    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1997, Book I)]
    [June 19, 1997]
    [Pages 767-768]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Exchange With Reporters Prior to Discussions With Prime Minister Ryutaro
    Hashimoto of Japan in Denver, Colorado
    June 19, 1997

    Southern Baptist Boycott of Disney

        Q. Mr. President, are you going to abide by the Southern Baptist
    vote on boycotting Disney?
        President Clinton. No.

    Deregulation and Trade

        Q. Mr. President, the United States has been urging Japan for a
    number of years now to try to jump-start its domestic economy. Do you
    have any confidence that they're likely to be able to do so in a way
    that would actually improve their domestic economy----
        President Clinton. Well, if the Prime Minister's deregulation
    initiative works, I think it could spark a lot of domestic economic
    activity and also increase demand in a way that would improve life for
    Japanese consumers and also help----
        Q. Are you going to express displeasure about the trade imbalance
    figures that came out today?
        President Clinton. Well, I wish they weren't so high. But we're
    going to discuss that. But keep in mind we also have made an agreement
    today to involve the United States in the process with Japan to evaluate
    its deregulation initiatives in several areas in terms of how it might
    affect our bilateral relations. So we're moving in the right direction,
    and I'm hopeful we can make some progress.
        Q. Do you view it as----
        Prime Minister Hashimoto. If I may say one word here. About our
    question, if you look at the situation in the foreign exchange market,
    the market has been calm, very calm. This is the answer from my side.
        Q.  Prime Minister Hashimoto, U.S. officials told us that you had
    reached an agreement with the United States under which the United
    States would have an advisory role on deregulating certain of Japan's
    industries. Do you view it as, in any sense, a violation of Japan's
    economic sovereignty to give the United States such a role? And why did
    you not insist on parity, that is to say the Japanese have got a role in
    U.S. deregulation?
        Prime Minister Hashimoto.  It's not an advisory role. We have no
    intention of being supervised. Deregulation is a task that we have to
    embark upon for ourselves. We're friends, so we already discuss matters
    with the United States in that kind of process. We made a promise back
    in Washington, and yesterday we were able to reach an understanding to
    establish a framework for such a problem. So please have more confidence
    in the two of us.
        Q.  Thank you.

    [At this point, one group of reporters left the room, and another group
    entered.]

    China's Status in Future Economic Summits

        Q.  Mr. President, do you think that China should be a member of the
    summit in the future? If so, what conditions would be there?
        President Clinton.  Well, the short answer to that question is that
    these summits have always been summits of market-oriented democracies.
    And so it would require a whole redefinition of what this process is for
    a country that doesn't have democratically elected leaders to be part of
    it. What I do believe is that the United States and Japan should be
    working together to help to integrate China into the world's economic
    institutions and to build stable partnerships for peace and prosperity.
        Q.  Are you going to discuss with the other leaders or Prime
    Minister Hashimoto this position about China's joining?
        President Clinton.  The way we have this organized we will be able
    to discuss whatever we'd like, because we have at least one occasion,
    and to some extent, two, where we'll be able to sit around and bring up
    all of our concerns. So the Prime Minister has a lot of interesting
    things that he wants raised here.

    Russia-Japan Territory Dispute

        Q. What do you think about the territorial issue between Russia and
    Japan, and are you going to discuss about this issue with President
    Yeltsin?
        President Clinton. Yes, and I have discussed it on several occasions
    in the past, always urging Russia to try to resolve this matter with
    Japan. I believe it's very much in the interest of both Russia and Japan
    to resolve this matter and to build a strong partnership.

    [[Page 768]]

        The United States would feel much better about the future of the
    world knowing that Japan and Russia have the kind of partnership in the
    East that we have just tried to establish between Russia and Europe and
    the United States from NATO in the West. And obviously, there will have
    to be some plan for resolving this, but it will have to be worked out by
    the Prime Minister and President Yeltsin. But I have raised it before on
    several occasions.
        Q. Would you nominate--[inaudible]--to the Ambassador to Japan soon,
    or discuss with the Prime Minister?
        President Clinton. Yes, I hope to do that.
        Q. Next week?
        President Clinton. I don't know.
        Prime Minister Hashimoto. I'm grateful to all the questioning,
    because you have finished most of the topics that I was going to raise
    with the President. [Laughter] But in order to preserve his honor, of
    course, I have to add something. The President has been raising the
    issue with President Yeltsin, with the Russians on many occasions about
    the existence of the territorial issue and the urgent need for solving
    this issue between Japan and Russia. And of course, I sincerely hope
    that I can get support not only from the President of the United States
    but also from the other leaders participating in the summit. And I'd
    like to ask for cooperation from President Clinton on that account, too.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The exchange began at 3:45 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency/Tech Center.
    In his remarks, the President referred to President Boris Yeltsin of
    Russia. Prime Minister Hashimoto spoke in Japanese, and his remarks were
    translated by an interpreter. A tape was not available for verification
    of the content of this exchange.