安倍上次訪美，穿到小鞋。歐巴馬兩度訪日，首次向日皇鞠躬（算是生手），二次未完成TPP，平成天皇伉儷為此親自到歐巴馬下榻飯店送行賠罪。
這次，美國在70週年作足面子給日本。
Remarks by President
2015/04/28 12:10 P.M. EDT
This is the essence of the alliance between the United States and Japan --
an alliance that holds lessons for the world.
Prime Minister Abe
and I had the opportunity yesterday to visit our memorial to President Lincoln , who believed
that a great conflict had to be followed with reconciliation. Shinzo,
on behalf of the American people, I want to thank you for your visit to Arlington
National Cemetery. Your gesture is a powerful reminder that the past
can be overcome, former adversaries can become the closest of allies, and that nations
can build a future together.
Across seven decades, our nations have become not just allies, but true partners
and friends. And that mutual affection will be on display tomorrow
when Shinzo becomes the first Japanese Prime Minister to address a joint meeting
of Congress. And we are two global partners that stand together
for security and human dignity around the world -- opposing Russia’s aggression
against Ukraine, providing relief to innocent civilians threatened by ISIL, combating
Ebola and promoting global health, and now offering help to the people of Nepal,
who are in our prayers today.
This friendship includes my partnership with Prime
Minister Abe . Since taking
office, I’ve worked to rebalance American foreign policy to ensure that we’re playing
a larger and lasting role in the Asia Pacific -- a policy grounded in our treaty
alliances, including our treaty with Japan.
And I’m grateful to Shinzo for his
deep commitment to that alliance. He is pursuing a vision of Japan where the Japanese
economy is reinvigorated and where Japan makes greater contributions to security
and peace in the region and around the world.
So, Shinzo, thank you. I believe
the progress we’ve made today will help to guide the U.S.-Japanese partnership for
decades to come.
Specifically, we first talked about transforming our security alliance. For the
first time in nearly two decades, we’ve updated the guidelines for our defense cooperation. Together,
our forces will be more flexible and better prepared to cooperate on a range of
challenges, from maritime security to disaster response. Our forces
will plan, train and operate even more closely.
We’ll expand our cooperation, including
on cyber threats and in space. And Japan will take on greater roles and responsibilities
in the Asia Pacific and around the world.
Our new guidelines complement our effort to realign U.S. forces across the region, including on Okinawa,
in order to lessen the impact of our bases on local communities. And I reaffirmed
our commitment to move forward with the relocation of Marines from Okinawa to Guam.
I want to reiterate that our treaty commitment to Japan’s security is absolute,
and that Article 5 covers all territories under Japan’s administration, including
Senkaku Islands. We share a concern about China’s land reclamation
and construction activities in the South China Sea, and the United States and Japan
are united in our commitment to freedom of navigation, respect for international
law, and the peaceful resolution of disputes without coercion.
We also remain united in pursuit of peaceful denuclearization of the Korean
Peninsula and addressing North Korean provocations. We fully
support Japan’s efforts to resolve the tragedy of North Korea’s abduction of Japanese
citizens. During my last visit to Japan, I met with the mother
of one of those abductees and she described the awful pain that she has endured,
so I know how important this is to the Japanese people. Meanwhile,
our growing trilateral cooperation -- with the Republic of Korea, as well as with
Australia -- gives us new opportunities to enhance security across the region.
With respect to trade, we reviewed the progress our teams have made towards
the Trans-Pacific Partnership. I know that the politics around trade can be hard
in both our countries. But I know that Prime
Minister Abe , like me, is deeply committed
to getting this done, and I’m confident we will. I often
point out, for example, that there are many Japanese cars in America. I want
to see more American cars in Japan, as well.
TPP will help level the playing field. It will
be good for the workers of both our countries.
And moreover, TPP will have strong protections for workers and the environment
and help us set high standards for trade in the 21st century. Japan and
the United States both operate with high standards in our companies and our corporations. We try
to be responsible when it comes to corporate citizenship. And high
standards will be good for us and good for the region.
Based on the progress we've made, Prime Minister Abe and I discussed how
the United States and Japan, as the two largest economies in the TPP negotiations,
will now work together to lead our TPP partners to swift and successful conclusions
of the broader negotiations.
We also agreed to continue our close coordination on climate change. As the
two countries that have made the largest pledges to the Green Climate Fund, we’re
committed to helping nations around the world seize the opportunities of transitioning
to low-carbon economies. And we discussed the importance of all major economies
submitting ambitious targets to reduce emissions so we can reach a strong climate
agreement this year in Paris .
And finally, we agreed to keep investing in our people so that they and our
countries can reach their full potential.
I want to once again commend the Prime
Minister for his efforts to bring more Japanese women into the workforce. I can tell
you it is very much my view here in the United States and around the world that
when women are given opportunity, when they are full-fledged members of the political
community and the economic community, when they have opportunity, those countries
succeed. It’s good for everybody.
Along with the initiative we launched last year in Tokyo, we’re also aiming
to double student exchanges in the coming years. And with
the leadership of our better halves -- our wives -- the United States and Japan
are helping to lead our global initiative, Let Girls Learn, to give more young women
and girls access to education.
So these are just some examples of what it means to be true global partners. And I’m
confident that with the steps that we’ve taken today, our alliance will play an
even greater role in upholding security, prosperity and human dignity -- not just
in the Asia Pacific, but around the world.
So, Prime Minister Abe ,
arigato gozaimasu. Mr. Prime
Minister.
Walking together with you at the Lincoln Memorial, which has witnessed America
tread the path of democracy, will be an extraordinary memory to be cherished. We have
a dream -- that is to create a world abound in peace and prosperity. To realize
this common dream, Japan and the United States will together pave the way towards
a new era.
I was able to confirm this strong resolve with President
Obama in this milestone year of 70
years after the war. Today, we turned a new page in the history of the
U.S.-Japan alliance, which exceeds half a century. This is
a Japan-U.S. alliance within the context
of the world. Japan and the United States are partners who share
basic values, such as freedom, democracy, and basic human rights, and the rule of
law. The U.S.-Japan alliance characterized by the firmness
of its bond is now indispensable to the peace and stability of not only the Asia
Pacific but to the world.
We are united in our resoluteness in opposing unilateral attempts to change
the status quo in whatever form. Any dispute should be resolved peacefully based
on international law and not through coercion or intimidation. Japan welcomes
the United States policy of rebalancing, which emphasizes the Asia Pacific. And President Obama has expressed
his support for Japan’s principle of proactive contribution to peace. Through
coordination of these two policies, the deterrence of our alliance will no doubt
be further strengthened.
Against this backdrop, we have reaffirmed our resolve to steadily move forward
with the realignment of the U.S. forces in
Japan. The dangers arising from the Futenma Air Station
being surrounded by housing and schools should be eliminated by relocation to Henoko
as soon as possible. We will move forward with mitigating the impact
of the base in Okinawa, founded on a strong relationship of trust between Japan
and the United States. It is prosperity that brings peace. These beliefs
make us eager to see the early conclusion of the TPP.
On the bilateral outstanding issues, we welcome the fact that significant
progress was made. We will continue to cooperate to lead the TPP talks
through its last phase. We’ve confirmed that we would work together for
the early and successful conclusion of the talks.
In addition, with regard to the situation in East Asia, abduction by North
Korea, nuclear missile issues, the situation in the Ukraine, the nuclear issue in
Iran, and the threat of terrorism; furthermore, climate change, infectious and communicable
diseases, the U.N. Security Council reform
-- the world has a multitude of issues facing it. And on
these all sorts of issues, we have had a frank and candid exchange of views and
we agreed that we would cooperate.
When it comes to the future of Japan and the United States, there are infinite
possibilities -- energy, infrastructure, science and technology, space, and, in
addition to this, the empowerment of women.
We agree that is between President Obama and myself
that we would cooperate and move forward in making investments for the future.
I would like to express my due heartfelt respect once again to President Obama and the citizens
of the United States who have committed to take on the multitude of challenges of
this world and for the unstinting efforts that you are making for the benefit of
the peoples of the world.
Yesterday, I visited the JFK Library in Boston. On television,
I saw President Kennedy
deliver his inauguration speech; it deeply resonated with me and it still has a
lingering effect. I recall the following quote: “My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what
America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of mankind.”
Now, Japan wants to be a country that can respond to such calls. Hand in
hand, we want to work together with the United States to spread basic values throughout
the world such as those of freedom, democracy, basic human rights and the rule of
law. And we want to be a country that can contribute
to peace and prosperity of the world.
In visiting the United States, I’ve had a very heartwarming welcome and reception
by all citizens of the United States. I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude.
Lastly, I’d like to emphasize the following. Barack,
as we stand here, we will be starting a new era for Japan and the United States. I think
that 70 years from now, our children and grandchildren will look back on the talks
we had as one of such historical significance.
Thank you very much.
Q Thank
you very much, Mr. President. First of
all, I wanted to know if you think there’s a risk in this more assertive U.S.-Japanese
security stands -- if you think there’s a risk that it might be seen as a provocation
in Beijing, Pyongyang, or heightened tension in the East China and South China Seas.
And for Mr.
Abe, if I may -- you stopped short of a full apology for Japan’s actions
during World War II, including with regard the estimated 200,000 women enslaved
by Imperial Forces. Would you make an apology for that today? Thank you.
The basic foundation of peace, stability, ensuring that territorial borders
were respected, freedom of navigation -- all that has underwritten the incredible
growth that’s taken place in the Asia Pacific region. China has
benefitted from it. It’s on that basis that China became an economic
juggernaut that ended up being incorporated into global trade.
And so, no, we don’t think that a strong U.S.-Japan alliance should be seen
as a provocation. It should be seen as a continuation of the important
work that we’ve done to ensure that you have a stable area where there are diplomatic
conflicts, a healthy economic competition.
But, largely, we’ve been able to maintain
forward progress for a whole host of nations, and our treaty alliances have been
critical to that. The U.S.
serving as an Asia Pacific power has been critical to that.
And as I’ve said before, we welcome China’s peaceful rise. We think
it’s good not only because China is a booming potential market. We think
it’s good not only because it allows China potentially to share some burdens with
us in helping countries that are not as far along develop. But we
think it’s just good that hundreds of millions of Chinese citizens have been able
to rise out of poverty at incredible speed over the last several years. They could
not have done that had it not been for a stable trading system and world order that
is underwritten in large part by the work that our alliances do.
I think it is going to be important for us to continue to adapt to new challenges. So part
of the goal here is that the same principles that the alliance was founded on continually
update to concerns about cyber threats; that we are nimble and responsive to potential
conflicts that may arise because of maritime disputes. But I think
we have to do it in a way that brings China and other countries into a common effort
to maintain order and peace in the region.
And we are seeking to strengthen military-to-military cooperation with China
even as we continue to upgrade our alliance efforts. Obviously,
the Republic of Korea is a critical part of our alliance structure, as well. And the
trilateral work that we do is going to be also very, very important.
I don't want to minimize, though, the fact that there are some real tensions
that have arisen with China around its approach to maritime issues and its claims. But that's
not an issue that is arising as a consequence of the U.S.-Japan alliance. It’s primarily
a conflict between China and various claimants throughout East Asia and Southeast
Asia in which they feel that rather than resolve these issues through normal international
dispute settlements, they are flexing their muscles.
And we’ve said to China what we would say to any country in that circumstance: That's the wrong way to go about it. And we
will continue to work with all countries in the region, starting with our treaty
allies, to make sure that basic international norms continue to be observed.
Throughout the history of the 20th century, women’s dignity and basic human
rights had often been infringed upon during wars. We intend
to make the 21st century a world with no human rights violations against women.
I promised at the General Assembly of the United Nations last year that Japan
would stand at the fore and lead the international community in eliminating sexual
violence during conflicts. For an international framework, including the U.N. Women, Japan provided approximately $12 million
in 2014 and decided that it would provide approximately $22 million in 2015.
In any case, the 21st century should be an age where women’s rights is never
infringed upon. And that is our strong resolve.
Q (As interpreted.) Thank you very much. I’m from
NHK. I’d like to address this question to Prime Minister
Abe and President Obama .
In the East China Sea and in the South
China Sea, China continues to make forays into the oceans. And the
Islamic State is still very active. How does the United States and Japan intend to
collaborate?
And what do you expect of each other in terms of
actions taken by the respective countries?
In Japan, with regard to the acceptance of exercise of collective self-defense
and the new guidelines, there is a strong concern that Japan will become involved
in America’s wars. How does Prime Minister
Abe intend to dispel those fears? And what is President
Obama ’s take on these concerns?
With the rise of extremism, there are refugees and support to these refugees. And also,
through the influx of refugees, there are countries who are faced with difficulties. To these
countries, it’s important that we provide support appropriately. And to
the moderate countries, we need to tell them that they are not alone, they are not
isolated in the international society. The moderate countries should be supported, and
we need to express that at all times. I believe that is important.
In the Middle East, there are people who are living there; improving the
welfare and livelihood of these people are areas in which we’d like to make efforts. From such
a standpoint, the United States and Japan would like to cooperate to respond to
the challenges.
Another point. The defense guidelines and with regard to the security
legislation that we may be involved, get caught up in wars -- people tend to label
this in some cases. It’s very unfortunate. Labeling
activities of this kind is not the first time it has occurred. In 1960,
when we revised the security treaty, some people said that we would be involved
in wars of the United States, and that was the core of the criticism which was aired
then.
It's been 55 years since then. This criticism has been proved totally wrong, and
that is very clear and evident. History has proved this. Our choice
made at the time to revise the security treaty.
And in case Japan suffers from aggression
between Japan and the United States, we would respond through cooperation.
And in the Far East, to maintain security, Japan’s facilities would be leveraged
and U.S. military would leverage these facilities
to conduct activities. Through such activities, Japan’s safety was protected
and prosperity happened, and safety in the Asia Pacific has been maintained.
To further strengthen this trend, it is provided for through the new guidelines,
and seamless response is made possible. And by so doing, the deterrence would be enhanced. The Japan-U.S. alliance would be more efficient and more functional. Deterrence
and response capabilities would be heighted as a result. And this
would lead to peace and prosperity of Japan, and regional peace and prosperity as
well. This is my firm conviction.
In the streamlining of the laws, I should like to explain to the citizens
-- and the Parliament -- in a detailed fashion.
And what the new defense guidelines, and the collective defense approach
that Prime Minister Abe
is proposing, it simply upgrades our ability to carry out those core functions. We do share,
as people in countries all around the world share, a determination to eliminate
the kind of barbaric terrorist acts perpetrated by organizations like ISIL that
have resulted in the death of innocent citizens from the United States, from Japan,
from other countries and, most of all, from Muslim countries.
And that’s why we have a broad-based coalition designed to defeat ISIL. And we
will continue to work with a wide range of countries around the world in our counterterrorism
efforts.
Japan’s cooperation in that is vital and appreciated, but there are many
ways in which coalition members participate.
Japan’s willingness and commitment
to provide humanitarian assistance makes an enormous difference in countries that
have been destabilized. Japan’s willingness to serve in areas of peacekeeping
and working with other countries to rebuild after they’ve been destroyed makes a
big difference.
So I think it's important to recognize we do not expect some instant and
major transformation in terms of how Japan projects military power, but we do expect
that Japan, like all of our allies and like ourselves, will continue to adapt to
new threats, understanding that our basic core principle is not territorial ambition,
it's not aggression towards others, but it is simply to defend prosperity and liberty
and the sovereignty of countries, as we have done for a very long time now -- as
we have done together for a very long time.
Q Thank
you, Mr. President. As you
know, the National Guard is now on the streets of Baltimore
-- the latest aftermath in a series of what have been high-profile confrontations
between black men and police officers. And there seems to be growing frustration among
African American leaders that not enough is being done quickly enough. Marc Morial
Are we in the throes of a national crisis? What are you prepared to do about it, both in
terms of Baltimore and the larger picture? And what do you say to critics who say that since
the death of Trayvon
Martin
And to Prime Minister Abe , how important is a Pacific trade deal
to keeping the influence of China in check, both economically and militarily? And do you agree with President
Obama when he says that failing to
complete a deal will simply further China’s influence? Thank you.
PRESIDENT OBAMA : Before I
answer the question about Baltimore , I’m going to horn
in on your question to Prime Minister Abe .
I’ve been very clear that TPP is good for American businesses and American
workers, regardless of what China is doing.
And we will make the case on the merits
as to why it will open up markets for American goods, American exports, and create
American jobs. So this is not simply a defensive agreement, this
is something that is going to be part and parcel of our broader economic agenda
moving forward. And when 95 percent of the world’s markets are
outside our shores, we’ve got to make sure that we’re out there competing. And I’m
confident we can compete.
With respect to Baltimore , let me make a couple
of points. First, obviously our thoughts continue to be with
the family of Freddie
Gray
Second, my thoughts are with the police officers who were injured in last
night’s disturbances. It underscores that that’s a tough job and we have
to keep that in mind, and my hope is that they can heal and get back to work as
soon as possible.
Point number three, there’s no excuse for the kind of violence that we saw
yesterday. It is counterproductive. When individuals
get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting, they’re
not making a statement -- they’re stealing.
When they burn down a building, they’re
committing arson. And they’re destroying and undermining businesses
and opportunities in their own communities that rob jobs and opportunity from people
in that area.
So it is entirely appropriate that the mayor of Baltimore ,
who I spoke to yesterday, and the governor, who I spoke to yesterday, work to stop
that kind of senseless violence and destruction. That is
not a protest. That is not a statement. It’s people
-- a handful of people taking advantage of a situation for their own purposes, and
they need to be treated as criminals.
Point number four, the violence that happened yesterday distracted from the
fact that you had seen multiple days of peaceful protests that were focused on entirely
legitimate concerns of these communities in Baltimore ,
led by clergy and community leaders. And they were constructive and they were thoughtful,
and frankly, didn’t get that much attention.
And one burning building will be looped
on television over and over and over again, and the thousands of demonstrators who
did it the right way I think have been lost in the discussion.
The overwhelming majority of the community in Baltimore
I think have handled this appropriately, expressing real concern and outrage over
the possibility that our laws were not applied evenly in the case of Mr. Gray ,
and that accountability needs to exist. And I think we have to give them credit. My understanding
is, is you’ve got some of the same organizers now going back into these communities
to try to clean up in the aftermath of a handful of criminals and thugs who tore
up the place. What they were doing, what those community leaders
and clergy and others were doing, that is a statement. That’s
the kind of organizing that needs to take place if we’re going to tackle this problem. And they
deserve credit for it, and we should be lifting them up.
Point number five -- and I’ve got six, because this is important. Since Ferguson,
and the task force that we put together, we have seen too many instances of what
appears to be police officers interacting with individuals -- primarily African
American, often poor -- in ways that have raised troubling questions. And it
comes up, it seems like, once a week now, or once every couple of weeks. And so
I think it’s pretty understandable why the leaders of civil rights organizations
but, more importantly, moms and dads across the country, might start saying this
is a crisis. What I’d say is this has been a slow-rolling crisis. This has
been going on for a long time. This is not new, and we shouldn’t pretend that
it’s new.
The good news is, is that perhaps there’s some newfound awareness because
of social media and video cameras and so forth that there are problems and challenges
when it comes to how policing and our laws are applied in certain communities, and
we have to pay attention to it and respond.
What’s also good news is the task force that was made up of law enforcement
and community activists that we brought together here in the White House have come
up with very constructive concrete proposals that, if adopted by local communities
and by states and by counties, by law enforcement generally, would make a difference. It wouldn’t
solve every problem, but would make a concrete difference in rebuilding trust and
making sure that the overwhelming majority of effective, honest and fair law enforcement
officers, that they're able to do their job better because it will weed out or retrain
or put a stop to those handful who may be not doing what they're supposed to be
doing.
Now, the challenge for us as the federal government is, is that we don't
run these police forces. I can't federalize every police force in the country
and force them to retrain. But what I can do is to start working with them
collaboratively so that they can begin this process of change themselves.
And coming out of the task force that we put together, we're now working
with local communities. The Department of Justice has just announced a
grant program for those jurisdictions that want to purchase body cameras. We are
going to be issuing grants for those jurisdictions that are prepared to start trying
to implement some of the new training and data collection and other things that
can make a difference. And we're going to keep on working with those local
jurisdictions so that they can begin to make the changes that are necessary.
I think it’s going to be important for organizations like the Fraternal Order
of Police and other police unions and organization to acknowledge that this is not
good for police. We have to own up to the fact that occasionally
there are going to be problems here, just as there are in every other occupation. There are
some bad politicians who are corrupt. There are folks in the business community or on
Wall Street who don't do the right thing.
Well, there’s some police who aren’t
doing the right thing. And rather than close ranks, what we’ve seen is
a number of thoughtful police chiefs and commissioners and others recognize they
got to get their arms around this thing and work together with the community to
solve the problem. And we're committed to facilitating that process.
So the heads of our COPS agency that helps with community policing, they're
already out in Baltimore . Our Assistant
Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division is already out in Baltimore . But we're
going to be working systematically with every city and jurisdiction around the country
to try to help them implement some solutions that we know work.
And I’ll make my final point -- I’m sorry, Mr. Prime Minister, but this is a pretty important
issue for us.
We can't just leave this to the police.
I think there are police departments
that have to do some soul searching. I think there are some communities that have to
do some soul searching. But I think we, as a country, have to do some soul
searching. This is not new. It’s been
going on for decades.
And without making any excuses for criminal activities that take place in
these communities, what we also know is that if you have impoverished communities
that have been stripped away of opportunity, where children are born into abject
poverty; they’ve got parents -- often because of substance-abuse problems or incarceration
or lack of education themselves -- can't do right by their kids; if it’s more likely
that those kids end up in jail or dead, than they go to college. In communities
where there are no fathers who can provide guidance to young men; communities where
there’s no investment, and manufacturing has been stripped away; and drugs have
flooded the community, and the drug industry ends up being the primary employer
for a whole lot of folks -- in those environments, if we think that we're just going
to send the police to do the dirty work of containing the problems that arise there
without as a nation and as a society saying what can we do to change those communities,
to help lift up those communities and give those kids opportunity, then we're not
going to solve this problem. And we’ll go through the same cycles of periodic
conflicts between the police and communities and the occasional riots in the streets,
and everybody will feign concern until it goes away, and then we go about our business
as usual.
If we are serious about solving this problem, then we're going to not only
have to help the police, we're going to have to think about what can we do -- the
rest of us -- to make sure that we're providing early education to these kids; to
make sure that we're reforming our criminal justice system so it’s not just a pipeline
from schools to prisons; so that we're not rendering men in these communities unemployable
because of a felony record for a nonviolent drug offense; that we're making investments
so that they can get the training they need to find jobs. That's
hard. That requires more than just the occasional news
report or task force. And there’s a bunch of my agenda that would make
a difference right now in that.
Now, I’m under no illusion that out of this Congress we're going to get massive
investments in urban communities, and so we’ll try to find areas where we can make
a difference around school reform and around job training, and around some investments
in infrastructure in these communities trying to attract new businesses in.
But if we really want to solve the problem, if our society really wanted
to solve the problem, we could. It’s just it would require everybody saying this
is important, this is significant -- and that we don't just pay attention to these
communities when a CVS burns, and we don't just pay attention when a young man gets
shot or has his spine snapped. We're paying attention all the time because we
consider those kids our kids, and we think they're important. And they
shouldn’t be living in poverty and violence.
That's how I feel. I think there are a lot of good-meaning people
around the country that feel that way. But that kind of political mobilization I think
we haven’t seen in quite some time. And what I’ve tried to do is to promote those ideas
that would make a difference. But I think we all understand that the politics
of that are tough because it’s easy to ignore those problems or to treat them just
as a law and order issue, as opposed to a broader social issue.
That was a really long answer, but I felt pretty strongly about it.
With countries that share these universal values, we will be creating new
rules. This will benefit regional prosperity and it also
has a strategic significance related to regional stability.
On these points, we see completely eye to eye between President Obama and myself. The early
conclusion of TPP -- by achieving this, this will work on other countries -- non-members
of the TPP -- to follow rules. And I believe that this will lead to prosperity.
Q (As interpreted.) My question is addressed to Prime Minister Abe , as well as President Obama .
In relation to the answer that has
been given, China is working toward the establishment of the AIIB, and it intends
to enhance its influence in the international economy and finance. What is
the strategic significance of the early conclusion of the TPP?
And the next question is to President Obama . Do you
have confidence, or how do you intend to work on Congress to pass the TPP-related
bills? And how confident are you that you’ll
be able to pass this bill?
So for this purpose as well, as soon as possible, with the general public’s
understanding, toward early conclusion of the TPP, we’d like to make efforts. And in
this context, Japan and the United States -- or with President
Barack Obama
and myself -- we want to exert leadership to bring about an early conclusion of
the TPP.
Furthermore, on the AIIB, in Asia there’s a tremendous demand for infrastructure,
and the financial system to respond to this is very important. On this
recognition, we see eye to eye between China and myself, and I think this is a point
on which we see eye to eye between many countries.
For Japan to participate in the AIIB is a decision that which we have not
taken yet. But to create such an enormous financial institution
and since this will have an enormous impact on Asian countries, a fair governance
is necessary of the institution. In particular, the board to review individual projects
and to approve of this is indispensable.
And that sustainability, and the environment
and society and the impact of this should be considered. We need
to secure this.
It’s not only about the lenders, but the borrowing nations. For example,
various infrastructure projects may not be sustainable. It may
have too much of a burden on the environment.
If this is the case, this will be
a very negative -- bring negative results for the citizens living in the countries. It will
prove to be a burden. And so in that sense, a proper review as to whether
lending the money to a country will be of benefit to the country. Rigorous
review is very important.
So from such a standpoint, the two points to be secured I believe is very
important. So from such a standpoint, Japan and the United
States should cooperate, and we need to continue dialogue with China -- and it is
my intention to do so.
PRESIDENT OBAMA : Let me agree
with Prime Minister Abe
when it comes to the Asian Infrastructure Bank proposal that's been made by China.
Asia needs infrastructure. There are a lot of countries that have difficulty
financing infrastructure, but if they got that infrastructure put in place and developed,
they can grow much more rapidly. And that's good for everybody. It’s good
for that country. It’s good for the world economy. It’s good
for us. We want more markets to be able to get our goods
in and sell our services that are some of the best in the world. And China
has got a lot of money. It’s been running a big surplus for quite some
time. So to the extent that China wants to put capital
into development projects around the region, that's a positive. That's
a good thing.
So let me be very clear and dispel this notion that we were opposed or are
opposed to other countries participating in the Asia Infrastructure Bank. That is
simply not true. It sprung up out of one story after the Brits decided
that they were going to join up, and then folks have just been running with it. And there
have been all these editorials subsequently based on these reports -- not from any
official position of the United States government, but from a series of behind-the-scenes
quotes.
What we have said and what we said to all the other countries involved is
exactly what Prime Minister Abe
said, which is, if we're going to have a multilateral lending institution, then
you have to have some guidelines by which it’s going to operate. That's
how the World Bank operates. That's how the IMF operates. There may
be weighted votes in terms of who’s the biggest contributor, but you've got to have
some transparency in terms of how the thing is going to operate -- because if not,
a number of things can happen. Number one, money could end up flowing that is
misused, or it doesn't have high accounting standards, and we don't know what happens
to money that is going into projects.
As Prime Minister Abe
said, the projects themselves may not be well-designed. They may
be very good for the leaders of some countries and contractors, but may not be good
for the actual people who live there. And the reason I can say that is because, in the
past, some of the efforts of multilateral institutions that the United States set
up didn't always do right by the actual people in those countries. And we
learned some lessons from that, and we got better at making sure that we were listening
to the community and thinking about how this would affect the environment, and whether
it was sustainable.
And so our simple point to everybody in these conversations around the Asia
Infrastructure Bank is let’s just make sure that we're running it based on best
practices, based on what we’ve learned from the entire post-war era and how other
multilateral financing mechanisms have worked.
And if, in fact, the Asia Infrastructure Bank that is being set up ends up
having those kinds of safeguards, is run in a way that ultimately is actually going
to lead to good infrastructure and benefit the borrowing countries, then we're all
for it. And we look forward to collaborating with the Asia
Infrastructure Bank, just like we do with the Asia Development Bank and with the
World Bank on a whole bunch of stuff. So this could be a positive thing.
But if it’s not run well, then it could be a negative thing. And what
we don't want to do is just be participating in something and providing cover for
an institution that does not end up doing right by its people. Because
when these countries borrow money, even from a development bank, for a boondoggle
project that doesn’t work, they’re oftentimes still on the hook for paying that
money back. And there have been experiences like that across
continents and across decades.
With respect to TPP, it’s never fun passing a trade bill in this town because
people are understandably concerned about its potential impacts on specific industries
but also the general concerns that people have had about globalization and technology
displacing workers. We’re addressing those systematically. Here’s
what I’m confident about: This will end up
being the most progressive trade bill in history. It will
have the kinds of labor and environmental and human rights protections that have
been absent in previous agreements. It’s going to be enforceable. It’s going
to open up markets that currently are not fully open to U.S. businesses.
It’s going to be good for the U.S.
economy.
And because I always believe that good policy ends up being good politics,
I’m confident we’re going to end up getting the votes in Congress. And Congress,
by the way, will have a lot of time to review it when and if it’s actually completed. So this
whole notion that it’s all secret, they’re going to have 60 days before I even sign
it to look at the text, and then a number of months after that before they have
to take a final vote.
Thank you very much, everybody.
END
1:09 P.M. EDT
1:09 P.M. EDT
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