CONFIDENTIAL
British Embassy Tokyo
RECORD OF THE PRIME MINISTER'S MEETING WITH THE JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER, 20 SEPTEMBER 1993
Those present:
Mr Iata, Japanese Foreign Minister
Ambassador Kitamura
Mr Nomura, Director-General, European and Oceanic Affairs Bureau Mr Nogami, Deputy Director-General, Foreign Policy Coordination Bureau
Mr Takaoka, Deputy Director, Second West Europe Division
The Prime Minister
Mr Needham, Minister for Trade
Sir J Boyd
Sir R Braithwaite
Sir J Coles
Mr Lyne
Ms Marsden
BILATERAL RELATIONS
1.
Mr Hata recalled that he had met the Foreign Secretary at the Ambassador's dinner in April on the very day he had turned down the post of Foreign Minister.
2.
The Prime Minister said that he welcomed the agreement which had been reached to exchange young diplomats. This was an excellent idea. He attached great importance to developing an even closer poltical dialogue with Japan at all levels.
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
Cambodia
3.
The Prime Minister asked Mr Hata for his impressions of Cambodia following his recent visit. During his own short term as Foreign Secretary, almost the first thing he did was to attend the Paris Conference on Cambodia. Mr Hata said that on the day he arrived, the Constituent Assembly had started to discuss the new constitution. He had spoken to both Presidents, who had been very careful to respect each other's position. Both Presidents stressed that after the withdrawal of UNTAC they would need a technical assistance programme. Together with Prince Sihanouk, they would appeal to the Khmer Rouge to renounce violence and abandon their separate zone, They would not give in to Khmer Rouge insistence on having 15% of Cabinet seats because all members of the Cabinet would have to be democratically elected. But they were prepared to consider integrating Khmer Rouge soldiers into the army and the police. His impression was that because of the high voter turn-out, there was a strong desire for peace and confidence in the democratic future of Cambodia. The Presidents were grateful to the
CONFIDENTIAL
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