After a tour of the Middle East, the US Secretary of State arrived in Japan
TOKYO —US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reiterated that the Indo-Pacific region will remain a US focus despite other global challenges, including the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Speaking at Ankara airport after talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Blinken said: “While we focus closely on the crisis in Gaza, we are also doing vital work to advance American interests in the Indo-Pacific and other parts of the world.”
On Tuesday, the head of American diplomacy arrived in Tokyo to participate in a meeting of G7 foreign ministers and bilateral negotiations.
Blinken spoke he intends to acquaint his G7 associates on his recent stay to the Middle East.
Japan is presiding over the G7 this time.
Ukraine’s economic recovery and support for its energy needs, as well as regional security issues, will be discussed in Blinken’s bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa.
Kishida has just returned from Manila and Kuala Lumpur, where he confirmed that Japan will develop defense and maritime security cooperation with the Philippines and Malaysia.
Both the Philippines and Japan are seeking to strengthen trilateral defense ties with the United States in response to what they see as China’s growing military aggression in the East China and South China Seas.
Japan rejects China’s calls to the Senkaku islets in the East China Sea. The Philippines and China are on course for a confrontation over the South China Sea, as evidenced by an incident in October when Chinese ships blocked and collided with two Philippine vessels off the Second Thomas Shoal.
Following the clash, US President Joe Biden reaffirmed Washington’s “unbreakable” commitment to the defense of the Philippines.
The United States supported Japan’s resolution to leave purified radioactive water from the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear authority factory into the Pacific Ocean. Blinken said the US is satisfied with the “safe, transparent and science-based procedure” followed by Japan.
However, this decision caused outrage from neighboring countries.
For example, China has banned all seafood imports from Japan.
“The PRC is hypocritically banning Japanese seafood while simultaneously fishing for the same fish in Japanese waters,” US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel said on social network X (formerly Twitter).
Before traveling to Asia, Blinken visited Israel, Jordan, the West Bank, Iraq and Turkey, where he reiterated Washington’s support for a humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip.
Such pauses would allow vital aid to be delivered to civilians while Israel intensifies its offensive against Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
