 |
| Prime Minister Shinzo Abe |
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The position of the Japan-U.S. alliance as the linchpin of Japanese foreign policy and security is an "unchanging principle," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in a policy speech Friday hours before the inauguration of the next U.S. president.
Speaking in the Diet at the opening of a 150-day ordinary session, Abe said he wants to hold talks with President-elect Donald Trump as soon as possible after the inauguration.
Abe described Japan as being "at the center" of a rapidly changing world, pledging to "develop dynamic peace diplomacy and economic diplomacy" at a time when several major world powers are undergoing changes of leadership.
Amid uncertainty over Trump's foreign policy strategy, Abe's choice of words indicates a resolve to work with the Trump administration and U.S. allies to maintain the rules-based world order advocated by outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama.
"As a standard-bearer of free trade, (Japan) will construct a 21st-century economic system based on fair rules," Abe said.
Abe said Japan will take a leadership role in negotiations toward the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade mega-pact, in which China is the largest participant by gross domestic product.
The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-party deal signed last year and piloted by the United States, is expected to fail to come into force due to Trump's pledge to immediately withdraw from the pact once he takes office later Friday.
Abe and Trump met in New York in November following a presidential election campaign during which Trump said Japan and other allies need to shoulder more of the costs associated with stationing U.S. forces on their soil.
Read the full story at The Mainichi