mr. nakatani to the appointment of defense minister. he's long been engaged in drafting national security policies and is well versed in the country's self-defense forces. he played a key role in the negotiations within the ruling coalition. from now on, with the help of mr. nakatani, we'd like to continue striving to seek the people's understanding and prepare the bills we aim to submit to the ordinary session of the diet next year. what's important is that we are going to have a national referendum after a constitutional amendment bill is initiated by the diet. and we must have a majority in the referendum to pass such a bill. that would be the moment of truth. it's the most important part or stage of the process of amending the constitution. we have to have public support. the question of which articles of the constitution are subject to amendment should be decided by public referendum. we want to make further efforts to seek public support for amending the constitution. i was able to meet with chinese president xi jinping at the ape