news and policy issues that impact you. ofday morning, dan caldwell concerned veterans for america will talk about public policy issues affecting veterans. also michael will look at how congressional fund-raising has evolved. and then, the executive director for the john f. kennedy library foundation will reflect on the political legacy of announcer: be sure to watch c-span's washington journal live at 80 eastern monday morning. announcer: next, japanese prime minister shinzo abe on the economy, north korea and relations with the united date. then a review of iran's presidential election and another chance at 11:00 to see q&a with malcolm nance. announcer: the british parliament is in recess until after the dude a collection so

the prime minister comments will not be seen tonight. now, shinzo abe talks about the economy and his country's relationship with the u.s. and north korea. this is about 35 minutes. good evening, ladies and gentlemen. thank you very much for inviting me. i am delighted to see so many guests from the united states, as well as the nations of asia. please, enjoy your stay in japan. it has been more than 4 years since i have retaken the government. japan, before that, under the rule of the democratic party of japan was enwrapped with pesism with a sense of deregulation.

japan was not able to make its presence felt in the international arena. population is shrinking, thus it can no longer expect growth, japan is already in its twilight years, such was we often heard looming large before us to give it all up. the stock price, at the time, was less than half of what it is today over 8,000 yen or so. i stood up to take on the challenge. i promised to restore japan to what she use to be. how is japan today? during the past 4 years through our economic policies, it has grown by 9.5%, adding 47 trillion yen, an all-time high. nominal gdp has grown by 9.5%, adding 47 trillion yen, an all-time high. employment, which decreased by 290,000 jobs in the previous

administration, despite the decline in population, rose by 1.85 million in four years. what's more, 82% of them, women, unemployment rate is at 2.8%, almost full employment level. number of regular workers increased by 790,000 just in the two years. number of foreign -- and actually, it has gone down to 550,000 before they took over the government. the number of foreigners visiting japan surged, as well. before the start of my administration, it was 8 million in a year. last year, it reached 24 million, a threefold increase. immediately after taking over the government, i introduced visa waiver and relaxation. improvinghead with

the duty-free system, or japanese people's hospitality campaign is gaining momentum. we're targeting 40 million visitors to japan in the 2020. the year of the olympic and paralympic games. national tax revenue has expanded by 15 trillion yen, after the change in government. local governments have seen growth in their tax revenue for all the 47 prefectures. talking about the prefectures, all of the 47 prefectures now boast an active job openings rate of more than 1.0, meaning number of jobs is greater than number of applicants in every prefecture. this is the first time in history. as this trend continues, which itel will rise, bringing closer to the exit from deflation. in the japanese parliament

budget deliberation proceeded as , 2017 scheduled and was approved without any amendment. -- from april, the rate of employment insurance premium was decreased, augmenting the disposal income of employees. new system of scholarship, as well as plan to eliminate waiting lists for entering day care centers for children are reduced, and for university students, as well as children. already, my government has submitted eight bills to reform cultural policy legislation to the diet. when all the bills are made into law, an unprecedented agrarian reform will materialize. final draft was agreed on work style reform to be formulated into a bill to be proposed. in order for young couples to balance work and child care, new fiscal year's budget will be spent to increase nurseries and improve compensation for the

nursery teachers. we are working to enhance long- term care facilities to ensure enough caregivers so that those workers who are highly motivated should not have to quit jobs because of the need to take care of their parents. when we look at companies in the four years of my administration, corporate earnings have grown by 22 trillion yen. the money earned should not be withheld in the company to stop the wheels of growth. rather, i am doing my best , calling for a wage hike to bolster the purchasing power of the employees and for thorough promotion of a fairer trade practices between large company and the -- so that the fruit of growth will be spread all over the nation. looking at household income from the basis of redistribution,

after tax and social security payments, as well as benefits received, the coefficient is dropping. moreover, we are creating conducive environment for profits to be invested for the future. when all is realized, we will see increase in consumption and productivity. going forward, my policies are unchanged -- economy first and exit from deflation, continue to shoot the three arrows of monetary, fiscal, and structural reform policy again and again to make them happen. economic growth of japan and stable livelihood for our people cannot be realized without working closely with the global economy, ensuring peace and security is a foundation for this end. to that end, my consistent position, underscoring how i manage the government, is to strengthen japan-u.s. alliance and to broaden the range of the

diplomacy with the nation of the asia-pacific. since japan is not best in natural resources and surrounded by the ocean, we started early to be proactive overseas. whether they be large enterprises or sme's, businesses have supported nation building in the asian economies and in europe and the u.s. they have expanded their businesses while continuing to contribute to job creation. just two weeks ago, we have announced a contribution of $40 million to the new adb. this is for the initiative to introduce advanced technologies in the areas of environment, and transportation infrastructure. in order to develop quality infrastructure, the $200 billion of contribution that have been announced previously will be activated within this year. i am the prime minister of japan. therefore, for me, it is japan first. however -- however, be careful. listen to me.

however -- this japan, i mean, is a japan that coexists and advances side by side with global prosperity and peace. since last year, a series of general elections and referendums have taken place in many countries, giving birth to new leaders. in g7 alone, this happened in the uk, u.s., italy, and france. last week, we saw it in our neighbor, south korea. it was a year where the attention of world was glued to the choice and decisions of people of these countries and to under this backdrop, skepticism over free trade and the community of social affairs directed attention in the u.k. and germany. general elections are coming. as we approach autumn in china, a top leadership reshuffle is expected next spring comes the russian presidential election.

meanwhile, i have consistently emphasized free trade. that is because when creativity and innovation can be fully exerted and when those ideas are afforded [indiscernible] that hopefully will result in the spread of prosperous societies across the world. on top of that, global warming is advancing. changes in societies are already happening at this moment when the global community is challenged with so many difficulties. exchanges of insights, expertise of people with background become the key to finding solutions. what government should do is to eliminate barriers to such activities and reinforce institutions to render fair and just recognition of results of innovations. in order to promote free trade at a steady pace and industry in the sectors that will be affected, sufficient time will be spent by measured reforms.

we shall also make efforts to and courage -- efforts to encourage some activities overseas. if it was economized, and transportation cost can be expected to decline. however, to say that if one side has a trade surplus, the other side is suffering negative impact, that way of thinking will not do. after the start of this century, many emerging and developing economies have exceeded to the wto. however, in some of the states, enforceable demand of technical transfer to domestic entities, lack of discipline over state owned enterprises, noncompliance even if it is established, these sort of deficiencies continue to be observed.

intellectual properties need to be further strengthened, for the very reason that just because innovations across the world are in need right now, the tpb has been packaged in a form to respond to these concerns. therefore, there has been no change in my conviction that tpp is necessary in the asia-pacific, as this is the center of the global economy. at the end of this week, the signatories at the tpp 11 ministerial meeting will be convened. i look forward to advances in the discussion. with regard to the united states last month vice president pence , and deputy prime minister held the first japan-u.s. economic dialogue and agreed to continue the consultation on the common strategy on trade and investment rules and issues. andonly shall we accelerate reinforce the flow of trade and investment between japan and the

u.s., but we aspire to disseminate fair rules to act on the asia-pacific by japan and the u.s. at the helm. lastly, i will talk about the future going forward. you may be skeptical about the future of this country with the birthrate declining and population aging. is this country all right? that might be your feeling. so far, it was a taboo to say to raise the birthrate, but my government has decided to target a birthrate of 1.8 by the early 2020's, and child care services are being expanded. i also attach importance to investing in human resources by encouraging the introduction of robotics and ai. we shall harness our people to be equipped with production skills in order to improve results and outcomes.

as for foreign workers, we are welcoming more of them, mainly who have technical expertise, and their number went above one million for the first time last year. my goal is to realize a society where each and every citizen can exert their respective skills in -- skills and confidence in a society with dynamic engagement of citizens. it is the japanese version of inclusive society. every person would be shining. advancement and empowerment of women indeed is the key to reintegrating the japanese economy. the abundant experiences and high academic backgrounds of women they still remain dormant. it's not only about increasing the number of woman participating in the labor market, but to have more woman in leadership positions with responsibility at workplaces. this year, with the support of harvard business school, we have started a project for candidate

woman to receive training. that when varying diverse sense of values and experiences of individuals co-mingle, innovation will be promoted and will eventually lead to products and services and even new social systems. yet of course, we must never forget being on alert. despite the strong warning by the global community, north korea two days ago once again launched a ballistic missile, in defiance of the warning. the threat of north korea is becoming severe at a higher level. terrorism is spreading across the world. covert, maneuver, but isil has not ceased. we shall have to maintain an unprecedented sense of tension must reinforce our global collaboration. without peace and stability, there will be no growth, no

prosperity. must reinforce ourit is not onf north korea, but unilateral attempts to change the status by forcible coercion in the ease and south china seas have not ceased. the rule of law and speech and freedom and dedication is also under threat. under this backdrop, japan is strengthening our bonds of alliance with united states more than ever before, from the leaders level to defense corporations on the ground, our corporation is very close. with regard to the economies, we are deepening our maritime security cooperation in terms of maritime, patrol capacity building amongst us. at the end of next week, with members including president trump, president macri and others, under the presidency of -- that g7 summit will take place. leaders sharing universal values

will strengthen unity and solidarity and endeavored to elucidate the path the world ought to follow. based on my experience as chair last year and pat summitt, i am keen to contribute to the deliberation. thank you for your very kind attention. [applause] >> thank you very much, prime minister. you talked a lot about the economic -- japan's economy and economic relations. i want to ask you a couple of questions, if i may, especially on the international economic picture. you have had a chance to meet twice with president trump since he was elected president. by all accounts, you struck up a

good relationship, played golf with him, i think, at mar-a-lago. you're not going to tell us who won. but you obviously started up a good relationship, and you have talked about the importance of the u.s.-japan relationship. but you were not able to persuade him to back off his campaign promise to withdraw the united states from tpp, and he has spoken very critically about tpp, indeed about international trade arrangements with other countries. with the administration now looking at international economic relations, the new u.s. administration -- you now have wilbur ross, commerce secretary, who has been critical of japan's policies in the past. japan still has a large trade surplus with the united states. $70 billion, larger than mexico. second only to china in terms of the u.s. deficits. are you confident that you can

get a constructive trading relationship with the united states, given the importance that president trump has attached to what he calls fair trade, and to eliminating or at least reducing some of the trade deficits that the u.s. has? pm abe: [translated] between japan and the united states, i believe that economic cooperation can be developed and expanded. we will be able to build a win-win relationship. i am convinced of this. between president trump and i, myself, before the inauguration, -- that is to say, last year -- and after the inauguration on the 10th of february, we have had the summit meeting. and on those occasions, i have explained to him on the current

status of japan-u.s. trade. for the automotive industry, for example, in the past there was a criticism of japan that we are making torrential exports to the united states. there was the so-called u.s.-japan trade friction, but right now, japanese companies have built factories in the united states and that have ensured many jobs in the united states and contributing wealth to the u.s. economy. and further, and with the currency fluctuation, we have never made to expand ourselves by trying to sell it cheaply. so between japan and united states, looking at trade and economic relationships have evolved hugely, and i've explained to president trump, and i believe he understands this. and after united kingdom, when it comes to fdi and investment in united states, creating jobs and united states, japan is number two. we are making huge investments

in the united states. and i have told president trump on this. and how we should expand and develop our relationship? we should create a framework. vice president pence and the deputy prime minister will have a dialogue. the other day, vice president pence visited japan. free and fair rules should be --ated together between together with the united states, and as the trade rules in the world, we have agreed on this. in the infrastructure for railways and other infrastructures, for individual projects, we have the will to move forward with collaboration and cooperation. we have agreed on this count as well. within this year, there will be a second-round of the deputy prime minister and vice president pence, a dialogue will

take place. i believe without a doubt, meeting the national interest of both the united states and japan, we will have good discussion and a good conclusion. >> president trump prefers bilateral trade arrangements to multilateral arrangements like tpp and nafta. would you be -- is there a possibility there for a bilateral u.s.-japan free trade agreement at some time in the trump administration? between[translated] u.s. and japan, bilateral fda's or epa's, we do not deny at all. but there are multiple option we have in mind, and we shall have to discuss what would be the best out of all options. about multilaterals, indeed, i fully acknowledge the position of the trump administration, but there is the supply chain that

exists, and fair and free trade rules to be made in a multilateral setting to create such fair and open trade rules for many times. repeatedly, i have explained to president trump -- during golf, i did not explain, but i did explain on other occasions. as for president trump, he did listened earnestly to myself on that premise. >> what about tpp itself? there has been a lot of talk that 11 members of tpp, without the united states, may go ahead with an arrangement. there is obviously a lot of interest in other possible trade negotiations under arsep. would you favor going ahead and initially, aneast agreement between the 11 members of tpp with the possibility of getting the u.s. involved again? have you given up completely on the idea of tpp? do you think it can be

resurrected? pm abe: [translated] on tpp, the 12 economies that have been engaged in intensive discussion and finally agreed, and it is of a very high level of ambition. agreed, a very high level -- a very high quality agreement has been reached through the agreement of the 12 economies. this is quite relevant and important that such rules have been agreed at the tpp. and this momentum, i believe, should not be lost. and against this backdrop, japan should execute firm leadership so that the fruits and results thegst these 12 -- amongst tpp 11 in hanoi. there will be the ministerial so i hope the way

ahead will be definitely shown. as for the tpp 11 to get together, we have already been given understanding by the united states. >> one of the themes we have been discussing today is the u.s. engagement with asia, and one or two people have expressed concern that since the presidential election and the rejection of tpp and china is taking a much more assertive role, the one belt, one road, the aiib, the u.s. has less of a voice in asia. there is a lot of concern expressed here and elsewhere in asia that the u.s. may not be engaged in the important asian economic and security conversations as its traditional allies, japan perhaps most of all, would like to be. are you concerned about that? do you think the u.s. is disengaging from these asian conversations? pm abe: [translated] as for myself, in fact, today, with

admiral harris, commander of the pacific command, i have just spoken with admiral harry harris. after trump took administration, in a certain sense in this region regarding the security of northeast asia, in a sense i recognize that the commitment has been strengthened. for example, the situation in north korea, the trump administration is seriously tackling this situation, aircraft carrier carl vinson has been dispatched. >> it was finally dispatched. we are sure it is on its way? [laughter] . it was delayed, i think, for a while. [laughter] pm abe: [translated] of course, there is a strategic meaning. it could have been strategic. but meanwhile, before entering

the japan sea, the self-defense forces engaged in joint exercise and there was movement northward that was the significance. and throughout that, whatever had to be done had to be urged to north korea, or we had to urge china so they would play their role. i believe and i imagine, i presume, that that was a strategic way of thinking. but in this way, there is a thorough demonstration of attitude that all the options are on the table. that viewpoint has been demonstrated both in words and deeds. we highly appreciate this attitude. in addition to that, in the south and the east china seas, regarding the situations occurring there, about their attitude, the u.s. commitment is unwavering. the other day, during my summit talk with president trump, during in the joint statement regarding the senkaku island, that it is subject to article 5 of our security alliance, it is

now explicitly mentioned in the language with regard to relation with north korea for all circumstances. all options, including nuclear. this also has been documented, described explicitly, which means the u.s. commitment i think has been demonstrated in a stronger way. that is my understanding. >> let me ask you about north korea. in the last three years, north korea has tested more missiles than in the past 30 years , including just this weekend. a new missile with a longer range than we have seen in the past. this is an increasingly threatening posture that we have seen from the north korean leadership. you have had many conversations with president trump, i think with president moon in south korea, no doubt president xi in china. the u.s. seems to be relying on china, essentially, to exert pressure on north korea and thinks that is the right way to go to ensure that we resolve this threat from north korea. is that going to work?

is it your impression that diplomatic, that security approach through china is the most effective way to get north korea to back off this increasingly aggressive posture? pm abe: [translated] already, japan and the united states and many other countries through the united nations security council resolution have been applying pressure on north korea. now, the china constitutes more than 80% in overall trade in north korea. so with china dispensing its responsibility in a proper manner, i believe that we will be able to bring a conclusion to the question of north korea. now about north korea is importing -- china has stopped import of coal from north korea. but there are many other things that china can do. so we would like to have to encourage china to properly

execute its responsibility, and we are watching closely. and the missile with the launch by north korea recently, this is a very high level launch. it has -- for the first time reached altitude of 2,000 kilometers and have the warhead, what is happening on the missile is to be assessed. i believe that was the purpose of the experiment this time. that is how we assess the situation. so the technology of it i -- the missile has progressed and i would like to share this concern so we can exert pressure on north korea and when and if nuclear test is conducted then we need to have additional pressures to be applied through the united nations security

council. on this count as well, china should properly take actions and china should understand fully and between united states and china through the summit meeting i understand that there were other talks on this. >> do you think china will? china was more aggressive with south korea recently in its response to the deployment of the thaad missiles. put economic sanctions against alphabet. they seem to be more aggressive at south korea than it has been with north korea. you talked about the limitation of coal but do you -- is china moving in the right direction there or does it seem to be still wanting to keep that close relationship with pyongyang in a way that is not putting much pressure on them? translator: for china, the one belt, one road, the extremely

important forum was organized during the weekend. on that day, the missile was launched i'm sure the chinese deeply perplexed that north korea chose that date, china would receive the message of north korea that would be the point. so north korea is provocative behavior. this is the time that we have to stop and see solidarity and united action. for that, japan will strongly appeal to china. as for in terms of sino-japan relationship, during the apec i had a meeting with president xi. this is the 45th anniversary of normalization of diplomatic relationship. next year, it is the 40th anniversary of our friendship treaty with china. president xi and we have agreed

about taking these to milestone years. but foreign tourists and visitor number i mentioned but is it the largest number coming to china from japan and international students largest number from china to japan. person to person exchanges is at a very high level and as a trade partner, china is the largest trade partner for us. so with this situation -- in the way that china responds to the expectation of the global community, we would also like to urge china to move in that direction. >> and finally, prime minister, a new president has taken office in south korea just last week. he favors not only a more conciliatory relationship with north korea than his predecessor but has taken a tougher line with japan over the comfort women and he rejects the agreement you signed with president park a couple of years

ago. i think you had a conversation with president moon last week and i'm sure this issue came up. are you prepared -- is japan prepared to do more on this issue given the importance to you and to korea and to the united states of a healthy, productive relationship between japan and south korea. is japan prepared to make more concessions and acknowledge more responsibility for comfort women in the way that president moon would like? is that a basis for a deal you can get again? translator: the other day with the new president moon we had a telephone conversation about we would like to further develop our bilateral relationship in a forward-look manner and for north korea what should be the position and stance we should

take. we have discussed on this and to president moon i believe on the whole have been accepted, the stance of the dialogue and pressure and forward action that the international community should work in unity to try and stop the acts of north korea and try to denuclearize. i believe we were able to come to agreement. now for the comfort women issue which has been a thorny issues for many years. with president park we have come to agreement with the united states and united nations and many other countries have commended us on what we have been able to win why the claim and irreversible and final way we have come to agreement and we have come to the agreement on

this. we have committed ourselves, both of our countries and we should faithfully implement the agreement. >> just because there is no possibility of that agreement being renegotiated in any way? translator: regarding this matter, for many years it has been a long-term issue between the two countries but between myself and president park we finally made our determinations. if one side unilaterally -- one party did not gain advantage. both of us tried to make a future oriented decision and each of us, the leader, made a decision for the country. is it a country to country agreement or commitment. the global community was paying attention of our decision. all the people of the world said that this is a good agreement. so there was a demonstration of high appreciation. so with that background the

agreement was reached and therefore what is required now is that both of us follow the agreement and implement what has been agreed. i think that is required. >> prime minister, thank you very much. please join me in thanking him. thank you. >> the cause of the british parliament is in recess until after the jew hate elections, prime minister questions will not be seen this week. you can go to c-span.org anytime. >> more than the big fight, more than our race, more than our religion, it is our actions, every day that defined who we -- define us.

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university of pennsylvania, vice president mike pence at notre dame, senator tammy duckworth, former president bill clinton at william smith college, kelly ayotte and joseph dunford. monday on c-span and c-span.org. now, a look at the future of u.s.-iran relations. from washington journal, this is about 30 minutes. >> this is the founder and president of the national iranian american council. here to talk about a couple of issues. the trip of president trump that they just wrapped up last night here in washington. the first part of that trip was in saudi arabia as the elections