President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with Prime Minister Fuku

PRIME MINISTER FUKUDA: (As translated.) We had a very substantive meeting with President Bush for about an hour. In the meeting, we first shared the view that peace and stability in this region in the past decades have been maintained, thanks to the Japan-U.S. alliance. We then reaffirmed that in the seven and a half years or so since the inauguration of the Bush administration in January of 2001, the alliance has deepened by leaps and bounds in security, economic, people-to-people exchanges, and other areas. And we agreed to further strengthen this alliance., In the security area, cooperation between Japan and the United States grew more concrete, substantive and broader in nature, as exemplified by the cooperation in the fight against terrorism and assistance for Iraqi reconstruction following 9/11, the agreement on and steady implementation of a road map for U.S. forces realignment, and the joint development of ballistic missile and successful intercept tests.,On North Korean issues, I told President Bush that the verification of their declaration is extremely important to realize complete nuclear abandonment by North Korea; that simultaneous settlement of denuclearization and the abduction issue will be important; and that to that end, Japan wishes to continue to cooperate closely with the United States. And President Bush concurred with me and told me that he will never forget the abduction issue.,I was encouraged to hear from him that the U.S. position on the abduction issue -- that is to say a clear-cut support for Japanese position -- remains unchanged, and that the United States will remain in close coordination with Japan on the issue. As agreed between us on the nuclear and abduction issues, we shall continue to deal with the issue, maintaining close coordination between our two countries.,On the economic aspects, the interdependence between Japan and the United States has grown closer than before. Since 2000, Japanese direct investment to the United States has increased approximately 30 percent; Japanese businesses in the United States have about 610,000 people on their payrolls. And U.S. direct investment in Japan also has increased approximately 60 percent.,I wish to also point out that mutual understanding between our countries has reached a high level at the grassroots level. I shall make sure to follow up the initiative I announced during my visit to the United States last year to step up Japan-U.S. exchanges so that the foundation for our alliance will become unshakeable.,In order to further deepen this alliance, I explained to President Bush my belief that it will be important to further step up policy coordination in Asia and bilateral cooperation in addressing global challenges, such as climate change, African development, and disaster reduction. And President Bush expressed his agreement on this., On African development, we agreed that we should further step up our bilateral cooperation to increase the production of major crops in Africa, including doubling of rice production, and to promote their trade and distribution. On disaster reduction, following the recent spate of several natural -- severe natural disasters in Asia in recent years, I wish to step up cooperation between our two countries to build up cooperation in Asia on disaster prevention.,On climate change, we also had discussions and we have a common understanding that is our common responsibility to leave the beautiful Earth to our posterity since this -- climate change is one of the most severe challenges that humankind faces today, and that we shall continue to cooperate with the G8. And with regard to soaring food and oil prices, which are having negative impact on the world economy, we agreed there's a need for expeditious efforts on these fronts.,President Bush, please.,PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your hospitality, and thank you for inviting us to this beautiful place. Laura and I are really looking forward to dinner with you and Mrs. Fukuda tonight. And I agree with your assessment that we had very important and fruitful discussions.,We discussed a variety of subjects, starting with the -- our work together to make sure the Korean Peninsula, all the Korean Peninsula, is free of nuclear weapons. I am fully aware of the sensitivity of the issue here in your country. I am aware that people want to make sure that the abduction issue is not ignored, and that there are suspicions about whether or not the North Koreans will be fully forthcoming. I view this process as a multi-step process that requires strong verification.,One thing is for certain, is that North Korea did provide a declaration of its plutonium-related activities and did blow up the cooling tower of its reactor at Yongbyon. That's been verified, and that also is a positive step. But there are more steps to be taken. We are concerned about enriched uranium, and proliferation, and human rights abuses, ballistic missile programs. I view this process as a multi-step process where there will be action for action.,The Prime Minister gave me the book of Ms. Yokota. I had the privilege of meeting her in the Oval Office. I was deeply touched by her story about the abduction of her little girl. As a father of little girls, I can't imagine what it would be like to have my daughter just disappear. So, Mr. Prime Minister, as I told you on the phone when I talked to you and in the past, the United States will not abandon you on this issue., We worked -- we talked about Japan's contributions in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I thank your government and I thank the people of Japan for helping others realize the blessings of liberty. We talked about Iran and the importance of Iran to listen to the demands, the just demands of the world to verifiably suspend its enrichment programs.,We haven't had a chance to talk about Burma yet, but I intend to bring it up with the Prime Minister. I'm deeply concerned about that country. Their response to the recent natural disaster was unwarranted, at best. And we urge the regime to free Aung Suu -- Aung San Suu Kyi.,We talked about the G8, and I believe this is going to be a successful G8, Mr. Prime Minister. This is my eighth one. I've got a pretty good sense about whether or not a G8 is going to be a success or maybe not such a success. This one is going to be a success.,We've got a lot to talk about. I appreciate very much your strong belief in the accountability aspect of this meeting. In other words, when people say they're -- make a pledge to feed the hungry or provide for the ill, that we ought to honor that pledge. And I thank you for understanding that. And I also thank you for your concern about neglected tropical diseases, as well as helping train health workers in Africa so that they can be compassionate citizens of their respective countries.,We'll talk about food and energy, of course. And then I've got two other subjects that I want to make sure we spend a fair amount of time on. One is the Doha Round. It's an opportunity for us, Mr. Prime Minister, to promote free and fair trade, and it's going to be an essential part of the development agenda. And the truth of the matter is, we can give grants, but the best way to help the impoverished around the world is through trade. It's a proven fact. And this is an opportunity to set up a successful ministerial in July -- I think it's July 21st for the Doha Round.,And then I'm going to spend some time, of course, sharing my views about the environment and how we can advance our common agenda, and that -- remind people that the United States and Japan really do lead the world in research when it comes to clean technologies.,I think I was sharing my views with some of the Japanese press when they were in the United States, Mr. Prime Minister, about how Japan is going to lead the world when it comes to battery technologies, and that I anticipate our country will be able to be using battery technologies in automobiles that look like cars, not golf carts, and which will save us a lot of -- a lot of, you know, reliance upon oil. And this will be a great opportunity to discuss that, as well as our common desire to move our common agenda., And so I want to thank you very much for your hospitality and I appreciate very much your candid discussion that we had.,Q Both of you have commented on global warming, and so I'd like to ask about that to both of you. First, Prime Minister Fukuda, were you successful in getting President Bush's agreement to cooperate -- to get a G8 agreement on long-term target to have greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 globally?,So first that question. And second question for President Bush. Mr. President, you've been saying that participation of China and India, among others, will be essential for a long-term target. Do you think that -- are going to cooperate on getting a G8 agreement on long-term target this time? And also, as for assistance for African countries that are suffering from negative impact of global warming, I wonder what thoughts you have, President Bush.,PRIME MINISTER FUKUDA: Allow me to first respond. As I said earlier on the global warming issue, including long-term targets, I agreed with President Bush to continue to cooperate in the run-up to the G8. On whether G8 will agree on long-term target or not, that is something that G8 is continuing consultations. So at this stage what I wish to say is that we leaders will get down to in-depth discussions on this day after tomorrow.,PRESIDENT BUSH: I'll be constructive. I've always advocated that there needs to be a common understanding, and that starts with a goal. And I also am realistic enough to tell you that if China and India don't share that same aspiration, that we're not going to solve the problem.,And so I appreciate the Prime Minister's leadership on this issue. And the United States will -- we're working, working to see if we can come up with a constructive -- constructive statement.,I didn't get your question on Africa. What was the question on Africa? Ask it again, please.,Q Well, I wanted to ask for your thoughts, your views on support for Africa, which will be negatively affected by global warming. Do you have any plans for supporting Africa?,PRESIDENT BUSH: -- starts with understanding that babies are needlessly dying because of mosquito bites, and therefore, wealthy nations ought to step up and provide mosquito nets, DDT, as well as medicine. My concern for Africa starts with knowing that too many people are dying of HIV/AIDS. And that's why the United States Congress joined the administration in supporting a $15 billion effort to help people get anti-retroviral drugs, help orphans get help, and help put a effective prevention program in place. The amount -- number of people who have gone on anti-retrovirals today has grown from 50,000 to 1.7 million people., I'm concerned about people going hungry. And so we'll be very constructive in the dialogue when it comes to the environment. I care about the environment. But today there's too much suffering on the continent of Africa, and now is the time for the comfortable nations to step up and do something about it.,Q Thank you. Mr. President, oil prices are up. The economy is in a serious downturn. What can world leaders do? And would you approve of intervention to strengthen the U.S. dollar, which many people say is contributing to the rise in oil prices?,And, Mr. Prime Minister, do you believe that the U.S. is holding up moving forward on climate change?,PRESIDENT BUSH: First of all, our economy is not growing as robustly as we'd like. We had positive growth in the first quarter. We'll see what happens here in the second quarter. But nevertheless, we're not as strong as we have been during a lot of my presidency. And so, as you well know, Toby, we passed a stimulus bill that is now in the process of passing money back to consumers, which had a positive effect, and hopefully will continue to have a positive effect.