日本外相关于钓鱼岛问题接受采访英文

日本外相就钓鱼岛问题谈中日关系

Mr. Maehara: (The) Senkaku islands is a territory that is inherent to Japan. We have been effectively controlling the islands. However, near the end of World War II, the U.S. ruled the islands. When the Okinawa islands were reverted to Japan on May 15, 1972, so were the Senkaku islands. And in a certain article written and carried in the People's Daily in 1953 of China ... Senkaku-Okinawa was the phrase that was used. It didn't say Senkaku-China.

On top of it, China did not claim the islands up until the early 1970s. However, after finding out that in the seabed of the area there was a presence of natural gas and oil, the Chinese started claiming that. Thus our position is that in the East China Sea, there is no territorial issue there. At the same time, the area is a very good fishing ground. I had three

occasions of flying over the area using aircraft of Japan coast guard since I became a member of the Japanese Diet. If you fish outside of the territorial waters, you are allowed to do so. That is indeed permitted by the U.N. Convention of the Law of the Seas.

However, when it comes to the vessels that come into the territorial waters-this actually happens almost every day. The Japan coast guard ships drive them out of the territorial waters almost on a daily basis.

I have actually seen from the Japan coast guard aircraft as I was watching the situation on the sea the patrol vessel of Japan coast guard driving out the fishing vessels from China and Taiwan. Also these Japan coast guard vessels go to those fishing vessels and make an on-site inspection right there.

And why the (person) in question was arrested on the grounds of obstruction of public duty, the reasons are quite obvious. That is because the vessel that belonged to the skipper of the boat crashed to the - collided — into the Japan coast guard vessel, patrol vessel. Before assuming this current position I was a minister of land, transport,

infrastructure and tourism, which is in charge of Japan's coast guard. I actually took a look at the patrol vessel that was collided into by the Chinese vessel. I thought that if the scar were a little bit bigger the vessel would have sunk.

Q: How big was the scar?

A: I saw a very long scar on the side of the vessel. The hull itself is a void with respect to the structure. At the top I saw about a 50-centimeter hole. So if the seawater goes into it, the vessel would sink. So what was reported to me was that near the Senkaku islands they placed a vinyl sheet over the hole, taped it and did some other measures for emergency rectification before coming back.

At the beginning of the interrogation conducted by Japan's coast guard, the captain of the vessel did admit he intentionally collided with the Japan coast guard vessel. However, as the people at the Chinese consulate office have done many interviews, this person began saying that Senkaku islands were the territory of China so we were talking past each other after that.

日本外相就钓鱼岛问题谈中日关系

So what has happened is, first of all, investigation was made by Japan coast guard and the matter was referred to the prosecutor's office. Then the prosecutors did further

investigations. Based on Japanese laws, judgment was made. So it was not more than that, less than that.

It was the judgment that was made by the prosecutor's office and the matter was just left there undecided and the person in question was released. It is not a fact that there was any exchange. And therefore, the Senkaku islands are an inherent part of Japanese territory and we will continue to do patrol activities in the area. If there are any malicious acts identified, then based on Japanese laws, arrests will be made.

Q: Do you support the decision that was made to release the fisherman and will this make it harder to negotiate with China in the future?

A: The prosecutors made their decision based on Japanese laws, so I have nothing more to say than that. We would like to further strengthen mutually beneficial relations based on common strategic interests with China.

Q: Are you concerned as foreign minister about China becoming more aggressive militarily in the region? And do you think this will over time and even now propel you to strengthen and deepen ties with the United States to provide a check on what you view as an increasing threat from China?

A: The Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of Japan's foreign affairs. Just yesterday, U.S. President (Barack) Obama and (Japanese) Prime Minister Kan agreed to even deepen the bilateral relationship....

Also, (U.S. Secretary of State Hillary) Clinton said to me unequivocally that the Senkaku islands are within the scope of application of Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. security treaty. Also yesterday at the G8 foreign ministers meeting, the objective facts that I just shared with you is something that I explained to the G8 foreign ministers, as well as the high representative of the European Union. I believe my colleagues will understand what I explained yesterday and also this morning I talked with (Foreign) Secretary (William)

Hague of the U.K. and we agreed with each other as countries that share the same values including democracy and freedom, we would further strengthen our collaboration and cooperation.

Q: Could you be more specific? What specifically did you discuss in terms of deepening the relationship with the U.S.?

A: First of all, we have to properly implement the joint statement agreed upon between Japan and the United States on May 28. Yesterday, I talked with Secretary Clinton and in that conversation we said that over the last year our discussion tended to focus more on the Okinawa base issue. However, going forward, actually we agreed that we would have strategic dialogue by cooperating with each other more closely in talking abo …… 此处隐藏：6498字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……