Bill Clinton: “Japan in Tokyo April 17, 1996 Prime Minister Hashimoto. Right in front of you, I and President Clinton signed two…”

“Japan in Tokyo April 17, 1996 Prime Minister Hashimoto. Right in front of you, I and President Clinton signed two documents. One is the message to the peoples of Japan and the United States that lays down the direction in which the two countries should, together, proceed towards the 21st century. And the second is the Japan-U.S. Declaration on Security. The message to the peoples of Japan and the United States summarizes how important the Japan-U.S. bilateral relationships are for our peoples and how our two countries will cooperate on a future agenda by referring to the preciousness of democracy and freedom, bilateral cooperation on regional issues, cooperation for U.N. reform, and on disarmament and on our economic relations and how we shall cooperate with each other in these respects. The Japan-U.S. Declaration on Security reaffirms that the Japan-U.S. security setup will continue to play an important role, as in the past, in preserving security, peace, and stability in the Asia-Pacific, and notes that it will be the starting point for our bilateral cooperation into the future. Our meeting covered a wide ground: security, economic, and other bilateral issues, as well as various problems of the international community and the consolidation, realignment, and reduction of military facilities in Okinawa. Both Governments are making sincere efforts to reduce the burden on the Okinawa people by paying our utmost consideration to the feelings of the Okinawa people.…”