U.S. Relations with the People's Republic of China (2005)

U.S.-Japan Relationship Remains Strong, State's Burns Says

But frustration continues over Japan's restrictions on U.S. beef imports

Following is the State Department transcript of Burns' remarks:

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PRESS CONFERENCE
State's Burns Gives Press Conference in Tokyo
Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs R. Nicholas Burns
Tokyo, Japan
October 24, 2005

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QUESTION: I'm Ms. Sugiura from Sankei newspaper. What I'd like to ask you is about the relocation of the Futenma air base, [as well as about] the relocation issue of the Futenma airport. This reduction plan of the Henoko shores, there are many other ideas too. Do you think it is possible to resolve the issue before the visit of President Bush? Another problem is the increase of the military budget of China. Secretary Rumsfeld visited China and expressed his concern. Did you also talk about the China issue in your talk this time?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Thank you very much for your question. I think the less said of the specifics of the negotiations between Japan and the United States, the better. Of course, the issue that you referred to is on the table, but these are decisions that the Japanese government has to make in concert with the U.S. And again, as I said, yes, we would hope that these issues could be resolved before President Bush visits Kyoto in just a couple of weeks time. We would expect that would be the case, but there's still some remaining hard work that needs to be done. And so, we'll have to wait and see if we can conclude these talks as quickly as possible. Concerning China, we had very good discussions about the region, about the Asia-Pacific region. And of course, I made the point that the United States intends to retain its military presence in the region: our naval and air forces, our ground forces; we will maintain our treaty commitments that we've had to Japan, and to South Korea, and to Australia and our other allies and partners in the region. We are very much involved in this region, the United States, through APEC, and through the ASEAN Regional Forum, and through the strong bilateral relationships we've had with all the countries I mentioned, including Indonesia.

And I think we've made our views clearly known on China. We seek, too, a good relationship with China, not a confrontational relationship. We seek a policy of engagement with China. We hope very much that China will take up its responsibilities in this region and work with us and with Japan, Australia, Indonesia, and the other countries, for continued peace and continued security. China played a very useful role in the six-party talks and was very helpful in fashioning the agreement that was produced on September 19. There are other areas where the United States and China might not always agree - we have our economic differences in terms of trade - but on the larger questions, I know, Secretary Rumsfeld did raise some questions about the nature of the Chinese military buildup, about the high levels of Chinese military spending, and he simply asked those questions. And so now China can respond to those questions that the Secretary asked. But the United States considers the Asia-Pacific region to be a region of vital concern for our country and for our future security. As I said, we will continue to see a robust, very vigorous American diplomatic presence here, and military presence here in this region. There are many countries that rely on us to be a partner in security, and we will honor all the commitments we've made. And Americans in general understand the great importance of this region to our economic livelihood and to our security as we look at the challenges ahead of us over the next generation.

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QUESTION: Steve Herman, VOA News. Getting back to China for a second, I'm wondering if any discussions came up about the recent aggressive actions by the Chinese in the East China Sea. They've put a flotilla out there near the Japanese EEZ. According to Japanese sources, they've even locked on with their radar to Japanese military aircraft, and they've been coming into the area. How do you perceive this threat, and is this part of the discussion with the trilats or the bilats you've been having?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Thank you. We're of course aware of the situation that you spoke about. And while I don't want to get into the details publicly - you'll understand why - we hope and trust in situations like this there is going to be forbearance on the part of the Chinese authorities and that they'll agree to work out any differences with Japan, and sometimes in the case with other countries, in a peaceful and non-threatening way. We did not actually discuss this in these talks. I did not raise it, and my Japanese counterparts did not raise it. But I think you know of our strong support for reason and for the non-use of force in for non-threatening behavior on the part of all parties in situations like this.

QUESTION: Sunohara with Nikkei Newspaper. As you know, we are facing a worsening bilateral relationship between Japan and China, and Japan and South Korea because of Mr. Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine. And we have so many issues, including North Korea, in this region, it's much better for us to have better relationships with China and South Korea: not only for Japan but also for the United States, it's much better to see better relationships between those countries. Having said that, I'm just curious to know how you could describe the U.S. position in this regard. You are positive or negative or neutral about Mr. Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Thank you very much. This issue was discussed, as you can imagine, given the prominence of the issue in the news. It's our strong hope that - I believe Ambassador Schieffer said this publicly last week - it's our strong hope that Japan and China and the other countries in the region can discuss these problems and move forward. It is in the interests of the United States that Japan have good relations with China and with South Korea and other countries. And it's always good to have dialogue about these issues. It's good to have reasoned debate about these issues. And we hope very much that any misunderstandings can be resolved and that the countries of the region can look forward as well. We have so much that we have to accomplish in this region to maintain peace and security and good relations among countries. That is certainly the view of the United States: that we should have forward-looking relations in this region.

QUESTION: James Kitfield of National Journal Magazine. Good to see you, Mr. Under Secretary. With the trilaterals, with our discussions with Japan about taking a larger strategic role in this region for stability, you get the sense that we've made the decision or looked at the situation with China and said that our alliance relationships in this region need some reinvigorating. I wonder if you would talk about that? Are the alliance structures - I was just in Korea with Mr. Rumsfeld - and you got the sense there also that the Americans are sort of saying that the alliance structures need reinvigorating, that we're facing sort of a new, challenging environment; and we need to look at these anew, and strengthen some, etc. Could you sort of talk about the whole strategic view there?

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: Sure. James, thank you for that question. There's no question that in Washington we see our alliances in this region as fundamentally important to our future security. And if anything, we believe that the Asia-Pacific region is going to be more important to the United States in the years ahead, even than it has been in the past. And so we very much value our alliances. I don't think there's a need to restructure them. There's no need to somehow rethink them, because they have served us very well for the last several decades, and we are certain they will serve us well for the future as well.

It begins with our alliance with Japan. It is the cornerstone of America's security relationship in the Asia-Pacific region. A U.S.-Japan defense relationship, security, political, economic relationship - the overall alliance - is essential to peace and security in the region. And so we begin there. And that relationship and that alliance are very strong. And you'll see when the president comes to Kyoto, that we act to reinforce that alliance and to continue to value it. The U.S.-Australia relationship is also fundamental to the American position here and American interests. Our relationship with South Korea, of course; our relations with Thailand and with Singapore and with the Philippines and Indonesia - I could mention many other countries. I think there is an increased understanding that in the next several decades, the United States is going to have to remain fundamentally involved here. And so we don't anticipate any major change in direction. American troops will continue to be deployed in this region. America's military strength in this region will remain undiminished. Certainly in terms of our diplomatic strategy, I think you'll see more attention paid to this region, and you'll see that in the visits of our president and our of secretary of state in November and again in early 2006. And you'll see it in what we do to strengthen our relationship with Indonesia and to work with the very good government there on all of its challenges. We think we've made some progress in the six-party talks. Now we need to see that progress confirmed in the way that North Korea meets its obligations, but that's certainly been an area of intense activity for our government, specifically Secretary Rice and Assistant Secretary Hill, over the last couple of months.

So as we look at our worldwide global interests, they start here in the Asia-Pacific region, and they are built on these alliances that we created after the Second World War. They're still serving as well. We take this opportunity - President Bush will, certainly; and I at my level have done so over the last two days - just to thank the Japanese government for the relationship that we've had, and to commit to them that we will continue to be their friend and ally.

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