[Title] Message from Prime Minister Hashimoto and President Clinton to the Peoples of Japan and the United States, Meeting the Challenges of the 21st Century

Japan and the United States approach the twenty-first century as allies and partners with sharedvalues, interests and hopes. Our relationship is of bilateral, regional and global importance. We face the challenges of tomorrow strengthened by years of common tests, experiences and cooperation.

Our alliance is central to peace, stability and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region. Japan-U.S. security arrangements are vital to both nations.

Our economic activities inseparably bind the lives of our two peoples. The enormous flows of trade, investment and finance between Japan and the United States are vital to our own prosperity and the health of the world economy.

Our diplomatic cooperation has helped to bring peace to troubled regions, combat terrorism, reduce nuclear dangers, strengthen the functions of the United Nations, and promote democracy and development around the world.

We have promoted cooperation and a sense of community among the countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Together under our Common Agenda, we are addressing vital global issues, such as protection of the environment, that neither country can solve alone.

Friendship and people-to-people exchange among Japanese and Americans have drawn our two countries closer, increasing trust and helping to deepen understanding.

We, the leaders of Japan and the United States, have today reviewed the past achievements of the Japan-U.S. relationship. We have discussed the enormous changes in the world, the challenges that lie ahead, and the active and cooperative roles that our two countries can play in order to build a more peaceful and prosperous Pacific community and a better world. To guide our future cooperation, we declare the following.

1. For more than a year, the governments of Japan and the United States conducted an intensive review of the evolving political and security environment of the Asia-Pacific region and of various aspects of the Japan-U.S. security relationship. The results are reflected in the "Japan-U.S. Joint Declaration on Security--Alliance for the 21st Century."

2. This review reaffirmed that the bilateral security relationship, based on the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States, remains the cornerstone for achieving common security objectives and for maintaining a stable and prosperous environment for the Asia-Pacific region as we enter the twenty-first century.

3. The two governments will continue their close diplomatic consultation and cooperation, which have contributed to peace, prosperity and democracy in the world. In particular, they are committed to trilateral cooperation with the Republic of Korea to promote peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. They will also work closely to build peace in the Middle East and they are pleased that each government is making substantial contributions to humanitarian relief and to reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia.

4. The two governments will also cooperate to promote the spread of democracy, the rule of law, and the guarantee of basic human rights, so that all peoples can enjoy the benefits of freedom and the protection of a vigorous legal system.

5. The governments of Japan and the United States will join in bringing about meaningful reform of the United Nations system, including financial reform, reform of economic, social and development

programs, and reform of the Security Council, to make the United Nations more effective. They will work with other UN members to achieve a broad framework for reform by fall 1996. In this context, the United States strongly supports the addition of Japan as a permanent member of the Security Council.

6. Both governments will work to hasten the completion of negotiations on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) with the goal of signature by the fall of this year. They reaffirmed the importance of the commitment by nuclear weapons states at the NPT Review and Extension Conference last year to exercise utmost restraint pending the entry into force of the CTBT. They will continue to seek universal adherence to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and to support systematic and progressive efforts to reduce nuclear weapons globally with the ultimate goal of eliminating those weapons. The two governments emphasized the importance of bringing the Chemical Weapons Convention into force at the earliest possible date to prohibit chemical weapons and to reduce the threat of their use as instruments of war or terrorism. They agree on the need for prompt ratification of the Convention by

the United States and other signatories.

7. The two governments will cooperate to bring about the early start of work under the Wassenaar Arrangement as the first global regime to address dangers posed by transfers of conventional arms and

sensitive dual-use goods and technologies. They endorse ongoing efforts to strengthen the protocol on the use of land mines in the Convention on Conventional Weapons and encourage further international efforts to control the production, stockpiling and transfer of anti-personnel land mines. The two governments urge the fullest possible participation in the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms.

8. The two governments will cooperate to strengthen multilateral mechanisms to counter the threat of chemical, biological and nuclear terrorism. Both countries will work to support greater law enforcement

cooperation among nations. They will encourage all states to make efforts to become parties to, and to abide by, international treaties and conventions against terrorism. In addition, the two governments

will intensify research and development of technologies to deter, detect and apprehend terrorists.

9. As the world's two largest national economies, Japan and the U.S. reaffirm their important responsibility for effective management of the world economy and for the strengthening of the multilateral free trade system. The two governments will cooperate to ensure the success of the first World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference to be held in Singapore in December this year.

10. The two governments will enhance their cooperation in the work under way to strengthen the international economic system, including ensuring the effectiveness of institutions such as the World

Trade Organization, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

11. Both governments reaffirm their commitment to a balanced and mutually beneficial economic relationship and to the Framework for a New Economic Partnership and its basic objectives, including its goals: to deal with structural and sectoral issues in order substantially to increase access and sales of competitive foreign goods and services through market opening and macroeconomic measures; to increase investment; to promote international competitiveness; and to enhance bilateral economic cooperation between Japan and the United States.

12. For more than two years, through the process of the Framework talks and other consultations, the two governments have successfully addressed economic and trade issues of global significance, in a

manner consistent with international rules. These arrangements and measures will be implemented fully, and both governments will give priority attention to the remaining work of the Framework and

cooperate to resolve expeditiously any economic and trade issues which may arise.

13. The two governments welcome the progress that has been achieved so far under the Framework in the macroeconomic area, including budget deficit reduction in the United States and reduction in Japan's current account surplus. They recognize the need to continue their efforts to strengthen the basis for sustained growth and will continue to cooperate to this end.

14. APEC is the centerpiece for promoting broad economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. The Action Agenda adopted in Osaka last year provides a long-term, comprehensive course toward realization of the goals of free and open trade and investment and the promotion of economic and technical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, as set forth in the 1994 Bogor Declaration. The two governments will cooperate closely to advance APEC's objectives and to ensure the success of the

meetings in the Philippines this November.

15. The Common Agenda for Cooperation is an important example of how Japan and the United States work together on critical global issues to improve the future of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

Common Agenda projects are helping to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, combat narcotics production and trafficking, limit population growth, eradicate polio in Asia, expand educational opportunities for girls,

preserve coral reefs in the Pacific, promote technology cooperation, and develop human resources.

16. The two governments will expand the work of the Common Agenda to combat infectious diseases, improve global food supply, strengthen civil society and support democratization in developing and newly emerging countries, mitigate the damage from natural disasters, expand the use of technology in education, and combat terrorism. They will also explore the opportunity for new areas of cooperation under the Common Agenda on concepts for economic and social development that are compatible with preserving nature and environment in the twenty-first century. Both governments urge the private sector to support the Common Agenda and welcome third-country participation in Common Agenda projects.

17. The two governments will further promote exchange programs between young people of the two countries. From this standpoint the U.S. government greatly appreciates the comprehensive initiative of the government of Japan to provide opportunities for American high school students, college and graduate students, college graduates, teachers, researchers, artists, and other young people to learn about Japan. Both governments expect that the Japan-United States Conference on Cultural and Educational Interchange (CULCON) will continue to contribute to the wide range of exchanges between Japan and the United States. The two governments will also promote interaction between Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and members of the U.S. Peace Corps.

Japan and the United States enjoy a relationship that is based on common values and interests and on the friendship and trust that have developed between individual Japanese and Americans over the years. We renew our determination to build on this cooperation and friendship to strengthen further the bilateral relationship between Japan and the United States.

Tokyo, April 17, 1996

Prime Minister of Japan

President of the United States