampi spoke in Italian, and his 
remarks were translated by an interpreter.