    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book II)]
    [November 17, 1995]
    [Pages 1762-1771]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Interview With NHK Television of Japan
    November 17, 1995

    President's Trip to Japan

        Q. Thank you very much, Mr. President, for joining us. The Japanese
    people are greatly disappointed that you have suddenly canceled your
    visit to Japan. Was it really inevitable?
        The President. Yes, it was inevitable. And let me begin by saying
    that I am greatly disappointed, more disappointed perhaps than I can
    even convey to you and through you to the Japanese people, to cancel
    this trip. My first overseas trip as President was to Japan. One of the
    first actions I took as President was to try to elevate the Asian
    Pacific Economic Council to a leaders meeting so that we could all work
    more closely together throughout Asia. And I have had many, many
    meetings and telephone calls with not only Prime Minister Murayama but
    his predecessors. When I ran for President, I said the Japanese-American
    relationship was of supreme importance to the United States. And so I am
    very, very disappointed.
        But I would ask the Japanese people to understand what is happening
    here. We are having a debate here which will have great implications for
    the United States for decades to come. And our Government is closed down
    for the first time in history for this length of time. This is
    unprecedented. So that if I were to leave

    [[Page 1763]]

    the United States now, the American people, and particularly the
    employees of the Federal Government, would not understand how the
    President could leave the country while the Government was shut down and
    when the Congress might be passing bills to me that I would either have
    to veto, disapprove, or to sign.
        I will go to Japan as soon as I possibly can. I look forward to
    rescheduling this trip. And I can only ask the Japanese people to
    understand that this has nothing to do with Japan and America's
    relationship and everything to do with the pressing emergency that I
    must now deal with.
        Q. Mr. President, we all know that you will always come back, even
    to Japan.
        The President. Thank you.
        Q. But we would like to know exactly when you will be able to go
    there. January or----
        The President. Well, I don't know. We have begun to look over the
    calendar. And I have talked this morning with the Vice President. I
    called him on the airplane. He's on his way--he's almost in Japan. And I
    talked with Ambassador Kantor this morning, who is in Japan now, again
    reaffirming my desire to come as quickly as possible.
        As I'm sure you know, we're about to begin our Thanksgiving and
    Christmas season here, a major holiday time--the major holiday time in
    the United States. And then next year we begin the Congress in early
    January and all the Presidential primaries. But I will come as soon as I
    can. This is very, very important to me. And I want--I have conveyed my
    deep regrets to Prime Minister Murayama, and I appreciate his
    understanding.
        But I--again, I want to say I hope the Japanese people will
    understand this is no expression of disrespect by me either to the
    Government or the people of Japan. As a matter of fact, my wife and I
    had looked very much forward to being with the Emperor and Empress again
    in the Imperial Palace because we had such a wonderful time with them
    when they visited us and stayed here. So I'm anxious to have that
    experience, and I'm looking forward to it.
        Q. Any guesstimates as to when--like spring?
        The President. I can't say. We're in the middle of this difficulty
    now, and we have to resolve--see our way through it. And I'm looking at
    the calendar. I will set the date just as soon as I can. I will come as
    quickly as I can. But I want to make sure we have a good visit and we
    have enough time to do it right. I think it's important when I do come
    that we have the time to do it right.
        Q. But you're going to get busier and busier next year.
        The President. Not necessarily. There will be certain down times in
    our schedule next year. And it doesn't matter, I will put some of my
    business aside to come to Japan. I would happily put some of my business
    aside. If it hadn't been for this unprecedented emergency, I would have
    put this aside.

    Okinawa and the Japan-U.S. Security Relationship

        Q. Well, your cancellation is especially significant since the
    Okinawa incident by the three marines, and emotions are running high.
    And people are starting to question the most--the linchpin of the U.S.
    security--linchpin of the U.S.-Japan relations, which is the security
    threat. How would you define the treaty after the cold war, the
    importance of the treaty?
        The President. If I might, I'd like to first say something about the
    incident at Okinawa. On behalf of the American people, we want the
    Japanese people to know that we share their outrage and their pain. And
    I want to express my personal regret and outrage to the family, to the
    young woman, to all the people of Okinawa. This was--it's a terrible
    thing. And every father in the world of a young daughter, including the
    President of the United States, was struck by the incident. The United
    States, obviously, has cooperated and supported the turning over of the
    people who were charged. We have tried to improve our procedures for
    cooperating in these criminal matters, and we will continue to do that.
    So I feel very strongly about this.
        Now, however, I think that, notwithstanding this terrible incident
    and the end of the cold war, we shouldn't minimize the importance of
    continuing this partnership. We've had 50 years of relative security in
    Asia because of the partnership that the United States and Japan have
    had for security. We still have an unresolved situation on the Korean
    Peninsula. North Korea has more than a million people under arms. We
    have an agreement, thanks to the cooperation of Japan and the United
    States, with China and Russia and others to dismantle North Korea's
    nuclear program. But it isn't finished yet. And there are many
    uncertainties in the future.

    [[Page 1764]]

        We also know we're going to have to deal with problems of
    proliferation of weapons of destruction, of terrorism, of organized
    crime. Both Japan and the United States have been victimized by
    terrorism recently. So there are still very compelling reasons for us to
    maintain our security partnership. We are reviewing that. We want to
    clarify that in the form of a declaration.
        As you know, we have established a high-level committee to review
    the specifics of our relationship with Japan and particularly the
    problems in Okinawa. We want to show the people of Okinawa that we can
    continue to respond to the specific objections. But the need for a
    security partnership, I think, is still very, very strong. And I hope it
    will remain one of the real pillars of our relationship.
        Q. I think very few people suspect about the need of the continued
    security partnership between Japan and the United States. But many
    people think that since the treaty was written 35 years ago based on the
    conditions prevailing in the Far Fast then, maybe this is a time to
    review the entire system and check it and modify it if there is a need.
        The President. Well, I think--I would say there are two things that
    I think we should do. First of all, we should make clear to the people
    of Japan and the United States and all the people in Asia who are
    affected by this what we believe the security, the common shared
    security interest and the common values we share are as we look toward
    the 21st century. Then I also believe that this group of people we have
    put together to work with your people on the specifics of the
    relationship within Japan and on Okinawa, that we should finish that and
    do that over the next year and look at whether there are further things
    we could do in our operating procedures to accommodate the people of
    Okinawa, look if there is something we can do in the size and the
    distribution of our forces on Okinawa, look at the size of the land we
    occupy and how we occupy it, and then consider whether maybe even we
    could transfer some of our forces elsewhere in Japan.
        You know, there are all these things we need to look at in a very
    disciplined way. And I think that we will do that. But I don't believe
    we should, without great discipline and care, just revise a relationship
    that has plainly contributed to economic growth and political security
    and stability not only for Japan but for the rest of Asia as well.
        Q. What do you think about the Governor of Okinawa, Mr. Ota? You
    used to be the Governor of Arkansas. I think he is presenting a good
    case that Okinawa people are having unfair burden by excessive
    concentration of U.S. bases.
        The President. Well, I believe that his concerns have to be
    carefully considered. You know, we have--for example, in the last few
    years, we've tried to change our training schedules, reducing the firing
    of live ammunition, for example, trying to be concerned about the impact
    of noise on the people of Okinawa. I think that we have to consider his
    concerns very carefully. And as I said, I think we have to look at what
    our options are. I think the United States should be openminded about
    that. I think that we will discuss with the Government of Japan what
    other options we might have within Japan for pursing this relationship.
        But his job as the Governor of Okinawa, like my job when I was a
    Governor, is to represent the real concerns of the people there who have
    a right to want to carry on their daily lives, to make the most of their
    own lives, and to take care of their families. And we should be careful
    to listen to them and see whether or not we can resolve this. And I
    believe we can do better.
        Q. One more point I want to ask you, Mr. President, is the so-called
    free-ride argument in the United States. The asymmetry where the United
    States protects Japan but Japan cannot fight for the United States
    constitutionally is the course of nation we chose 50 years ago under the
    guidance of the United States. And Japanese are, to be frank, quite
    proud of their peace constitution. Is the United Stated growing--
    becoming dissatisfied with such Japanese course?
        The President. I don't think so, for two reasons. First of all, the
    Japanese people have been willing to bear an appropriate level of cost
    for the location of our troops in Japan. And we cannot complain about
    that--and have improved that cost ratio over the last couple of years.
    And the United States needs to recognize that. Secondly, Japan has
    become increasingly willing to assume other kinds of global
    responsibilities. You have been very forthright and strong in Cambodia.
    You have even committed to help in the reconstruction of Bosnia, a long
    way from home, and many, many other examples I could cite. So my view is
    that this is still a fair partner-

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    ship for security matters. And barring some dramatic change of
    circumstances, we should try to modify the partnership to meet the
    demands of this time, not have a dramatic departure from it.
        Q. In that sense, Mr. President, do you think Japanese peaceful
    constitution is still viable for peace?
        The President. Well, I believe it is because I believe that one of
    the things we ought to be trying to do is to get the rest of the world
    to move toward less armaments. You know, Japan is working with the
    United States, for example, and we hope we'll be able to persuade the
    rest of the world to join us in a comprehensive test ban treaty, nuclear
    test ban treaty, next year. We hope that we'll be able to do more
    together in the world to reduce the danger of chemical and biological
    weapons. We worked very hard just a few months ago, Japan and the United
    States, to get almost 180 countries to join the Nuclear Non-
    Proliferation Treaty. So our objective in the world should be to reduce
    the volume, the danger of arms, to reduce the millions of landmines that
    are in the ground in places that your people in Cambodia have been
    subject to, for example, not to try to have a massive arms buildup
    everywhere.
        Q. Going back to Okinawa, you sympathized with the burden of the
    Okinawan people having bases concentrated there. Would you bring a
    specific package, a concrete proposal, in reducing the bases, the U.S.
    bases there?
        The President. That depends on what the alternatives are. And that's
    why I think it--for me, I should leave it to our negotiators. I have
    gotten--I have put a high-level team in place--Mr. Lord, Mr. Nye, and
    others will be working on this. And I think that they need to see what
    the options are. I do not know enough to know what the alternative
    options are to make a specific proposal. All I can say is that I have
    followed very, very carefully here the specific concerns of the people
    of Okinawa. And I know what it's like for people to feel that they are
    being oppressed by those over whom they have no influence. And I don't
    want that to be the feeling of the people of Okinawa. I want this to be
    a partnership of which they can be proud as well. And therefore, we're
    going to work very hard to--in total good faith--to try to resolve this.
        Q. Are you in agreement with Secretary Perry when he says that the
    number of 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan as a whole will not be reduced?
    Bases in Okinawa could be withdrawn, but they would have to go somewhere
    else in Japan--is that your stance?
        The President. Well, my feeling is that that is the general
    consensus not only of the United States but of other nations as well,
    that we would be sending the wrong signal at this time if we had a
    substantial reduction in our overall commitment, either in Japan or
    Korea, that this is the time for stability, for working toward reducing
    the possibility of any kind of war, any kind of exchange of missiles,
    any kind of military problem, whatever. And that is what we're trying to
    do. We believe that there's a consensus among our allies to try to
    maintain a sense of stability. And we don't want to do anything that
    could send the wrong signal there.

    Asia-U.S. Security Agreement

        Q. Do you have a vision as to the post security--post-cold-war
    security vision in Asia? So far it has mainly been characterized by
    bilateral relationship with Japan and the U.S., South Korea and the
    United States. Do you have a vision or a plan that would stabilize that
    part of the area?
        The President. Well, of course, I hope that we will have more and
    more cooperation with other countries which could lead us, eventually,
    to regional agreements like the regional trade relationship we're
    attempting to develop through APEC.
        For example, we have had military-to-military contacts with China
    which we are now resuming. And while we still have some concerns, and we
    hope the Chinese will issue a white paper on defense and be very
    forthright about it, the truth is that the Chinese have put most of
    their emphasis into growing their economy, not growing their military.
    So we hope that we can see further progress there. There are many issues
    to be resolved there, as you know, and we saw some of them in the recent
    flareup of tensions with Taiwan and the testing in that area. But my
    hope would be that by early in the next century we would see other
    countries coming forward to work with Japan and work with South Korea so
    that we can broaden the responsibilities that we all share there.
        Q. So you can envision maybe a military exercise together with four
    or five different countries?

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        The President. It could well happen. That's what we've tried to do
    in Europe. In Europe, if I could just draw a parallel, as long as
    nation-states have existed on the continent of Europe, there's always
    some sort of political or military division. We are now trying to work
    with the Europeans to try to create a united Europe for the first time
    in history through something called the Partnership For Peace, among
    other things. But the Partnership For Peace is a NATO security
    partnership.
        We've done military training with Russia. We just had, in Kansas, a
    Russian-United States military training exercise. We have had military
    exercises in Poland. We have all these countries working together to
    reinforce each others security, instead of planning to fight with each
    other. That's what I hope will happen throughout the world.

    Japan-U.S. Security Relationship

        Q. So I gather you have recognized that U.S.-Japan security treaty
    has become more important?
        The President. Yes. I think it would be a great mistake to think it
    is less important. If you look at the economic power of Japan and the
    United States, at the fact that we are both great democracies, at the
    fact that our--I believe--I know this is not the prevailing opinion,
    perhaps, but I believe our relationship has grown much stronger in the
    last few years, just since I've been President because we are now more
    open about our differences and more steadfast in holding on to our
    strengths and the things we share. That is the way great democracies
    have to behave. And I think until we live in a very different world than
    we now live in, we should maintain our security relationship as well as
    our economic partnership and our political commitment to democracy and
    freedom. The things go together, and it's not time to change that.

    Japan-U.S. Trade

        Q. If I may turn the topic a little bit more to economics. The
    small, tragic incident in Okinawa flared up into such a major diplomatic
    incident. Perhaps it is because for the past 2\1/2\ years while you have
    been in office, Japan and United States has been engaged in very severe
    trade negotiations that maybe--concentration on the economy has brought
    adverse feelings among us.
        The President. Well, you see, I believe that--let's take it back to
    where we were when I became President. The United States had just
    experienced the slowest job growth rate we'd had in 4 years, in the last
    4 years--since we had a Great Depression--for 60 years. The feelings of
    resentment in the United States were building up over the enormous trade
    surplus Japan had in our dealings. And the feeling was that nothing ever
    happens.
        So what I did was to launch a broad-based outreach to Japan to
    reaffirm the security relationship, to reaffirm our political
    partnership, to say that ultimately we needed a regional and a global
    approach to trade. So we had this world leaders meeting at APEC, and
    Japan and the United States helped to resolve the GATT world trade
    agreement so we'd have a global trading system. And we had an aggressive
    approach to our individual bilateral trade differences.
        But look what's happened. Because of good-faith efforts in Japan and
    the United States, we have conducted and completed an unprecedented 20
    trade agreements. The Japanese trade surplus with the United States has
    gone down for 5 months in a row. We have had a big increase in our
    exports in the 20 areas where we have agreements and overall. And the
    Japanese, at a time of economic difficulty for Japan, have gotten a
    wider choice of goods at lower cost. So I believe we are working toward
    a much stronger and more balanced partnership.
        Again, I would say, I would hope the people--there is no American
    who ever would defend or be insensitive to what happened in Okinawa. We
    felt the same way about that the Japanese people did. And again, I would
    say that's why I so much wanted to come now, to say these things
    directly to the people of Japan. But these trade difficulties should be
    seen in the context of our long-term partnership. And we are working
    through difficulties in the way that mature democracies must. So I see
    it as a plus, not a negative, over time. No one likes to read about
    conflict or hear about it on the evening news, but conflict is also a
    part of life--that mature and disciplined people resolve their conflicts
    in a way that is consistent with their values and the long-term
    interests of their people. And I believe that's what we're doing.
        Q. I think you are right in saying that there have been many
    economic progresses, but there does seem times the level of inflammatory
    rhet-

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    oric has unfortunately gone up, partly because we lost a common enemy,
    partly because of our protracted trade imbalance. People are seeing that
    the ``special relationship,'' quote and unquote, does no longer exist
    between the two countries. In that case, we have to lower our mutual
    expectations. What are your comments?
        The President. I think that's very wrong, at least in the United
    States. It's my experience--you know, we have a few politicians here who
    still engage in inflammatory rhetoric against Japan--but not just Japan.
    If they--anybody here who engages in inflammatory rhetoric against Japan
    is probably engaging in inflammatory rhetoric against a lot of other
    places, too----
        Q. That's right.
        The President. ----always trying to blame America's problem on
    someone else. What I tried to do was to preserve and strengthen this
    special relationship by setting up a system through Ambassador Kantor,
    who is in Japan today, to handle the trade problems in a very
    disciplined way in the context of our overall partnership with Japan. It
    is a very special relationship.
        We are still the world's two most powerful economies. We are still
    committed to democracy. We have this unusual, wonderful security
    partnership that has helped to keep war out of the lives of the people
    of Asia for the last 50 years. These are major, major important things.
    And we cannot abandon our special relationship until there are others
    who have as much commitment to the future of the world as we do and who
    have the same ability we do to secure peace and prosperity. No one else
    can do that in the way America and Japan have. So to me, the
    relationship is more important than ever. And I hope it would not be
    abandoned just because the cold war is over. We still have our
    affirmative responsibilities.
        Q. Well, we are very must gratified to hear your comments. But
    still, some people think that the major cause of imbalance is a rather
    microscopic savings investment imbalance, whereas too much political
    emphasis has been given to individual trade issues.
        The President. My own view is that they're both to blame. And if you
    look at what I have done since I've been President--we had one of the
    highest deficits of all the large economies in the world when I became
    President--trade deficits--and a very low savings rate. We have now
    taken our deficit down to the point where--this year at least--it's the
    lowest of all the G-7 countries.
        And we're committed to balancing the budget. Our debate here is over
    how to balance the budget, not whether. We are looking at ways to
    increase the savings rate. We are trying to increase our own
    productivity. And we know that we will never, ever have an overall
    balance of trade in the world until we have done something about our
    Government deficit, done something about our savings and investment
    rate.
        But we also know that it's important that, insofar as possible, all
    countries move toward open, transparent trading systems and treat each
    other fairly. So to me, both things must be done. And I have never tried
    to ask Japan or any other nation to do anything as an excuse for not
    having America do what we must do as well.
        Q. So would you like to concentrate next phase on structure issues
    like debt regulation with Japanese counterparts?
        The President. Well, I think as Japan goes through its deregulation
    program, prices will drop in Japan and the quality of life for average
    Japanese families will go way up. It will also lead to the purchase of
    more American products, and that will create more good, high-wage jobs
    for Americans. But you ought to pursue these policies primarily because
    it's good for the Japanese people. Incidentally, it will help our
    people. But great nations must obviously look after the interests of
    their own people first.
        At this point, your economy is so advanced and so powerful, you even
    have Japanese companies now, if you will, out-sourcing some of your
    manufacturing in other Asian countries that are still developing.
        The reason for opening your economy and deregulating now is not to
    make me happy--although it will create a lot more American jobs and I
    want you to do it for that reason--but because it's also good for the
    Japanese people. The Japanese people have worked so hard for so many
    years and now, with these changes, you can bring the benefits of their
    hard work to them in the form of a better quality of life. That's why I
    think it should be done.
        Q. Another bad news that came from the United States to Japan
    recently was the fact that one of the Japanese commercial banks, Daiwa
    Bank, was ordered to stop their oper-

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    ations in the United States. Your view on that decision?
        The President. Well, because it's under active investigation here,
    under our system, I can't really comment on it, except to say that I
    regret it very much. But it should not be taken as a signal that we do
    not welcome Japanese investment in our financial institutions or the
    establishment of Japanese financial operations here. You have a lot of
    other extremely successful operations in America--the Mura Securities I
    just think of as one I could mention off the top of my head.
        So we have to enforce our laws in the way we are required to. And I
    can't comment on that specific case, but please do not believe we do not
    want your country to have the opportunity to send its people here to
    compete, because we do.

    Japanese Economy

        Q. But in general, Japan has been suffering--the Japanese Bank has
    been suffering with huge amounts of bad debt. Are you concerned about
    the Japanese economy, where it's going and what effect it might have in
    the global economy?
        The President. Obviously, we're concerned about the financial system
    problems that are reported here. But keep in mind, we went through a
    terrible situation here 10 years ago, where because of a lot of
    imprudent things that were done in many--10, 15 years ago, we had a
    collapse of our savings and loan sector. It cost a lot of money to fix
    it, but fundamentally, the American people were working hard and
    becoming more productive. And we got through it.
        And I think that you'll--I'm not familiar enough to know the details
    and what the options are, but this is something the Japanese people will
    have to address. But don't forget, fundamentally, you have this
    enormously powerful economy. You have a great technology base. You have
    an enormously competitive citizenry. The underlying health and power of
    the Japanese economy is great. So you'll just have to figure out what
    has to be done, and I'm sure the people will do it. And it won't
    permanently weaken the country.
        All these problems--I find that whether we have them or you have
    them or some other country has them, people will always have problems as
    long as we live on this planet. And the important thing is to address
    them quickly and in a disciplined way and so that the underlying
    strengths of the people involved can rise to the top.

    Japanese Investment

        Q. May I tell you on a negative case, Japanese companies have had
    bad investment here in the States like yours in Whitewater--I might be
    wrong----
        The President. If you invest money, you might lose it; that's the
    way the market system goes. [Laughter.]
        Q. And the result is that more Japanese companies are investing more
    into Asia. What would you like to think about that?
        The President. Well, I think, partly that's quite understandable
    because in those rapidly growing countries which are near to you, if you
    put more investment in, it is logical to assume that they will become
    better markets for your products. And a lot of those countries are close
    at hand, and they have rapidly growing economies.
        In our country, some of the Japanese investments--which were, just
    like a lot of Americans, somewhat speculative in nature in certain
    areas--when the markets turned down, a lot of money was lost. On the
    other hand, I think there will always be a healthy level of Japanese
    investment in America because of the importance of the American market.
    And the long-term, stable Japanese investments that are tied to
    production and to productivity are doing very well in this country, and
    I expect they will continue to do well.
        And I might say, the American people have benefited from that. We
    have learned a lot in our own efforts to improve the productivity of our
    people, especially in manufacturing, from the investments of Japanese
    companies in the United States and from watching how your companies
    operate and the relationships between management and labor and the power
    given to the workers in the productive sector to grow the economy. So I
    think it will be quite good in the future.

    U.S. Economy

        Q. Well, let me complement the question by asking you something more
    positive. As you say, the productivity in this country is going up. The
    basis of manufacturing industry has become robust. Consumer confidence
    is back. But what we are seeing is your phenomenal growth in export
    performance. Is the United States trans-

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    forming itself from import-oriented country to an export-oriented
    country?
        The President. Oh, I think what we want is a more balanced economy.
    That's what I work for. And you're right, it's working. We have the
    stock market at an all-time high in this country, the creation of small
    businesses at a record pace. And we have the lowest combined rates of
    unemployment and inflation we've had in 25 years, because we're
    following a balanced approach: bring down the deficit, investment in
    technology and education, push for more exports, do it in a balanced
    way.
        Our exports have increased in only 3 years by something like 35
    percent to the world and even more in Asia. So there, again, I would say
    the special relationship is important. Over half of America's exports go
    to Asia. Over 3 million American jobs are tied directly to the health
    and welfare of the Asian economies. And again, that makes our
    partnership with Japan, from my point of view, even more important.
        But if I could bring it back at home, that's one reason,
    unfortunately, I have to stay here now, because what we have done is to
    follow a balanced approach: bring the deficit down, work to balance the
    budget, but keep investing in people and technology and keep the power
    to promote America's business interest and the workers' interest around
    the world.
        And so, if you look at the fight we're having here, I want the
    Japanese people to know we're not fighting about whether we should
    balance our budget and be more responsible so we don't take so much
    money out of the world's economy. We agree we must balance our budget.
    But I think--what we have here is--how to balance the budget is a debate
    between two different visions of the future for our own society. I want
    a society where we grow in strength together, and I believe the
    alternative proposal would have us growing apart.
        For example, I don't think we have to balance the budget by raising
    the medical costs of our poorest senior citizens. I don't think we have
    to balance the budget by depriving our younger people of the opportunity
    to be in Head Start programs. I think it's a mistake to say we have to
    balance the budget by reducing the number of college scholarships or
    raising the cost of university loans or by cutting aid to disabled
    children and their families. These are matters really important to
    debate here. I know we don't have to do that to balance the budget, and
    I think that would be bad for our economy.
        I believe the strength of the Japanese economy rests more than
    anything else in the disciplined pursuit, over a long period of time, of
    a responsible investment policy, a responsible production policy, a
    responsible export policy, and the investment into people--education,
    technology, and having all the people do well. That's what we have to do
    in the United States. That's the debate we're having here. That's why,
    in a way, the people of Japan are better off if I stay here now, because
    a strong Japan needs a strong America to be a good partner. We have to
    grow together.

    Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

        Q. Since you mentioned the importance of Asia for the United States,
    I'd like to ask a question in relation to APEC. You convened a summit
    meeting 2 years ago in Seattle, and this year you're not present.
    Perhaps your leadership and credibility in Asia might diminish.
        The President. It might. And I had to think of that. But when the
    President of the United States takes the oath of office of the
    President, he must first promise to deal with the responsibilities that
    the Constitution of our country imposes. If I were to leave now, I would
    be running away from decisions that I have to make here imposed on me by
    the oath that I swore to uphold.
        I have already called not only Prime Minister Murayama but President
    Kim of South Korea, President Soeharto of Indonesia. I'm trying to reach
    President Jiang Zemin now. I'm going to talk to as many of the APEC
    leaders personally as I can to apologize for not being there and to say
    the Vice President's going to be there, because we--this APEC leaders
    partnership is very important to our country and very important to your
    country, because what we want is a growing Asia in the context of a
    global trade system and the agreement. And I want to say one thing
    before we run out of time. Prime Minister Murayama and his government
    have done an excellent job in leading APEC this year. And the agreement
    that will be announced there to deal with comprehensive trade issues, to
    do it in a flexible way, to have regular reviews of how we're doing and
    moving toward an integrated economy, it's a very, very important
    agreement. And it proves that we need APEC.

    [[Page 1770]]

        And I hope that my one-time absence will not be interpreted by my
    colleagues and friends, the leaders of the other nations, as a loss of
    interest, because this is a big APEC meeting, thanks largely to the
    leadership of your government.

    President's Vision for the 21st Century

        Q. Mr. President, we have two great native Arkansans; one is the
    President, the other one is General Douglas MacArthur. Both of them gave
    us great influence. What would you like to do to the Japanese?
        The President. What I would like to do as President with regard to
    Japan? I would like to be known in the future as the President who
    created a partnership with Japan that took the world beyond the cold war
    into the global village of the 21st century, that together we led the
    world to be a more peaceful and a more prosperous place where more
    people enjoyed freedom and could make the most of their own lives and
    that this is something we did together, that because of our wealth and
    because of our vision and because of our values, that together we were
    the driving forces in making the global village of the 21st century the
    kind of place we would all be proud for our children to grow up in.
        Q. The year 2000 will presumably be the last year in your reelected
    office. And your dreams about the 21st century--short of the United
    States becoming world's policeman, how are you going to bring about the
    safer world?
        The President. Well, my dream for the 21st century is that people,
    nations will define their greatness not in terms of their military power
    but in terms of the quality of life their people enjoy, their ability to
    preserve our common natural environment and our ability to give every
    person the right to make the most of his or her own life. That's how
    we'll define our greatness.
        My vision includes the ability of nation-states to open up their
    systems enough to have a global trading system but to still be strong
    enough to stamp out the organized forces of destruction, to stamp out
    those who would use terrorism and organized crime and drug trafficking
    to kill innocent people. That really is going to be our great challenge,
    to take advantage of all these forces that are pulling the world
    together--essentially, economics and culture pulling the world
    together--and to stamp out these forces that are threatening to tear us
    apart, the forces of racial and religious and ethnic hatred--what we're
    trying to deal with now in Bosnia, hoping to bring peace there--and the
    forces of terrorism, organized crime, and drug trafficking. Those things
    are the great security challenges of the 21st century, along with the
    proliferation of weapons. Those people that want to proliferate
    weapons--we've got to do something about it. When Japan went into
    Cambodia to try to help make the peace--there is something like 10
    million landmines there. We have to do something about that.
        But if we can deal with our differences, our cultural, racial,
    ethnic, religious differences, and deal with the organized criminal and
    the terrorists, then I think the 21st century will be the greatest time
    in all of human history.

    1996 Election

        Q. But, Mr. President, he meant you'll be reelected next year.
        The President. I hope he's right. [Laughter.] I let it pass, but I
    hope he's right.
        The main thing is that in a time of change, you can't predict the
    future. And you can't predict what will be popular next month, much less
    next year. The important thing is for us to say, ``Here's what we
    believe in; here's the future we're trying to achieve and the work to
    achieve it.'' And the elections will take care of themselves.

    Japan-U.S. Relations

        Q. Finally, we are running out of time so I'd like to ask you if
    there's anything else that you left out to tell the Japanese public?
        The President. I just want to say that I have been coming to Japan
    for many years, first as a Governor, then as President. I have enjoyed
    and been moved by every trip I have ever made there. Again, I personally
    regret that I cannot come now. But I'm doing the right thing for our
    country and for our relationships with Japan by staying here in this
    unprecedented moment. I will come as soon as I can.
        But the important thing is that the Japanese people must know that
    our partnership with Japan is secure and must grow stronger. We owe it
    to ourselves; we owe it to the rest of the world. It is the right thing
    to do, and I will do everything in my power to see that we achieve it.

    [[Page 1771]]

        Q. Mr. President, we'd like to thank you very much for joining us.
        The President. Thank you very much. Glad to see you.
        Q. Thank you.
        The President. Thank you.

    Note: The interview began at 12:30 p.m. in the Roosevelt Room at the
    White House.