The top diplomats of Japan and the United States agreed Tuesday to elevate the bilateral relationship to "new heights" on all fronts and continue working multilaterally with like-minded countries such as the Philippines and South Korea, just a day after Donald Trump returned to the White House for a nonconsecutive second term, APA reports citing Kyodo News.
After holding talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told reporters that they also agreed to continue making arrangements for a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump at an early date.
North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs as well as issues related to China were among the topics covered by Iwaya and Rubio, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said, adding they confirmed the further enhancement of the Japan-U.S. alliance's deterrence and response capabilities.
Iwaya said he explained to Rubio that Japan has been dramatically increasing its defense spending.
The U.S. State Department said the two discussed how their countries can cooperate to counter threats in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, including "joint efforts against China's destabilizing actions."
In addition, Rubio and Iwaya discussed China's support for Russia's defense industrial base and Pyongyang's political and security alignment with Moscow, it said.
The Japanese ministry said they also agreed on the importance of addressing major challenges facing the region with "minilateral" cooperation involving three or four countries, such as Australia, the Philippines and South Korea, which Trump's predecessor Joe Biden aimed to strengthen during his term.
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