10 January 2007
The PM welcomed Shinzo Abe to Downing Street, saying that the relationship between the two countries was a strong one, based on "shared values and international interests".
During the joint press conference, the PM also spoke about Saddam Hussein’s execution.
Parts of this transcript may have been edited
Read the Q and A transcript
PRIME MINISTER:
Right, good evening everyone and can I extend a very warm welcome indeed to the Prime Minister of Japan and say how pleased I am. This is our first meeting together with him in his new role as Prime Minister and I would like to begin by congratulating him on both the reform programme he is undertaking in Japan, but also the programme of change that he is articulating for Japan’s place in the world.
I know people will probably want to ask us about a whole range of different issues, but Japan is in fact today one of the most interesting places in the world, not just because its economy is now growing very strongly again, but also because in political terms Japan is emerging to take its proper place on the world stage. And I believe this is important for Japan, I think it is important for the wider world and it is important for stability, for security and for the things we want to achieve as a global community today.
Japan has been playing a crucial role, as you know, in the six party talks in respect of North Korea. At the recent NATO summit in Riga we agreed to have even closer cooperation with Japan as a partner. And Japan has of course played a vital role in Iraq where it has worked closely with British forces, and indeed in other parts of the world also. Japan is a crucial player in the negotiations on climate change, in world trade, its role in the Middle East is important, and of course will have the G8 Presidency next year.
So Japan for us is a crucial strategic partner and our trade and economic links with Japan are very well known and are familiar to most people in my country today, but the political links and the role of Japan in the world is becoming I think a major priority for us and for our foreign policy. For all of those reasons the membership of the United Nations Security Council of Japan is an important change in reform. I believe that the moment is right for this to happen and I said to the Prime Minister that I would work closely with him and with the Japanese government in doing our best to bring this about, but it is now much overdue.
So Prime Minister welcome here today. I know we signed a series of agreements also about cooperation in areas like science and technology, which are very important, but I think you have become the Prime Minister of Japan at a very interesting moment. Your vision for your country is absolutely right and as I say it is important I think that that vision is realised, not just for Japan and Japanese people but for the broader global community.
So welcome here, Sir, we are delighted to see you.
MR ABE:
Today I had a very meaningful meeting with Prime Minister Tony Blair. I am of the same generation as Prime Minister Blair, but he is a well experienced Prime Minister and I am very happy that I was able to have this meeting with you and have a very meaningful exchange of views with him.
Japan and the United Kingdom share the same values and also share the same objectives. As strategic partners we agreed that we shall further strengthen our cooperation and co-ordination and we have put together a joint statement that spells out the bilateral cooperation for the time being, which we decided to issue.
I explained that this morning the Japanese Defence Agency was upgraded to the Third Defence Ministry and this is a reflection of the self-confidence that the Japanese people have in civilian control and Japan’s democracy and we are able to show that to the entire world. We have upheld this democracy and freedom as well as basic human rights over the past six years and have acted on this and with self-confidence on this fact we need to make international contributions, and I stated to Prime Minister Blair that Japan has that responsibility today for the world and for our region. What should Japan do? And Japan needs to be more assertive in this respect. I believe Japan has to engage in what I would call assertive diplomacy and as part of that I was able to have this meeting with Prime Minister Blair and state my views to him, and he was kind enough to express his full support.
Prime Minister Blair is a man with abundant experience, years of experience, and I feel most encouraged by his words of support.
As for Japan’s Permanent Membership on the UN Security Council, again I expressed my appreciation for his support. We shall maintain close co-ordination, cooperation with Britain and Prime Minister Blair in working on the reform of the UN Security Council.
On North Korea-related issues again we saw eye to eye completely. In order to induce North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons we need to apply the necessary pressures and the international community need to cooperate with each other. And also on the abduction issue, in order to induce North Korea to resolve the abduction issues we need to make common approaches and also Prime Minister Blair expressed his strong support of … position. And we also exchanged views on the situation in East Asia. We also saw eye to eye that on the Iranian nuclear issue, climate change, development assistance and the Middle East we exchanged views, and we saw eye to eye on the need to further continue our cooperation in addressing these issues.
Britain has the UK-US alliance and Japan has the Japan-US alliance and as such believe it will be in the national interest of our two countries to further strengthen our bilateral relations, but also in the interests of international peace and prosperity.
QUESTION (Adam Boulton, Sky News):
Mr Blair, I wonder if I could ask you briefly why you have changed your mind and decided to pay for carbon offsets for your personal holidays? And more generally could I ask you both about the death penalty. Japan, I think it was on Christmas day, executed four murderers, of course a few days later Saddam Hussein was executed. Now what I would like to ask you is whether both of you think there is still a place for the death penalty in the 21st century, and in particular what your response was when you learned what had gone on in the execution chamber at the time Saddam Hussein was killed?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well you got two questions in there. Look first of all just on the issue of climate change and what we can do personally, there is a massive amount individuals can do. In this building we have energy efficient light bulbs now, we get all our sources of energy from renewable sources, we have been turning down the temperature, we do recycling on a very large scale. There are masses of things we can do personally. This country leads the world both in terms of the issue of climate change and also of course meeting our Kyoto targets on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. But I am not going to be in the situation of saying I am not going to take holidays abroad or use air travel, I mean it is just not practical. So.
In relation to the death penalty let me just say this. As you know the practice is different in the UK and Japan, but I don’t think that is really the issue here. As has been very obvious from the comments of other Ministers and indeed from my own official spokesman, the manner of the execution of Saddam was completely wrong, but that should not blind us to the crimes he committed against his own people, including the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqis, one million casualties in the Iran-Iraq war, and the use of chemical weapons against his own people, wiping out entire villages of people. So the crimes that Saddam committed does not excuse the manner of his execution, and the manner of his execution does not excuse the crimes. Now I think that is a perfectly sensible position that most people would reasonably accept.
MR ABE:
Well on capital punishment, we have the system of capital punishment, but in conducting that execution we have the most cautious deliberations before actually going for the execution, and each country has its own systems and through its own criminal punishment systems they deal with serious crimes. The most important thing is to create a world which is free of crime and each country conducts its own social programmes, social policy, to make a better society.
QUESTION:
A question related to North Korea. North Korea failed completely to show any sincerity to Japan on the abduction issue, it conducted a nuclear test last year and seems to be preparing for another one. What sort of concrete cooperation would you Prime Minister Abe ask from Britain for the resolution of these issues?
MR ABE:
Well unfortunately North Korea has not taken any response in good faith, and as such Japan has adopted its own sanctions vis a vis North Korea and also are imposing sanctions based on UN Security Council Resolution 1718. We need the international community to have a better understanding and engage in similar pressure against North Korea through a unified position. Today I explained to Prime Minister Blair the seriousness of the problems of the abduction issue to Prime Minister Blair and he expressed his full understanding of Japan’s position. And we also had British support with regard to the UN resolution on the North Korean human rights situation, and also in implementing Resolution 1718 and in getting an expeditious response from European countries on 1718 I believe we can have British co-operation.
PRIME MINISTER:
I would just like to say that we support fully the position of Japan on both issues in respect of North Korea. It is important that Resolution 1718 is implemented fully and properly. And in relation to the abductions, we support the position of Japan totally, we understand why it takes the position it does and we will give that support both bilaterally and also through the United Nations.
QUESTION (James Landau, BBC News):
Prime Minister, just going back to the execution of Saddam. Tonight the Iraqi government has confirmed that it rejected a request from the Americans to delay the execution. Was that a mistake? And secondly, how damaging has the manner of the execution been to the country?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well I can’t add a great deal to what I said earlier. The fact is that as everybody saw, the manner of the execution is unacceptable and it is wrong, but we should bear in mind and not allow that, while saying it is wrong, then to lurch into a position of forgetting the victims of Saddam, the people that he killed deliberately as an act of policy, hundreds of thousands of them in Iraq, the villages and towns that were wiped out by the use of chemical weapons deliberately as an act of government policy. So of course any sensible moderate person makes those points about the scenes that we have seen about the execution, but it should not be then translated into some sort of excuse for the crimes that he committed against his own people, of which you have heard testimony again today.
QUESTION:
A question for Prime Minister Abe. The Japanese and British cooperation for the reconstruction assistance for Iraq has been regarded highly internationally. However security on the ground in Iraq has deteriorated so much and that some suggest the country has already slipped into a state of civil war. What specifically do you intend to do in terms of Iraq policy and counter-terrorism?
MR ABE:
Well both our countries are co-operating, making efforts for Iraqi reconstruction. As you know, the Japanese defence forces completed their mission in Al Samarrah and have withdrawn, but we have enjoyed much cooperation with Britain and we owe our success of the mission to British support. So I would like to take this opportunity to express my appreciation to Prime Minister Blair and the people of Britain. Now indeed Iraq is faced with great difficulty today. I very much hope that they will overcome the difficulties related to national reconciliation and improving security on the ground and become a stable country. And I believe it is important for the international community to work together to continue support for Iraq. Japan will remain actively involved in the efforts for reconstruction such as the air … defence force, air lift, and continue to provide yen loans and work together with other countries concerned for the confirmation of the Iraq Compact. I believe it is important that through such support we achieve improvement of the situation on the ground. At the same time the international community should not abandon this region and I believe that such international cooperation is very important as well.
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