Japan and US vow to boost security ties on sidelines of G7 meeting in UK

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Saturday, 11 December. The two dignitaries had a meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Foreign Ministerial meeting in Liverpool, United Kingdom. During the meeting, both sides reiterated the importance of US-Japan to promote peace, security, prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and discussed various global and regional issues. 

Taking to Twitter, Antony Blinken shared two pictures of his meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister. Furthermore, he informed that they looked forward to strengthening ties on issues like COVID-19, the climate crisis. In a press release on 11 December, Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa. During the meeting, they discussed a range of regional and global issues, including the importance of ASEAN centrality in addressing the issues. Blinken in the meeting highlighted the importance of US-Japan-Republic of Korea cooperation for maintaining a "free, open, interconnected, prosperous, resilient, and secure Indo-Pacific region".

Antony Blinken & Yoshimasa Hayashi meeting in Liverpool

In the statement released by Japan Foreign Ministry, the two dignitaries were delighted to meet each other in person. The meeting between Blinken and Yoshimasa lasted for 25 minutes. During the meeting, they exchanged views on regional issues like China and North Korea. They highlighted the importance of Japan-US ties and they will continue to work together. Hayashi welcomed the commitment of the United States to the Indo-Pacific region.

Hayashi praised US President Joe Biden's participation in the East Asia Summit (EAS) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ meeting and Blinken’s visit to Southeast Asia. The two dignitaries underscored that Japan and the US. will continue to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN countries and coordination with like-minded countries like Australia and India for free and open Indo-Pacific. Both sides also agreed to coordinate towards conducting a 2+2 meeting at the earliest. 

Image: Twitter/@SecBlinken