[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book I)]
[April 17, 1996]
[Pages 585-591]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



The President's News Conference With Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto of 
Japan in Tokyo
April 17, 1996

    Prime Minister Hashimoto. Right in front of you, I and President 
Clinton signed two documents. One is the message to the peoples of Japan 
and the United States that lays down the direction in which the two 
countries should, together, proceed towards the 21st century. And the 
second is the Japan-U.S. Declaration on Security.
    The message to the peoples of Japan and the United States summarizes 
how important the Japan-U.S. bilateral relationships are for our peoples 
and how our two countries will cooperate on a future agenda by referring 
to the preciousness of democracy and freedom, bilateral cooperation on 
regional issues, cooperation for U.N. reform, and on disarmament and on 
our economic relations and how we shall cooperate with each other in 
these respects.
    The Japan-U.S. Declaration on Security reaffirms that the Japan-U.S. 
security setup will continue to play an important role, as in the past, 
in preserving security, peace, and stability in

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the Asia-Pacific, and notes that it will be the starting point for our 
bilateral cooperation into the future.
    Our meeting covered a wide ground: security, economic, and other 
bilateral issues, as well as various problems of the international 
community and the consolidation, realignment, and reduction of military 
facilities in Okinawa. Both Governments are making sincere efforts to 
reduce the burden on the Okinawa people by paying our utmost 
consideration to the feelings of the Okinawa people.
    We once again expressed our appreciation for the contents of the 
interim report of the Special Action Committee on Okinawa announced the 
day before yesterday and mutually confirmed that it will be important to 
ensure proper and expeditious implementation of the measures spelled out 
in that report, that both of us will continue to do our utmost to arrive 
at a final agreement in November of this year.
    On the Japan-U.S. economic relations, I explained that Japan current 
account surplus is on a declining trend and that the Government of Japan 
is working on economic structural reform, including deregulation. And I 
suggested that we engage in discussions on individual economic issues 
whenever necessary by building on our past track record.
    We'll also discuss the importance of Japan and the United States 
cooperating with each other to stand up against the threats to humankind 
and to the global community. We confirmed that, to that end, six new 
areas will be added to our cooperation on so-called Common Agenda, such 
as on antiterrorism initiative and on emerging and reemerging diseases, 
et cetera, and that we shall further foster such cooperation with the 
participation of the private sector and other countries.
    We also decided to study together a 21st century-type development 
that will be in harmony with nature. Within the little time we had, we 
also exchanged views on the situation in different parts of the world--
China, the Korean Peninsula, Russia, the Former Yugoslavia, the Middle 
East--and discussed our respective policy there, too.
    My candid impressions of the meeting today are that today's summit 
meeting was supported by very firm and large pillars and by a big roof, 
the large pillars being mutual understanding between the peoples of our 
two countries. And I put to the President my determination to create 
opportunities for many, many more American youths to visit Japan in the 
future so that these pillars will grow even larger.
    The big roof is the values that our two countries have shared 
together to date. Japan and the United States, both built on universal 
values of democracy, human rights, an open economy, among others, have 
mutually built a relationship that is indispensable for the future of 
the world.
    I will end on the note that the essence of the meeting today was the 
reaffirmation of this extremely important relationship. And I would like 
to yield to President now.
    President Clinton. Thank you, Prime Minister.
    Let me begin by thanking the Imperial Family and the Prime Minister 
for their hospitality to me and the First Lady and to all of our 
American delegation, and thanking the Japanese people for a wonderful 
welcome in this beautiful springtime.
    I'm here primarily to celebrate the extraordinary partnership 
between our two nations over the last 50 years and to strengthen our 
alliance to meet the demands of this time of exceptional change. The 
Prime Minister and I strongly agree that as two of the world's strongest 
democracies and leading economies, Japan and the United States have a 
special responsibility to lead.
    This is a moment of remarkable possibility for our people to make 
the most of their own lives, but it is also a moment of stern challenge. 
More and more, problems that start beyond our border can become problems 
within our borders. No one is immune to the threats posed by rogue 
states, by the spread of weapons of mass destruction, by terrorism, 
crime, and drug trafficking, by environmental decay and economic 
dislocation. But together we can turn these collective challenges into 
common solutions.
    For the past 3 years our two nations have been doing just that. Now 
when you look at the great diversity of our ties in security, in trade, 
in our Common Agenda partnership, the conclusion is clear: The 
relationship between the United States and Japan is better and stronger 
than ever.
    Our security alliance is key to maintaining a Pacific at peace, 
especially at this time of profound regional change. The security 
delegation--excuse me--the Security Declaration that the Prime Minister 
and I just signed is a result of more than one year's hard work and 
careful

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study. It strengthens our alliance for the 21st century.
    The United States will maintain our troop presence in Japan at about 
current levels. We will deepen our cooperation with Japan's self-defense 
forces, and we will reduce the burden of our bases on the Japanese 
people, and especially on the people of Okinawa, without diminishing our 
defense capability.
    Our trade relationship is also on the right track. That's good for 
all of our people. When I took office, there was real frustration in the 
United States about the difficulty we had selling our goods and services 
in the Japanese market. Since then, our two nations have signed 21 
separate trade agreements, covering everything from auto parts to 
medical supplies to computers. Our exports in those sectors are up 
dramatically, about 85 percent. That means in America more jobs and 
better pay and in Japan lower prices and greater choice.
    Free and fair trade is a win-win proposition. Now there is more work 
to be done, of course, in areas like insurance and semiconductors and 
film. None of it will be easy. But for the first time, I want everyone 
to be clear, we have established a process to resolve problems that do 
arise in a patient and pragmatic manner.
    The partnership between our countries is also making a real 
difference around the world. In Bosnia we have joined forces to help 
people rebuild their lives and their land. I want to thank Japan for the 
extraordinarily generous $500 million relief and reconstruction package 
that Japan has just announced. This is evidence of a powerful commitment 
to lead the world toward peace and freedom.
    The Prime Minister and I reviewed many other initiatives we are 
taking under our Common Agenda. We're working to wipe out polio by the 
year 2000. We're working to reduce the devastation of natural disasters 
through our earthquake disaster reduction effort, to protect the world's 
forests and oceans, to lift people's lives through advanced technology, 
to complete and sign a comprehensive test ban treaty this year, to bring 
the blessings of peace and freedom to more people than ever before.
    I also thank the Japanese Government for reaching out for greater 
educational and cultural exchanges with the American people, and I 
particularly appreciate the efforts the Prime Minister has made in this 
regard.
    In this time of challenge and change, the partnership between our 
two nations is more important to our people and to the world than ever. 
If we realize its full potential, that partnership can be a powerful 
force for progress and peace for our own people and all around the 
world.
    Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister.
    Prime Minister Hashimoto. Questions and answers. Those of you who 
have questions, please raise your hand.
    Yes, over there.

Japan-U.S. Security Arrangements

    Q. President Clinton and Prime Minister, we appreciate your work. 
The question for Prime Minister Hashimoto: You stated your candid 
impressions with regard to the meeting you just had. On individual 
issues, amidst the end of cold war, in this new relationship, situation 
here in the world, I believe one of your important themes was to 
reaffirm the importance of Japan-U.S. relationship, and I wonder--I 
think you reaffirmed that the guidelines for Japan-U.S. defense 
cooperation will be reviewed as well. But in this connection, I believe 
there will be a need for coordination of views between Japan and the 
United States with regard to the exercise of collective self-defense, 
which is a matter that could impinge on the Japanese Constitution. And I 
wonder how are you going to address that problem now, Mr. Prime 
Minister?
    Prime Minister Hashimoto. Last year we modified the national defense 
outline and came up with a new outline of national defense program in 
order to organize Japanese defense capabilities in accordance with the 
new prevailing international circumstances. And it goes without saying 
that since there have been changes that we have to engage in various 
studies in response to those changes.
    I truly believe that it is because of Japan-U.S. Security Treaty 
that for 51 years since our defeat in the Second World War, we have been 
able to lead peaceful lives, and we did not think much about a 
contingency situation. And in case that emergency arises--there might be 
a need to rescue Japanese in certain areas of emergency; we might also 
have to receive refugees--now, we were very fortunate; we didn't have to 
think about those contingencies. Today, however, we have to consider 
those possibilities and study what can be done, what cannot be done. We 
have to study these very clearly. I think

[[Page 588]]

there is a true need to engage in that sort of study.
    Now, there's a tendency for people to say that this is a matter of 
interpretation of the Constitution or a matter of emergency legislation 
and so on. People are bogged down in conceptual discussions. But I think 
there are certain things that we can do under the present Constitution, 
and I think it is our responsibility to make clear what can be done and 
what cannot be done.
    So I would like to appeal to people, taking advantage of this 
occasion, and in case a crisis really emerges, we have to make sure that 
the Japan-U.S. security setup will function properly and will be 
operated efficiently. And to that end, we also have to engage in studies 
as to what can be done and what cannot be done by Japan. That is how I 
really see it.
    Next question, please.

Middle East Peace Process

    Q. Terry Hunt, with the Associated Press. The Prime Minister said 
that you spoke about the Middle East. Mr. President, what can you tell 
us about U.S. efforts to broker a truce between Israel and the Hezbollah 
guerrillas? Are you making any progress? And who do you hold primarily 
responsible for this violence?
    President Clinton. Let's begin at the beginning. I think that 
clearly the truce was violated by Hezbollah violating the agreement that 
had previously been brokered in raining the Katyusha rockets into 
northern Israel. That was obviously what provoked this.
    Now having said that, I think it is important that we do everything 
we can to bring an end to the violence. And even though we're here in 
Japan and we are working on a very important issue here, we've been 
quite active in the Middle East. The Secretary of State has spent an 
enormous amount of time on this issue in the last several days, and we 
will do what we can to bring an end to the violence and to try to 
reestablish a workable agreement. But I have no progress to report on 
that at this time.

Taiwan

    Q. President Clinton, in the bilateral talks held earlier, have you 
touched any issues regarding the recent tension in the Taiwan Strait? 
Because in the declaration, we couldn't find anything like that had been 
mentioned. Since you emphasized that the security treaty is not only to 
protect Japan but also to protect the Asian-Pacific region, does it mean 
clearly that Taiwan is under such a protection? Thank you.
    President Clinton. Well, the Prime Minister might want to comment on 
this as well. But yes, we discussed Taiwan and China extensively, as 
well as the recent tension in the strait. It is obvious that our 
partnership is designed to try to preserve the peace for all peoples in 
this region. And I believe that I can say we both agree that, while the 
United States clearly observes the so-called one China policy, we also 
observe the other aspects of the agreement we made many years ago, which 
include a commitment on the part of both parties to resolve all their 
differences in a peaceable manner. And we have encouraged them to pursue 
that. Therefore, we were concerned about those actions in the Taiwan 
Strait.
    I do see some hope in the last few days that there is a return to a 
more orderly and peaceful relationship, and that is certainly what we 
are urging both the Chinese and the Taiwanese to do.
    Mr. Prime Minister, do you want to say anything?
    Prime Minister Hashimoto. When the situation across the Taiwan 
Straits became very tense, we asked both parties to exercise self-
restraint. And also, since the Japan-China declaration, we have 
supported the Chinese position that there is only one China. Having said 
that, we also believe that the two parties should resolve this problem 
in a peaceful manner.

Korean Peace Process and

U.S. Troops in Japan

    Q. I would like to ask a question of both of you. Before coming 
here, Mr. President, you visited Korea and suggested that four 
countries, U.S., China, Republic of Korea, and North Korea, engage in 
quadrilateral discussions for peace on the peninsula. In that 
quadrilateral discussions, I wonder how Japanese will participate in 
discussions. How would you see Japanese role in that process? And what 
sort of roles would Japan suggest to U.S., China, Korea, and North 
Korea?
    One other thing: In this joint declaration, you said clearly that 
the 100,000 troop level would be maintained in East Asia. But I believe 
you did not specifically refer to 47,000 in Japan. Of course, I believe 
looking at future peace

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in East Asia--would you believe that the 47,000 troop level in Japan is 
something that is fixed or something that you can be flexible on?
    President Clinton. Well, first of all, let me answer the second 
question first. We are committed to maintaining a constant level of 
troops in East Asia. How many troops we have on any given day and any 
given week in Japan or in Korea will vary from time to time, depending 
on what other things are going on in the world and in the area.
    But we believe we should maintain our participation at more or less 
the same levels here in Japan, and we believe we can honor our 
commitments that Secretary Perry and the Prime Minister have just 
announced, that the Prime Minister took such a leading role in trying 
to--in bringing about, with regard to Okinawa and on the other issues, 
and still keep about 47,000 people here.
    Now on the Korea issue, I want to make it clear that the proposal 
that we made was that these four nations would enter into the peace 
negotiations because the United States and China were parties to the 
armistice agreement in Korea 43 years ago. But it is obvious to 
everyone, I think, that there will never be a peace between the Korean 
people until they agree to the peace. Ultimately, I think that means 
that it will have to be supported by all the friends and neighbors of 
Korea that will have a large say in what kind of future any peaceful 
resolution would bring about.
    So I was very gratified when the Prime Minister expressed his 
support for the proposal that President Kim and I made yesterday. And I 
hope that others in the region will do so as well, and then I hope they 
will be a part of encouraging North and South Korea to make peace and 
discussing what might come about after it's over if they do make peace.
    Prime Minister Hashimoto. When I heard the announcement of that 
proposal, I was truly happy to learn the contents of that and the 
substance of that proposal against the background of the situation in 
the Korean Peninsula. For the four countries, including U.S. and China, 
to come to dialog without any preconditions I hope would lead to a true 
solution.
    And in that process, if Japan is asked, I believe Japan should play 
any role it can. Having said that, today there exist the two countries, 
North Korea and the Republic of Korea; there is a borderline between 
them. And the United States and China that participated at the time of 
the armistice agreement would participate in that discussions, but it is 
not for Japan to go out and say we want to do this, we want to do that. 
That is my view. But we should earnestly play the role that we are asked 
to play. Certainly, that is what we ought to do to help each other.

Terrorism

    Q. I'd like to ask a question with regard to the Common Agenda you 
have agreed to. You agreed to add new areas for bilateral cooperation, 
and I would like to invite comments by President Clinton and Prime 
Minister Hashimoto. Amongst the new areas, there is a counterterrorism 
initiative, and it calls for strengthened cooperation between Japan and 
the United States. As you know, in Japan last year there was an 
unprecedented large-scale terrorist incident, the Aum Shinrikyo 
incident, the nerve gas attack. Now, faced with these terrorist attacks, 
how would Japan and the United States actually try to, shall we say, 
cooperate and fall in step in countering these activities? Would FBI, 
CIA, and Japanese police authorities consider regular meetings, regular 
exchanges?
    President Clinton. Well of course, the details would have to be 
worked out, but let me just, if I could, sketch a framework that I would 
be thinking about.
    Nations like ours, as borders become more open, money and 
information are transferred in a millisecond all across the world, and 
we become more integrated, we become vulnerable to two kinds of 
terrorism: first of all, what you might call homegrown terrorism, what 
you experienced in the Japanese subway, what we experienced at Oklahoma 
City; secondly, terrorism that is generated or at least involves 
interests from beyond your borders, such as what we experienced at the 
World Trade Center in New York and a number of the proposed attacks that 
we were able to thwart.
    It is obvious to me that these kinds of attacks present a genuine 
threat not only to the lives of the innocent civilians who may be killed 
in them but to the whole idea of an open, civilized society in a global 
economy. Therefore, I think we ought to cooperate in two ways. First of 
all, there's a lot of information we ought to be sharing with regard to 
international terrorism, and there's a lot of work we can be doing 
together.

[[Page 590]]

    Secondly, we can learn a lot from each other about how to deal with 
homegrown terrorism, and even that may have an international aspect. Are 
people learning, for example, from the Internet how to make the same 
sort of trouble in the United States that was made in Japan with sarin 
gas? Isn't it a concern that anybody anywhere in the world can pull down 
off the Internet the information about how to build a bomb like the bomb 
that blew up the Federal building in Oklahoma City? How can we work 
together to learn from each other about how to prevent these things 
before they occur, when they're purely domestically driven, as well as 
sharing information and technology and law enforcement about the 
international terrorist networks that are out there?
    I predict to you that every great nation will have to face this for 
the next 20 years at least, and we just want to be on the cutting edge 
of showing that we can work together to save lives and to preserve 
freedom.
    Prime Minister Hashimoto. Well, if I could add a word to what the 
President has already said, we already have cooperation on the money-
laundering problems and narcotics trading. We already have cooperation 
in law enforcing. But how we publish these activities, please don't ask 
us to do that. But as in the case of law enforcement against money 
laundering, there are areas where cooperation is already underway. And 
of course, in terms of counterterrorism, I'm sure there are various ways 
we can engage in cooperation.

U.S. Troops in Japan

    Q. Paul Basken, with United Press International. Mr. President, Mr. 
Prime Minister, for both of you: The joint declaration you have just 
signed describes the U.S. military role in Japan as essential to 
protecting the security of Asia. How have you concluded the U.S. 
military is essential here, and what circumstances need to change either 
in Japan or elsewhere in Asia before U.S. troops can safely go home?
    President Clinton. Well, first of all, I believe that our presence 
is needed here as long as people have any fear at all that some 
countries might seek to dominate others or that Asia might become a 
battleground for any sort of security problem that would affect the 
freedom and independence and the safety of the people of Japan or our 
other allies in the area. When that time comes to an end I think will 
largely be for the people here to determine, although obviously we would 
want our views heard as well.
    One of the most gratifying things to me as President is that where 
we are involved in security partnerships, as we are in Asia, I believe 
that we are seen as a force of stability by our very presence there 
because of the capacity of our military and the fact that everyone knows 
we have no ulterior motive. That is, we seek no advantage; we seek to 
dominate no country; we seek to control no country; we seek to do 
nothing in any improper way with our military power. We are only here 
with our allies in Korea and Japan, obviously, and to serve as a source 
of security and stability to others throughout this region.
    And as long as there is any concern about that, I think we should be 
here, if the people here want us here. When that time is over, we will 
probably all know it, but I think that definition should flow primarily 
from the people who have been our allies over the decades and whose 
security we care so deeply about.
    Prime Minister Hashimoto. Let me pick up the thread where the 
President left it off and give my answer. The presence of the U.S. 
forces in this part of the world is welcome. We welcome their presence, 
and we believe that is serving the stability of Asia and the Pacific. 
And that is of the foremost importance.
    The cold war is over. The days of confrontation between East and 
West is over. And with the end of the cold war, true, large sources of 
confrontation has disappeared, but regional conflicts have increased for 
various reasons. We see numerous areas of instability around the globe, 
and in this part of the world there still remain large amount of weapons 
of mass destruction.
    Against that background, would it be possible for Japan alone to 
defend itself? To do that, a major effort will be required and also 
probably will not be able to lay to rest international concerns vis-a-
vis such Japanese endeavors. The United States is putting its presence 
in this area in the form of the American youth, and I believe it can be 
understood clearly how precious a presence they are for the security of 
this part of the world.

Japan-U.S. Security Arrangements

    Q. A question for the President. I believe the agreement law on 
security this time will

[[Page 591]]

mean a very major turning point for Japan-U.S. security, and I wonder if 
you have any comments to share with us.
    President Clinton. My view is that it will reinforce our community--
excuse me--our security relationship, not represent a turning point but 
a maturing of it. For example, when the Prime Minister asked us to 
consider the concerns of the people of Okinawa and I became acquainted 
with them as a result of some of the unfortunate incidents that you know 
well about, it bothered me that these matters had not been resolved 
before now, before this time. And again, I want to publicly say what I 
said to the Prime Minister last night: I want to thank him for giving 
the United States the opportunity to respond in an appropriate manner to 
try to resolve these matters. But we did it in a way that did not in any 
way undermine our own security or defense capabilities and, therefore, 
permits us to cooperate with Japan in whatever way may be necessary as 
challenges come along in the future and as Japan defines its own 
security agenda.
    So I don't see this as a dramatic departure. I see this as the 
relationship between two old friends maturing, dealing with things that 
needed to be dealt with, and adjusting to the challenges of the world 
that we now face.

Ebola Virus

    Q. Brian Williams, with NBC News. Mr. President, are you up to date 
on the apparent discovery of the Ebola virus in Texas? And what can the 
Federal Government do, I guess, via the CDC to make sure that no kind of 
scare develops from this?
    President Clinton. Yes, I have been briefed on it this morning. The 
CDC is on top of it. We are working with the Texas health officials. We 
believe, based on what we now know, that there is no substantial threat 
to the general population of the people there or the people of the 
United States generally.
    So I can say that I would urge people not to overreact to this. It's 
a serious matter; we are on top of it. If the facts change and we think 
there is something more to be concerned about, you may be sure we will 
inform the American people as soon as we can. But for now, I am 
confident that the Federal Government is taking appropriate action, and 
that we're on top of it, and there's nothing for the people to overreact 
to at this moment.
    Prime Minister Hashimoto. President Clinton, thank you very much. 
And with this, we conclude the press conference. Thank you very much for 
coming.

Note: The President's 119th news conference began at 1:45 p.m. at the 
Akasaka Palace. Prime Minister Hashimoto spoke in Japanese, and his 
remarks were translated by an interpreter.