Japan PM Fumio Kishida holds series of meetings with foreign dignitaries, a day before he hosts state funeral for Shinzo Abe
The Hindu
Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida met U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte and about 10 other foreign dignitaries.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida held a series of meetings with foreign dignitaries on September 26 in what he's called “funeral diplomacy" the day before he hosts a controversial state-sponsored ceremony for former leader Shinzo Abe.
Mr. Kishida has been criticised for pushing for Tuesday's formal state funeral for Abe, who was assassinated in July, amid questions over their governing party's close ties with the Unification Church, accused of brainwashing its adherents and doubts over the legitimacy of a state event with links to prewar imperial Japan.
Mr. Kishida says the honour is fitting for the longest-serving leader in Japan’s modern political history. He has also said it will allow him to meet personally with visiting foreign leaders and forge stronger ties at a time where Japan faces a host of urgent issues in northeast Asia and the world, from Chinese and North Korean military threats to worries over regional economic and security matters.
In a rush of planned meetings, Mr. Kishida is to hold talks with about 40 foreign dignitaries over the next few days at the Akasaka state guest house in Tokyo.
Mr. Kishida met on Monday with U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, Vietnamese President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Philippine Vice-President Sara Duterte and about 10 other foreign dignitaries.
On September 27, he is to hold talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
China, a sometimes harsh critic of what it saw as the conservative Abe's moves to expand Japan's military and whitewash history, will send former Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang. He is also the head of the China Zhiong Party, one of eight figurehead bodies tasked with advising the ruling Communist Party and giving China the veneer of a multiparty system.
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