Prime Minister
Ladies and Gentlemen. The Toshiki KaifuPrime Minister of Japan has visited us as part of his tour of nine European countries, a very quick tour both to places such as Berlin and Paris and London and also he is going to Poland and Hungary.
We have had excellent talks. First, bilateral relations are good because as you know some of the things which were difficult issues have steadily been resolved. We have also talked about East-West relations, which affect us both.
Japan plays a very active part first through the Economic Summit in such things as giving immediate aid to Poland with food matters and also with a stabilisation fund. And as you know, the Prime Minister announced extensive further aid while he was in Berlin. [end p1]
But we were altogether in the Economic Summit giving the initial aid to Poland and Hungary in the ways I have indicated, also through stabilisation funds for the currency.
We have discussed how best we can help the East European countries to go from being centrally controlled communist states to a market economy and we share very similar views on those matters.
We have also of course exchanged views on gradually re-establishing relations with China. As you know, we have kept contacts between officials and of course we have a special interest with China through Hong Kong.
May I say, the atmosphere of the talks has been extremely good. I visited Japan in September and Mr. Kaifu and I had good talks then and we are very glad to have continued these talks. We have talked about other matters: closeness on research, in which we both have a very deep interest; and also how to cooperate in some of the environmental matters and aid matters in the Third World. They were altogether very successful talks.
Mr. Kaifu
The contents of discussions I have had with Prime Minister Thatcher were as was explained extensively by the Prime Minister. I was delighted that we shared—two hours—a great deal on the matters we discussed. [end p2]
And I would like to stress here that it is my view that it is very important for me to continue to discuss with Mrs Thatcher and other leaders of the West and to come to the agreement on the various issues which we all face. Such issues as our support to the Eastern European reform efforts and also the issues of the peace of the world are all important subjects for our discussions and I resolve myself that Japan and myself will continue to try to contribute to the creation of new international order.
Also I would like to take this opportunity to note how much I value the importance of the dialogue between Japan and the United Kingdom not only on the economic subjects but also on political issues.