Abe plans U.S. visit, summit with Obama during Golden Week holidays January 03, 2015 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama during a visit to the United States over the Golden Week national holidays between late April and early May. One objective of the summit will be to confirm the strengthening of the bilateral alliance regarding national security with the expected completion of a review of defense cooperation guidelines in the first half of this year. According to sources in the prime ministers office, Abe indicated to Obama during a telephone conference between the two leaders on Dec. 17, 2014, that he wanted to visit the United States. Obama reportedly said that Abe should visit at a time when revisions to the defense cooperation guidelines were close to being finalized. Officials of the two governments are discussing how to revise those guidelines to allow for greater Japanese support of the U.S. military. Abe is seeking to reach an agreement on the guidelines shortly after unified local elections are held in April. Revision of the defense cooperation guidelines will be conducted in conjunction with the submission of legislation to the Diet related to national security to implement the governments change in its interpretation of the Constitution to allow for the exercise of the right to collective self-defense. The Abe Cabinet approved in July 2014 changing the long-held government interpretation that had banned the exercise. Since Abe would want to confirm the results of the discussions to revise the defense cooperation guidelines, work on that effort would have to be accelerated to meet the prime ministers timetable of visiting the United States between late April and early May. Work will also proceed on negotiations related to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade arrangement so that an agreement can be reached by the time of Abes summit with Obama. Abe also plans to give a speech during his visit, with this year marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. In his planned remarks, Abe will reflect on the change in the Japan-U.S. relationship from one of enemies during World War II to close partners in the postwar period. Abe is also expected to demonstrate Japans intention to contribute to world peace along with the United States. One aim of the speech will likely be to dispel concerns in the United States about stability in Asia with the worsening of relations between Japan and both China and South Korea due to Abes stance on historical recognition issues. THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 03:13:39 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015