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NOTE: From March 24 through April 6, the Daily Report will be on an abbreviated schedule. There will be three reports the week of March 24 and two reports the week of March 31, while our regular NAPSNet staff is out of the country at a conference. Your understanding is appreciated.
In today's Report:
John King of the Associated Press reported in the Washington Post
("GORE: CHINA RECEPTIVE ON RIGHTS", Beijing, 3/26/97) that US Vice
President Al Gore believes Beijing will do more to open its markets to
US products and be more receptive to human rights discussions. Gore
noted that despite some "strong disagreements" on human rights,
overall the response was "more receptive...than I have had in previous
discussions with Chinese leaders." Gore also described the US belief
that "economic freedom and political freedom ultimately are linked."
James Bennet reported in the New York Times ("CHINESE ASK GORE ABOUT
INVESTIGATION INTO CAMPAIGN DONATIONS", Beijing, 3/26/97) that Gore
assured Prime Minister Li Peng that a US Justice Department
investigation into Chinese donations during the 1996 election campaign
will not impact the US-China relationship. However, a senior US
official cautioned that Gore also warned that if "the allegations are
proven to be true, then they're very serious and we'll deal with all
that at that time." Reuters ("GORE ASSURES CHINA IN FUNDS ROW",
Beijing, 3/26/97) noted Gore's comment to reporters that "discussions
of the controversy now, pending the completion of the investigation,
should not affect" the bilateral realtionship.
2. Gingrich Visit to Hong Kong
Didi Krtisten Tatlow of the Associated Press reported in the
Washington Post ("GINGRICH HOLDS HONG KONG MEETINGS", Hong Kong,
3/26/97) that US House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich stated
in Hong Kong that the visiting US Congressional delegation wants "to
understand the details of Hong Kong's reversion" and "make sure
commitments made by the Chinese will be kept." He added that the
world will be watching to ensure "that it happens in reality and in
truth and not just in words and on documents." When asked about human
rights in China, Gingrich noted that "human rights is a universal
problem and we need to make sure commitments made by the Chinese will
be kept."
3. US Senators Visit to South Korea
The Washington Post carried an Associated Press report ("US SENATORS
ARRIVE IN S KOREA", Seoul, 3/26/97) that US Senators Ted Stevens (R-
Alaska), Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), Pete Domenici (R-New
Mexico), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas), and Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) today
arrived in Seoul to meet with ROK President Kim Young Sam and other
senior ROK officials. The US delegation also plans to visit the DPRK
beginning Friday.
[Editor's note: Sen. Cochran was incorrectly identified in an earlier version of this Report.]
Mary Jordan reported in the Washington Post ("JAPAN REFUSES TO SEND
SURPLUS RICE TO HUNGRY N KOREANS", Tokyo, 3/25/97) that despite having
enormous rice stockpiles in 3500 public warehouses, Japan has refused
to open the reserves to aid North Korea, regardless of international
appeals. Critics of Japan's policy note the existence of three to
four million tons in reserve, some of which is aging and cannot be
sold to the Japanese public. Chosen Soren spokesman So Chung On
suggested that "if Japan has too much rice, they should help their
neighbors in need." Us Tokyo resident Bernard Krisher, who has
launched a private aid appeal, condemned Japan's "hoarding rice as
women and children are starving."
United Press International ("NORTH KOREA WILL NEED CHILDREN'S MILK",
United Nations, 3/25/97) reported UNICEF director Carol Bellamy's
concern that given widespread reports of severe child malnutrition "we
feel the international community should be ready to act quickly."
UNICEF says the DPRK will need special high energy milk for its young
when supplies are exhausted in May or June.
The Washington Post carried an Associated Press report ("NO DECISION
ON KOREAN DEFECTOR", Manila, 3/26/97) that Philippine President Fidel
Ramos today noted that a decision has yet to be made on when DPRK
defector Hwang Jang Yop will depart the Philippines for the ROK. The
Philippines is concerned about security for Hwang and has imposed a
blackout on information concerning his whereabouts.
6. Text: Gore on U.S.-Japan Global Partnership for Environment
(See end of report for full text)
Tokyo -- Japan's determined leadership will be essential in facing the
challenges presented by increasingly global environmental problems,
according to Vice President Al Gore.
"We live in an era of the possible," Gore said in an address given in
Tokyo March 24. "Our two countries, accounting for 40 percent of this
planet's economic power, are working together and with others to
promote sustainable economic growth and freedom. The high level of
attention given to environmental issues in Japan has been reflected in
this nation's growing leadership on the world stage. Now, as we face
challenges that are increasingly global, Japan's determined leadership
internationally will be essential."
The growth of economies and the stability of societies are intertwined
with the effects of climate change -- environmental degradation,
resource depletion, threats to human health and population shifts,
Gore said. "We must bear in mind that just as it can take a long time
to see the effects of these changes emerge, it will also take a long
time to achieve solutions. Our success will depend upon far-sighted
wisdom in the choices that we make," he said.
7. USIA TRANSCRIPT: GORE, IKEDA 3/23
Tokyo -- There will continue to be a need for forward-deployed U.S.
troops in the Asia-Pacific region for the foreseeable future,
according to Vice President Al Gore.
During a question-and-answer session with reporters following his
working dinner with Foreign Minister Ikeda March 23, Gore said: "The
need for security in this region is very strong. We are consulting
very closely with Japan on issues like the ones on the Korean
Peninsula. In my view, this would be the very worst time to have some
reduction in the level of American forces here. There are other
reasons that I could go into, but all of them together convince
President Clinton and me that the current level of U.S. forces here is
the appropriate level."
Foreign Minister Ikeda (speaking in Japanese) said he shared the Vice
President's view.
Following is the official transcript of the question-and-answer
session:
(begin transcript)
VICE PRESIDENT ALBERT GORE br WITH FOREIGN MINISTER IKEDA
IIKURA HOUSE
Tokyo, Japan March 23, 1997
Q1: (ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM THE JAPANESE) This meeting is taking
place at a very difficult point, in one way, for the relationship
between Japan and the United States. What is the posture and position
that the Minister is going to take during this meeting?
FOREIGN MINISTER IKEDA (ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM THE JAPANESE): I
understand that this is a difficult point in Japan-U.S. relations, but
I believe that there is a very sound and strong relationship between
the two countries. And, in particular, the security relationship
between Japan and the United States is not only the basis for a wide-
ranging relationship between the two countries, but it is also an
indispensable element for stability and peace in the Asia-Pacific
region as a whole. So, we are going to continue and reconfirm the
understanding that both sides have to promote such efforts further.
VICE PRESIDENT GORE: I couldn't have said it better myself.
Q2: Mr. Vice President, how do you explain your position on the U.S.
forward presence here in the Asia-Pacific region? Do you believe that
the United States needs 100,000 troops in this region over the next
ten or five years?
VICE PRESIDENT GORE: I think we need them now and for the foreseeable
future, yes. The need for security in this region is very strong. We
are consulting very closely with Japan on issues like the ones on the
Korean Peninsula. In my view, this would be the very worst time to
have some reduction in the level of American forces here. There are
other reasons that I could go into, but all of them together convince
President Clinton and me that the current level of U.S. forces here is
the appropriate level.
FOREIGN MINISTER IKEDA (ENGLISH TRANSLATION FROM THE JAPANESE): I
fully share what the Vice President has just said and, in light of the
current security and other circumstances surrounding this region, we
believe what the Vice President has just said is shared fully by
Japanese.
Q3: Mr. Vice President, have you or your office attempted to check the
accuracy of, or whether there's any substance to, U.S. government
reports saying that the Chinese attempted to influence U.S. elections
with money?
VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Well, that's a matter that the Justice Department
is investigating now.
Q4: How will you deal with this matter when you get to China?
VICE PRESIDENT GORE: Well, that's not the purpose of my trip. Any
issues that have the potential to have any effect on the bilateral
relationship should be discussed in an appropriate and sensitive way.
Following the defection of DPRK Workers' Party Secretary Hwang Jang-
yop the DPRK has canceled a series of planned visits to Japan this
month. Today it appears that even the projected medical treatment
tour of Japan by a group of atomic bomb victims in the North has been
put off indefinitely. Tuesday, a Kyodo News Service reported that the
Hiroshima Prefecture Society Against Nuclear Bombs invited a group of
six DPRK atomic bomb victims and officials to a Japanese hospital.
Initially the North accepted the invitation and the six were to leave
for Japan early next month. However, the DPRK recently informed the
society that the invited delegates cannot leave the country until at
least September of this year. Hiroshima Prefecture society officials
visited the DPRK in April last year at the invitation of the North's
atomic bomb victims society and agreed on mutual exchanges. Under
this program three victims and another three officials were to visit
Japan next month. (Korea Times, "NK PUTS OFF PLANNED VISIT TO JAPAN BY
ATOMIC BOMB VICTIMS," 03/26/97)
A DPRK man who defected to the ROK succeeded in getting three family
members he had left behind in the North to escape from the nation.
Hong Chin-hui, 29, a second generation Korean who had been repatriated
to the DPRK from Japan and defected to the South last year said
yesterday, "My mother Chu Young-hui, 50, my sister Kyung-hwa, 26, and
brother Chin-myung, 22, are at the moment going through asylum
procedures at a refugee camp in Hong Kong." (Joong Ang Ilbo, "A NORTH
KOREAN DEFECTOR SUCCEEDS IN HIS FAMILY*S ESCAPE FROM THE NORTH,"
03/26/97)
Jay C. Kim, a member of the US House of Representatives, said that the
United States would like to talk to former DPRK Workers' Party
Secretary Hwang Jang-yop when he arrives in Seoul. "In unofficial
talks with South Korean Foreign Ministry officials, we have said that
we should talk to Hwang, to which the officials were not opposed,"
Kim said in an interview with the press shortly after his luncheon
with ROK President Kim Young-sam yesterday. "The significance of Seoul
as the first stop should not be lost," Kim said, reaffirming the
strong relationship between the US and the ROK. Kim relayed that the
Republican Party is in agreement with the ROK's policies toward the
North. Gingrich had expressed concern about the sales of low-level
nuclear waste by Taiwan to the cash-impoverished North just before he
left. "Also, I and a chairman of the Asia-Pacific Subcommittee have
just submitted a bill condemning Taiwan's sales of nuclear waste
before we left," Kim said. Kim said that he did not think Taiwan would
lightly brush off these concerns, voicing optimism about the issue.
The group will be making their last stop in Taiwan via Hong Kong and
China. On linking food aid to the four-party talks, Kim said that the
US would probably not make participation at the talks a precondition
for additional food aid. But if food aid can be used to bring the
North to the proposed talks the policy should not be ruled out, he
said. The talks would essentially will be the first direct South-North
talks since the eighth working-level meeting for exchange of special
envoys in 1994. (Korea Herald, "REP.JAY KIM SAYS U.S. WANTS TO TALK TO
HWANG JANG-YOP," Kim Ji-soo, 03/26/97)
Within a week, two South Koreans were kidnapped here in Beijing,
apparently by ethnic Koreans. A source at the consular section of the
ROK embassy here said Park Young-ho, 36, of the Samsung Securities
Co. in Seoul was kidnapped by a group of people who were reported to
resemble ethnic Koreans. He was forced by his kidnappers to telephone
his family in Seoul asking them to deposit 50 million won at a certain
bank or he would be harmed. Informed of the telephone call by his
family, the consular section promptly reported it to PRC public
security authorities. Officers managed to arrest one of the kidnappers
and rescue the victim Tuesday. In an earlier kidnapping incident, two
ROK students of an unnamed university in Beijing were stepping into
their apartment on the early morning of March 16 after drinking
outside when five men, speaking in Korean, forcibly took the pair to
an undisclosed location in Beijing. Not finding much money on the
victims, the kidnappers went back to the apartment where they held
four other ROK students captive, and took $1,500, 1,600 yuan,
passports, watches and other personal belongings. The robbers then
turned to other students' apartments in the vicinity before running
away. An embassy official said that they plan to ask the PRC public
security authorities to take firmer measures to ensure the personal
safety of ROK residents and travelers in the PRC. (Korea Times, "TWO
KOREANS KIDNAPPED IN CHINA IN ONE WEEK," Beijing, 03/26/97)
An ROK company official in the PRC was killed by three PRC robbers
early Monday morning, the consular section of the South Korean Embassy
in Beijing reported Tuesday. A consular official said the victim was
Chung Hwa-young, 34, a division chief of Tianjian Hanchang Handicraft
Co. Chung was returning home by a taxi after having dinner with some
of his fellow officials in Tianjin before dawn Monday when a taxi
driver and two men in the vehicle jumped on him, fatally hitting him
with rocks. The driver and two other suspects were rounded up by PRC
public security authorities, the official said. (Korea Times, "SOUTH
KOREAN BUSINESSMAN KILLED IN CHINA," 03/26/97)
Korea Central News Agency reported that social organizations of the
DPRK have written to their respective ROK counterparts. In these
letters, the article reports, DPRK organizations proposed that North
and South Korean organizations consult with one another in addressing
common issues . Jie Fang Daily ("DPRK ORGANIZATIONS PROPOSE TO
DIALOGUE WITH ROK COUNTERPARTS," Pyongyang, A4, 3/20/97)
In a recent Jie Fang Daily article ("ROK FACES SERIOUS DIFFICULTY,"
A4, 3/21/97), ROK President Kim Young-sam expressed his concern over
the country's troubling position. In a letter to ROK leaders and
social organizations, Kim stated that he will work towards ridding the
nation of corruption. Kim pointed out that at present the most
important task of the ROK was to improve the economy, resume the
vitality of enterprises, establish productive labor-capital relations,
and reform the financial system.
Chinese Premier Li Peng held talks with visiting US Vice- President Al
Gore on March 25. During the meeting, Li said that President Jiang
Zemin's scheduled State visit to the US later this year and President
Bill Clinton's visit to China next year are an important event in the
history of Sino-US relations. Maintaining and developing a healthy,
stable relationship between the two countries serves the fundamental
interests of both peoples, and helps safeguard stability and
prosperity in the Asian-Pacific region, Li said. Underscoring that
Taiwan has always been the most important and sensitive problem in
Sino-US relations, Li stated that China attaches importance to US
leaders' promises to continue the "one China" policy and their
commitment to abide by the Sino-US joint communiqués. Gore said US
policies towards China were based on long-term thinking and the
strategic interests of the US. He pledged that the US Government will
follow these policies and not allow them to be interrupted by any
event at any time. Gore said the US supports China's entry into the
World Trade Organization, since it is in accordance with the interests
of the US, China and the world. On the issue of Hong Kong, Li said,
"We are confident in Hong Kong's smooth transition as well as its
prosperity and stability." People's Daily ("LI PENG HOLDS TALKS WITH
US VICE PRESIDENT," Beijing, A1, 3/26/97)
A senior Chinese trade official pledged on March 22 to step up efforts
to improve the Sino-US trade balance, China Daily ("SINO- US BALANCE
IN TRADE SOUGHT," A1, 3/22/97) reported. Sun Zhenyu, vice-minister of
foreign trade and economic cooperation, admitted during a State
Information Office press conference that China has been, over recent
years, enjoying a trade surplus with the US. The surplus reached
$10.5 billion last year. Sun proposed that the solution of the trade
imbalance problem needs common efforts made by both countries. He
advised the US Export and Import Bank to be more helpful and take
initiatives in granting export credit to US equipment suppliers as
concessional financial arrangements are tied to chances of winning
bids for major undertakings in China. Sun further expressed his wish
for the US Government to further ease its control over the transfer of
technology to China, as this would allow the two countries to take
full advantage of US exports.
5. Chinese Mainland-Taiwan Relations
During an interview with China Daily, Tang Shubei, vice-chairman of
the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, ruled out
early talks between Chinese mainland and Taiwan. Tang noted that as
Taiwan authorities have continued their activities of splitting China,
there is no grounding for the resumption of cross- Straits talks.
However, Tang asserted, the mainland has not closed the door for
talks. "In the long term, the mainland and Taiwan should sit down at
the negotiating table to discuss cross-Straits issues under the `one
China' policy," Tang said. According to Tang, "cross-Straits talks
will not be conducted in the name of central government to local
government (as two sides)." He said there was no prerequisite that
Taiwan authorities must recognize the central government before such
talks could be held. During the interview, Tang also urged the US to
strictly observe the three Sino-US joint communiqués, and abide by its
commitment to gradually reduce and finally stop arms sales to Taiwan.
China Daily ("NO SCOPE FOR EARLY TAIWAN TALKS," A1, 3/25/97)
6. PRC Comments on Dalai's Visit to Taiwan and Other Issues
China will never tolerate any attempts to split the nation, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Cui Tiankai said in Beijing on March 25.
He stressed that China attaches great importance to national unity.
When asked to comment on the Dalai Lama's appeal in Taiwan to abandon
the independence movement of Tibet and have dialogue with the central
government, Cui said that this was a misleading facade. "Dalai always
pledges not to pursue an independent Tibet, which is actually what he
does everywhere at the same time. It shows that he has never given up
his separatist motives," Cui said. Turning to the overseas Ugyur
separatist groups, Cui said that many neighboring countries have
promised China that they will never allow the groups to operate in
their nations. China Daily ("NATIONAL UNITY IS OF CRUCIAL
IMPORTANCE," A1, 3/26/97)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR ENVIRONMENT
Following is the text of the Vice President's remarks, as prepared for
delivery:
(begin text)
Thank you very much for your very generous introduction. Ladies and
gentlemen, it is an honor for me to be able to join you and deliver
the closing address at your plenary session. I would like to thank
Birgitta Dahl, your chairperson, for her courtesy and her leadership.
I would also like to thank our host, Gaishi Hiraiwa, and acknowledge
the other distinguished guests who have been a part of the leadership
of this meeting.
I am deeply honored that three former prime ministers of Japan are
present here today, and may I acknowledge former Prime Minister
Takeshita, former Prime Minister Kaifu, and former Prime Minister
Murayama. Thank you all three very much for being here. It is a great
pleasure to see a longtime friend, Education Minister Takashi Kosugi.
Also, the Secretary of the Commission for Sustainable Development,
Nitin Desai; Tom Spencer from Britain, the President of the
organization known as GLOBE; and from my own country, Michele
Perrault, International Vice President of the Sierra Club. Doumo
arigato. Thank you very much ladies and gentlemen.
It is such a pleasure to be back in Japan, especially during this
beautiful season of the year. Earlier today I had an opportunity to
view the beginning of some cherry blossom blooms at the Imperial
Palace. They are a vivid symbol of the elegance and fragility of
nature and also a reminder of the importance of our stewardship.
In Washington, D.C., cherry blossom viewing attracts visitors from
around the country each year, and, of course, this is a U.S. tradition
that we owe to Japan from your gift of the first cherry trees to our
capital city 85 years ago.
The roots of our environmental cooperation were also planted at the
dawn of this century. Now as we near the closing years of this
century, it is a special honor to address this Global Partnership
Summit. It has been five years since your organizing committee
sponsored an eminent persons meeting which helped lay the foundation
for success at the Earth Summit in Rio. Now we are preparing to see
the seed planted at Rio grow into a strong shared commitment by
nations around the world to reduce the devastating risks of global
climate change.
I would like to again thank our hosts for making this conference
possible and for inviting me to address you all. I mentioned the
distinguished former prime ministers who are here, all three of whom
have played a significant role in helping to address this issue. I
also wish to note the participation of several members of the present
Japanese cabinet, Foreign Minister Ikeda, Environment Minister Ishii,
and, again, Education Minister Kosugi, all of whom are environmental
leaders working within the Japanese government. We also have with us a
Japanese woman recognized as one of the world's true heroes of the
environment, House of Councillors Member Akiko Domoto, head of the
Diet members group on environmental issues, who was recognized this
month at the United Nations as one of the world's twenty-five leading
women on environmental matters. I had the pleasure of working with
Akiko Domoto and Takashi Kosugi for many years in addressing the
issues related to the environment, along with Tom Spencer and others.
From Canada we have Maurice Strong, Chairman of the Earth Council,
Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Executive Director of UNEP, and others who have
worked for many years on this issue.
I mentioned that I had the privilege of visiting the Imperial Palace
this morning. I was deeply impressed by the harmony of the landscape,
and I have been taught that Japanese gardens are designed to draw us
into a more complete understanding of man's oneness with nature. It is
this same understanding that we seek among ourselves as we meet the
challenges of harmonizing our economic development with the well-being
of our societies and the environment.
Professor Takeshi Umehara, one of Japan's most prominent philosophers,
has asserted that the new post-modern era requires a new ethic, and I
quote, "an ethic of being the custodian of the continuity of life,
instead of a one-shot plunderer during a brief episode of mortal
splendor."
In the United States years ago, after the publication of a book by
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, we began to look at the environment in a
different way. As our awareness of the environment spread, as both the
United States and Japan were on the verge of establishing
environmental protection agencies, it was at that precise moment in
history that we first sent human beings to the moon. Of course, they
sent back a stunning image of the earth from space, bringing home to
us how small our planet really is and how important our stewardship of
its future really is.
In an increasingly global society, our prosperity and our well- being
are more intimately linked, as are our responsibilities. Japan has
much to teach the rest of the world, as this nation addressed many of
its pollution challenges of the 70's and 80's successfully, while
maintaining steady economic growth. Japan's engagement with the rest
of the world is also critical, as Japan holds a special place as the
economic and technological leader in a prospering Asia.
When I leave here I will be visiting China and Korea, and during those
visits I also intend to discuss how we can work in unison to combat
our common challenges. Of course, in addition to taking up vital trade
and security concerns, I plan to discuss ways we can approach the
serious long-term energy, food and environmental challenges which will
face this region and our world in the near future. Progress in all of
these areas will be made more effective through Japan's greater role
in dealing with these issues. Of course, I'm very pleased that the
United States and Japan have such a long history of working together.
Our security alliance has endured for half a century. This alliance,
maintained throughout the Cold War, provided a stable basis for not
just Japan's remarkable growth, but for that of all Asia as well. Our
efforts to promote stability have strengthened our resolve to promote
peace throughout the world. I wish on this occasion to salute Japan
for its brave decision to support the peace-loving people of the world
by sending peacekeepers to Cambodia, Mozambique, Goma, Zaire, and most
recently to the Golan Heights.
In our economic relations, we continue to make progress. It is worth
remembering that only a few short years ago books were written on both
sides of the Pacific suggesting that our trade differences would rend
us apart. Of course, we still have concerns, serious ones, especially
over Japan's recently rising surpluses, but we are working together to
solve our differences in an atmosphere less charged with rhetoric and
more focused on our common good.
Our bilateral cooperation has strengthened our regional economic
cooperation. Since President Clinton convened the first APEC Leaders
Meeting in 1993, tremendous strides have been made. In 1994, we set
the vision of a Pacific community with free and open trade by 2020. In
1995, I had the privilege of representing President Clinton at the
APEC meeting in Osaka, and we agreed at that meeting to develop a road
map to achieve the vision. Last year, we brought our individual plans
for action and elevated the priority of sustainable development. This
regional cooperation serves as an example to the rest of the world,
opening markets, removing trade barriers, permitting the free flow of
capital, and sustainable growth in Asia, the Americas, Europe and
elsewhere. This can be an important step toward the creation of a true
global free market.
Economic and security issues are vitally important, yet they are
undergirded and integrally connected to our stewardship of the planet.
The growth of our economies and the stability of our societies are
intertwined with the effects of climate change -- environmental
degradation, resource depletion, threats to human health and
population shifts. We must bear in mind that just as it can take a
long time to see the effects of these changes emerge, it will also
take a long time to achieve solutions. Our success will depend upon
far-sighted wisdom in the choices that we make.
At the 1992 UN conference in Rio, the nations of the world pledged to
tackle our most serious global environmental threats -- from climate
change and deforestation to bio-diversity loss and pollution of the
marine environment. Never before had these issues been so prominently
featured on the international stage. The meeting in Rio revolutionized
the way governments approach environmental concerns by highlighting
the linkages between sustainable development and continued freedom and
prosperity. Unfortunately, while governments have become skilled at
articulating the problems, we have not developed a comparable skill,
as yet, in developing and implementing sustainable solutions. This
challenge is at the outer boundary of what is possible for us as a
global civilization to successfully solve.
Yet we can and must rise to this challenge, because the stakes are
growing every day. There are now 450 million more mouths to feed on
this planet than there were a mere five years ago. We are now adding a
billion people every ten years -- net. That is a development that is
brand new in human history. From the first emergence of our species,
which scientists tell us was approximately 200,000 years ago, until
the end of WWII in 1945, it took ten thousand generations before we
reached a population of two billion people. In my lifetime since the
end of WWII, I have witnessed the population grow from a little over
two billion to five and a half billion. If my life span is a normal
one, I will see a population of nine billion or more. If it takes ten
thousand generations to produce two billion people, and then a single
human lifetime to move from two billion to nine billion, then
obviously we are in a brand new era.
The powerful new technologies, that now magnify our ability to have an
impact on the environment around us, multiply the effects of the
growing population. Many of the manifestations are well known.
Tropical forests, the greatest sources of biological diversity, are
still being destroyed at alarming rates, historic rates. We still have
much to do.
As we approach the fifth anniversary of the Rio Summit, it is,
therefore, clear that we must do a better job. Nowhere is this need
greater than on the issue of global climate change. Japan's public,
its scientists and its leaders have played a valuable role in bringing
attention to this issue. As long ago as 1931, the impact of global
warming gases was discussed in a novel by Kenji Miyazawa. In this
story a student surprises his teacher by calculating that carbon
dioxide would warm the earth by several degrees centigrade. Back then,
little was know about the effects of this temperature rise on the
globe. Today we might be less surprised by that student's analysis,
and we would surely know that the consequences of this warming are
indeed dramatic. The work of Japanese scientists, such as Shigeru
Chubachi, has enlightened our understanding of the challenges we face.
Dr. Chubachi untangled the clues of an ozone hole miles above the
earth, and his presentation of the findings in 1984 had global
repercussions.
The work of leaders, such as Saburo Okita and Bunpei Hara, has
elevated the stage on which these discussions are placed. These
individuals called for a World Commission on Environment and
Development, which in 1987 produced the book, Our Common Future. This
book was a catalyst for sustainable development discussions around the
world. Now we must match our words with deeds.
Last year, the international scientific community confirmed what most
of us have suspected for some time, namely that human activities are
altering the planet's climate system. As we learn more and more about
what this could mean for Japan, for the United States and for the
world, the imperative for action becomes ever stronger. Some have, of
course, continued to express doubts that there is any need to confront
this problem.
I wish to present today the findings of scientists from around the
world who have studied the ice cores in Antarctica. Many of you are
familiar with their work. The ice there is two miles deep, and they
drill down through the ice and measure the content of tiny air bubbles
that are contained in each year's worth of snow at the time that it
fell. Just as foresters can read the rings of a tree once it has been
cut down and determine which years experienced droughts and which
years were good for the growth of the tree, in the same way, these
scientists measure the history of the earth by analyzing the ice cores
in Antarctica.
If you will bear with me for a moment, I would like to demonstrate to
you what they found. This looks a little more complicated than it
really is. There are only two lines on the graph. The top one is
carbon dioxide. The bottom one is temperature. On the right hand side
of the graph is the present day's temperature in yellow and the
present day's carbon dioxide levels in red. Going back to the left
hand side of the chart, you can see the last ice age, the next-to-last
ice age, and a period of great warming in between the last two ice
ages. In my country, these differences turned out to be profound. In
New York City, the difference between here and here on the chart is
the difference between a nice day when the cherry blossoms bloom and
having one mile of ice over our head, because that is when the glacial
sheet covered much of North America.
One thing stands out in the first glance at this graph. The
relationship between carbon dioxide levels and temperature levels
appears to be quite compelling. The young student in the Japanese
novel of 1931 would have no difficulty seeing the relationship between
these two lines. Here is the point that I wish to make with this
graph. We are now increasing the levels of carbon dioxide in the
entire world so dramatically that within the lifetimes of people in
this hall, we will witness the level of carbon dioxide going up. It is
already up here, but it will, in the lifetimes of people here, go up
to this level.
Is it responsible to say that this does not represent a problem for
humankind? If the relationship with the earth's temperatures and
climate patterns have been so exact for as far back as the scientists
are capable of measuring them, can we blithely say, well, we don't
really see any ethical problem in leaving to future generations this
legacy of a cavalier disregard for the consequences of what we do?
The United States applauds Japan's leadership in offering to host the
Third Conference of the Parties on climate change. It is at this
meeting in December in Kyoto when the world will once again attempt to
come to grips with the reality that the scientists are confronting us
with. Today, I want to pledge the commitment of the United States to
working closely with Japan to ensure that this meeting succeeds in
producing a meaningful agreement.
Over 160 countries participate in the climate change negotiations,
each bringing different priorities and different concerns to the
table. Many small island nations are fighting, very literally, for
their continued existence, as sea levels are rising, causing fears of
inundation. Even wealthy nations like Japan and the United States are
at risk from climate change.
In the United States, there has been much comment from our scientists
about the predicted result of increased flooding as a result of more
rain and snow falling during one-time storm events. Twenty years ago,
scientists told us that with the increased warming, the portion of the
annual rainfall and snowfall, which falls in one-time storm events,
will go up. It has gone up by 20 percent in the United States because
of more evaporation from the ocean and a larger carrying capacity for
moisture in the air, so that when the meteorological conditions
trigger a storm, more moisture is dumped in the form of either rain or
snow in a short period of time.
I spent two days a few weeks ago touring the victims of flooding in
our Ohio River Valley, listening to them describe what it was like to
get twelve inches of rain in a one day period. We have had many such
events in recent years. Our insurance industry encountered an event
with losses of more than one billion dollars only once prior to 1988.
Since that time they have experienced seventeen such events.
I know that Japan is concerned about climate change bringing more
intense and more frequent coastal storms and similar extreme rainfall
in mountainous regions susceptible to erosion. Ironically, the
phenomenon can cause an increased incidence of drought and flooding in
the same region, because when more of the annual rainfall comes in
these single large events, the aquifers are not recharged, and the
water rushes off, doing damage in the process. Just as the evaporation
from the ocean increases, soil evaporation increases as well, causing
in some regions a greater incidence of drought.
Climate change will also, according to the scientists, alter animal
and plant habitats, leading to local and regional extinction. Coastal
and marine fisheries may be affected as well. The United States and
other countries share these concerns with Japan.
Yet the way ahead is clear. Climate change is a global issue and
cannot be addressed without global action. We now recognize that such
action cannot wait much longer. The United States has proposed what we
feel are three essential ingredients for a successful outcome in
Kyoto.
First, the developed world must agree to realistic and achievable
legally binding targets for greenhouse gas emissions. Experience tells
us that only through the surety of a binding commitment will nations
take the necessary actions to control their emissions. At the same
time we must take care to develop targets that put us on a more
sustainable energy path, without sacrificing continued economic growth
and sustainable development.
The second principle is that we must provide the maximum amount of
flexibility to ensure that governments are given every opportunity to
meet their commitments cost-effectively and consistent with individual
national circumstances. While we must have a clear, common and
enforceable target, nations have different economies, different
cultures, and different ways of doing business that make it impossible
to impose a "one-size- fits-all" prescription for reaching that
target.
Third, we must acknowledge the global nature of the problem by
ensuring the participation of all countries, developed and developing.
While industrialized nations are responsible for the lion's share of
greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere today, we must keep in mind
that the future growth in emissions will come largely from the
developing world. Shortly after the turn of the century the largest
single emitters of greenhouse gases will be developing nations.
So while the United States, Japan, the European Union and other
developed countries should take on greater responsibilities, China,
India, and the rest of the developing world must also have
obligations. It will be extremely difficult to imagine legislatures in
developed nations taking the very difficult decisions that are
necessary, if the agreement they sign onto has an exemption for the
largest emitters of greenhouse gases on the planet. Regardless of the
difficulty this poses for reaching international agreements, we must
face it, and we must incorporate a provision that requires all nations
to accept obligations under the treaty.
We believe that these three principles -- binding targets for the
industrialized world, flexibility in reaching those targets, and clear
obligations for all countries -- are the three pillars on which we
must build a new agreement.
How then can the United States and Japan work to forge a consensus on
responding to climate change and to make headway on the other pressing
global challenges that we face? Quite simply, we must attack these
issues at every level - multilaterally, regionally and bilaterally. In
the United States, as we come up on our athletic event known as the
Final Four, we call this a full-court press.
Multilaterally, first of all, 1997 affords a number of important
opportunities to make progress on the international environmental
agenda. As the host of this year's Denver Summit, I can assure you
that the United States will make environmental concerns, including
climate change, forests and a thorough reform of UN institutions, a
major focus of this meeting. In June, world leaders will gather in New
York for the UN Special Session on the Environment, commemorating five
years since Rio. We must work together to use both of these sessions
to build common ground among nations on key global priorities.
Regionally, we find that shared borders and resources provide strong
incentives for confronting environmental problems. It is clear, for
example, that the choices China makes about its energy development
path and management of its coastal resources will have implications
not only for China, but also for Japan. Air and ocean currents never
stop at national borders. Pacific nations are increasingly active in
regional efforts to deal with these and other transboundary
environmental concerns. APEC is one good example. Its initiatives on
clean technologies and production, clean oceans and seas, and
sustainable cities, underscore the importance of sustainable
development to continuing prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Bilaterally, there is much we are doing and must continue to do. In
1993, President Clinton and former Prime Minister Miyazawa launched
the Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspectives. The Common
Agenda is designed to create an atmosphere in which our scientists,
government agencies, NGOs and individuals can jointly combat the
largest challenges our planet faces, including those relating to the
environment. Under the Common Agenda, we are promoting conservation
and sustainable management of the world's natural resources. May I say
that, in my personal view, the Common Agenda has been one of the most
successful examples of bilateral cooperation the world has ever seen.
It has received far less attention than, I believe, its record of
dramatic success warrants. I want our friends in Japan to know that we
in the United States are intensely proud of what we have been able to
do together with you, and we look forward to doing even more.
By helping to launch the International Coral Reef Initiative, we are
preserving marine biodiversity in the most productive and diverse of
all ecosystems. By establishing an innovative biodiversity trust in
Indonesia, we are combating the disappearance of forests. Through
joint conservation projects in Southeast Asia, Latin America and the
Caribbean, we are supporting biodiversity research to protect national
parks endangered by development, and we are protecting endangered and
biologically important species.
Under the Common Agenda, we are also fighting the rise in coastal
pollution from the rapid growth of coastal cities. Americans and
Japanese are working together in places like Jamaica, for example,
where we're cooperating to reduce water pollution in Montego Bay.
Under the Common Agenda, we are also working to reduce the damage of
natural disasters, such as earthquakes and hurricanes. We know the
importance of this work from the devastation suffered in Kobe, and
recently in my country from the flooding that I mentioned a moment
ago. Under the Common Agenda, we are establishing global change
prediction and research centers in the United States and Japan which
will contribute to a worldwide climate observation network. This
research will teach us more about the inter-connectedness of climate
systems. Studies showing the relationship between the Asian monsoon
system and the El Nino process off the Pacific coast of the Americas
have exciting potential to warn us of tropical storms, drought and
flooding, and to prepare ourselves to better deal with their impacts.
Let me cite one other recent example of our successful collaboration.
Our joint work with Thailand resulted, on January 1 of this year, in
Thailand being the first developing country to phase out ozone-
depleting chemicals in refrigerators. This is more than ten years
ahead of Thailand's requirement under the Montreal Protocol.
So we are building a substantive agenda of cooperation that is
reaching to all corners of the world. In moving forward, we must never
forget that the well-being of our planet depends on more than efforts
by governments. All the people of our nations have important roles to
play. We are finding that children at the youngest ages have a deep
concern about these issues and a deep fascination with nature.
I am sure you know there is a book that was published in Japan a few
years ago by a young girl, Aika Tsubota, who was a sixth grade student
at the Nishino Elementary School in Shimane. Her assignment was to
write an essay about environmental issues that was so clear that even
first graders could understand it. Her essay was published as a short
book, Secrets of the Earth, and it skillfully brings together the
interplay between our lives and the environment. At her young age,
this Japanese girl saw the importance of all citizens and all
countries working together to achieve a common good. As many of you
also know, tragically, just after she finished her project, she passed
away. Her book is a lasting resource that can inspire people of all
ages.
Capturing the interest and imagination of our young people was a
motivation for establishing the project we call Global Learning and
Observations about the Environment. By connecting schools and youth
clubs, the children and their teachers can share both the unique and
common features of our environment around the world. There are now
forty eight countries participating in this GLOBE project, and the
number grows every single month. I am very happy there are several
Japanese schools and clubs participating, and I encourage others to
share in this experience as well.
Active engagement in environmental issues is needed from all of us,
young and old, rich and poor, American, Asian, African and European.
Community groups, NGOs, and others play a critical role around the
world.
In Japan, I understand that public interest in global environmental
issues has been growing rapidly. New citizens groups, such as the Kiko
Forum, are working to foster public understanding of climate change,
and this work is terribly important. Everyone's help is needed,
reaching across borders. What appears to be virtually impossible now
will become not only possible, but imperative, as more people around
the world develop an awareness of what is at stake.
We live in an era of the possible. Our two countries, accounting for
40 percent of this planet's economic power, are working together and
with others to promote sustainable economic growth and freedom. The
high level of attention given to environmental issues in Japan has
been reflected in this nation's growing leadership on the world stage.
Now, as we face challenges that are increasingly global, Japan's
determined leadership internationally will be essential.
Well, in closing, the season of the cherry blossoms is a particularly
fitting time for us to renew and extend our bonds of partnership. The
famous Haiku poet Issa wrote, some two hundred years ago, and I'm
going to give you the English -- I'm not going to venture the old form
of Japanese in which it was written -- "In the midst of the cherry
blossoms, none are utter strangers."
I look forward to joining with Japan in a close partnership for the
21st century to build a legacy, not of problems that we didn't have
the bravery to face, but a legacy of hope and opportunity built upon
the challenges that together we overcame.
Thank you very much
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Hiroyasu Akutsu: akutsu@glocomnet.or.jp
1. Gore Visit to China
II. Republic of Korea
2. Gingrich Visit to Hong Kong
3. US Senators Visit to South Korea
4. DPRK Food Crisis
5. Hwang Defection
6. Text: Gore on U.S.-Japan Global Partnership for Environment
7. USIA Transcript: Gore, Ikeda 3/23 Working Dinner
1. DPRK Visits to Japan
III. Peoples's Republic of China
2. DPRK Family Escapes
3. US Congressmen Visits ROK
4. Koreans Security in PRC
1. ROK-DPRK Relations
Vice President Gore Remarks: Global Environmental Partnership
2. ROK in Difficult Position
3. Gore's Visit in China
4. PRC-US Trade Relations
5. Chinese Mainland-Taiwan Relations
6. PRC Comments on Dalai's Visit to Taiwan and Other Issues
I. United States
(Japan's leadership on environmental issues essential)
(Current level of U.S. forces is "appropriate")
II. Republic of Korea
III. Peoples's Republic of China
REMARKS BY VICE PRESIDENT ALBERT
GORE, MARCH 24, 1997
We invite you to reply to today's report, and we welcome
commentary or papers for distribution to the network.
Berkeley, California, United States
Seoul, Republic of Korea
Moscow, Russian Federation
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Shanghai, People's Republic of China
Tokyo, Japan