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2009/08/11
Hatoyama holds press conference for overseas media, pledges to uphold three non-nuclear principles
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On August 11, DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama held a press conference for members of the foreign press corps in Japan at DPJ party headquarters, and answered questions regarding what the response to various issues would be should the DPJ take power.
At the start of the press conference, Hatoyama said, “In many democracies, changes of government frequently take place. A change of government itself is not our aim, but during the long period of LDP government, governance that does not protect the lives of the Japanese people has continued. We feel a sense of mission about the need to bring about a change of government. We would like to realise a mode of governance which does not leave everything up to the bureaucrats, but instead reflects the will of the people.”
The assembled foreign journalists posed a wide range of questions on such topics as relations with the US, China and the European Community, the right of permanent foreign residents in Japan to participate in local elections, and immigration policy. The number and variety of the questions suggested the heightened interest of the overseas media in the DPJ.
In response to a question on the three non-nuclear principles, Hatoyama said, “[While DPJ government continues] Japan will never possess nuclear weapons. We will uphold the three non-nuclear principles. I believe the three non-nuclear principles are a national policy stronger than legislation. When considering whether the three non-nuclear principles should be made into legislation, there is also the viewpoint that they are not appropriate material for legislation. We would like to consider this issue, including such opinions.”
Furthermore, when asked about Japan’s defence, Hatoyama replied, “We will adhere to a purely defensive defence policy” and added that with regard to relations with Asia, politics would be conducted in the spirit of the Murayama statement. He also expressed the opinion that relations with China would be able to progress more than has been possible under the current administration. With regard to relations with the United States, he said, “We would like to have a relationship in which we are able to make suggestions because we are an ally of the US, and not a relationship where we dispatch the Japan Self Defense Forces overseas having been told to do so by the US.” He said that he wanted to engage in achieving a progression in Japan-US relations, by resolving a whole variety of issues, while working to achieve a relationship of trust with US President Obama.
Furthermore, asked to explain the DPJ and its appeal, Hatoyama said, “The DPJ is a party that looks at things using ordinary people as a reference point, and from the viewpoint of ordinary people. The current administration looks at things from above, from the viewpoint of the bureaucracy. That is the biggest difference.” Regarding the kind of society the party wanted to create, he said, “We are aiming to shift from a country dominated by waste that leaves everything to the bureaucracy, and cold-hearted politics, to warm-hearted politics and a society of human ties. I call this [latter kind of society] a fraternal society.”
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