U.S. Department of State Daily Press Briefing, 01-07-07

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From: The Department of State Foreign Affairs Network (DOSFAN) at <http://www.state.gov>

Richard Boucher, Spokesman

Washington, DC

July 7, 2001

INDEX:

ANNOUNCEMENTS
1         Travel of Secretary Powell to Rome
1         Travel of Secretary Powell to Asia
CHINA
1-2       Detainees and Judicial Proceedings
JAPAN
2-3       Okinawa Incident

MR. BOUCHER: Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It's good to be here. Let me announce a couple trips, talk about one thing that I said yesterday which turned out not to be completely true, and then we'll get on with the rest of the briefing.

First on travel, let me tell you about two trips the Secretary is going to make in the up and coming. He will depart on July 17th for Rome, Italy, will get there the morning of July 18th. He will participate in the G-8 Foreign Ministers Meeting on the 18th and 19th where they discuss the issues that will be taken up in advance of the G-8 Summit in Genoa, and then Secretary Powell will return to the United States on July 19th. So that's a quick trip to Rome for that meeting.

A sign-up sheet is being posted in the Press Office, and it will come down Tuesday, July 10th at 5:00 p.m. So you have until next Tuesday to sign up for that trip.

Now, there is another trip shortly thereafter. Secretary Powell will travel to Asia from July 22nd to August 1st. The stops will include Japan, Vietnam, the Republic of Korea, the People's Republic of China, and Australia. He will arrive in Tokyo July 23rd for meetings with key officials, and then he will go on to Hanoi to attend the ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Post- Ministerial Conference on July 24-26.

While in Hanoi, since many leaders from Asia will be gathered, he will have an opportunity to meet with representatives of other countries from the region. And then from Hanoi, he will travel back to Seoul on July 27th, to Beijing on July 28th, for meetings with senior officials in those countries. And then from Beijing, he will travel to Canberra where he and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will participate with their Australian counterparts in our Annual Australian-US Ministerial Consultations on July 30th. And then he will depart Canberra on July 31st.

Again, a sign-up sheet is being posted in the Press Office today. You can sign up for that trip. The sign-up period will close also Tuesday, July 10th at 5:00 p.m.

All right, now for a brief mea culpa. I apologize for trying to be a wire service. It turned out the late-breaking news yesterday was not entirely accurate. The trials that we talked about in China have not started. There was somewhere along the chain a mistranslation of what the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said, which amounts to that the judicial process was under way.

So having that information corrected, let me give you the best and most accurate information of where these things stand that I have at this moment. And this is more direct information from the Chinese Government, not just what the spokesman said.

The trial of US citizen Li Shaomin will begin on Saturday, July 14th, in the Beijing First Intermediate Court. The Chinese Government has also informed us that an Embassy consular officer would be permitted to attend the trial with an interpreter.

As far as a trial for Gao Zhan, we do not have any specific information on that at this point, other than, as I said, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman's comment, which was that the judicial process was under way.

And I think those are the facts, as we know them on trials in China, or people we are interested in. As you know, the President talked to President Jiang yesterday and raised the issue of our detainees.

Q: Do you know what they mean by "judicial process"?

MR. BOUCHER: No, I don't, and I would have to leave them to explain how their courts proceed in these matters.

Q: Mr. Armitage had said earlier today that there was an expectation that both would begin in about a week. Is that how you see the Gao Zhan proceeding as well?

MR. BOUCHER: We actually have a date for the trial of Li Shaomin. We would assume that the Gao Zhan trial would be in the same time frame, but we don't have a date for it. So I can't speak for the Chinese on this one and tell you when it might start.

Q: Because Gao Zhan is not a US citizen, are you expecting that you will be allowed a consular officer and interpreter?

MR. BOUCHER: I think if it's not an open public trial, which most of these are not, we wouldn't have any ability to get somebody in there.

All right. Other issues and questions? George?

Q: I have enough words already. No questions.

Q: I second that.

Q: Can I ask one about the Japan handover of the servicemen? One of the issues, it seems, if we are to believe Japanese media reports, is whether the guy was allowed to have a translator, either of his own naming or of the police naming, during the questioning period that is going to take place.

Can you say if he will, in fact, be allowed a translator or give us any more details of the conditions under which the process will go ahead?

MR. BOUCHER: I am not able to give you any more details of the conditions under which the process will go ahead, other than to say that we have had discussions with the Japanese Government on the situation that the US service member will be in, and from those discussions we have satisfied ourselves that he will be receiving fair and humane treatment throughout his custody.

Q: Could you kindly give us a reason why you cannot go into details of this "fair and the humane treatment"?

MR. BOUCHER: Because we have satisfied ourselves, but it is not for us to announce any particular procedures or circumstances that the Japanese might apply to this case. We are not the ones that will be carrying them out.

Q: Are you saying that the Japanese Government has advised you not to go into details of the deal?

MR. BOUCHER: I’m saying we are not the ones that will be carrying out these procedures, so we are not going to describe them.

All right, we can set a new record. We've got one more.

Q: Related to the military bases in Japan, on SOFA, Status of Forces Agreement, there is a growing demand in Japan that SOFA should be reviewed. Are you considering the situation in Japan, or are you concerned about it?

MR. BOUCHER: I'm not aware of any change in that at this point.

Q: Thank you.

MR. BOUCHER: Thank you. [End]

Released on July 7, 2001

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