Ambassador Lays Out Japan's Summit Priorities
Voice of America
The following is the full text of an interview with Koji Tomita, the Japanese ambassador in Washington, conducted this week in advance of a visit to the White House by Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. An article based on the interview is also being published.
VOA: What is the significance to Japan of the upcoming summit between President (Joe) Biden and Prime Minister (Yoshihide) Suga? What would Japan like to see happen at the summit? Will we see new evidence of closer cooperation between Tokyo and Washington in regional and global affairs? AMBASSADOR KOJI TOMITA: This is the first in-person Japan-U.S. summit for both leaders, an event that has always been important in setting a positive tone for our overall diplomatic relationship. We are also honored that Prime Minister Suga will be the first leader of a foreign nation to hold a face-to-face meeting with President Biden since he took office in January. Considering the circumstances with the COVID-19 pandemic and regional affairs, this meeting has an even higher profile than usual. I'm confident that both Prime Minister Suga and President Biden are going to rise to that challenge and build on the foundations of our strong relationship on a number of key points. First, the leaders will coordinate the strategy needed to further strengthen our alliance, and to realize a "Free and Open Indo-Pacific." This is particularly important as the security environment in the region has become increasingly severe. President Biden and Prime Minister Suga will be building on the strong joint statement released following the recent "2 + 2" meetings in Tokyo, which endorsed the enhancement of the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance.FILE - A regional hospital is seen from the street in Bafoussam, Cameroon, Sept. 20, 2021. Officials in the country say doctors are fleeing Cameroon to escape hardship, poor pay, difficult working conditions and unemployment. FILE - Nurses talk with a 13-year-old boy with a gunshot wound as he lies in a hospital bed in Kumba, Cameroon, Oct. 25, 2020.
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FILE - Steel rolls are seen at a holding area at a factory in Nantong in China's eastern Jiangsu province on March 1, 2022. President Joe Biden speaks at a campaign event, April 16, 2024, in Scranton, Pa. Biden has begun three straight days of campaigning in Pennsylvania in his childhood hometown of Scranton. FILE - Steel pipes are seen at a port to be loaded onto ships for export to various countries in Lianyungang, eastern China's Jiangsu province on Dec. 1, 2015.
FILE - Myanmar's then-leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyidaw, Myanmar, Jan. 28, 2020. Myanmar’s military says Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as health measure due to a heat wave. Prisoners in a bus are welcomed by family members after their were release from Insein Prison, April 17, 2024, in Yangon, Myanmar. On Wednesday Myanmar's military government granted amnesty for over 3,000 prisoners to mark this week’s traditional New Year holiday.
People whose houses were demolished on public health grounds collect water in the Gesco neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Feb. 28, 2024. Rapid urbanization has led to a population boom and housing shortages in Abidjan, where nearly one in five Ivorians reside. A house that was demolished on public health grounds in the Gesco neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Feb. 28, 2024. A school girl walks past houses that were demolished on public health grounds in the Gesco neighborhood of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Feb. 28, 2024.