US, Japan hold high level talks
(VOVworld) – Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko held a state-level ceremony on Thursday morning at Japan’s Imperial Palace to welcome US President Barack Obama. President Obama then had talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe where they pledged to further improve the two countries’ alliance. Mr. Abe said Obama’s visit was evidence of US policy towards Asia, noting that Japan hopes to promote the key role of the US-Japanese alliance in maintaining peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, Obama said the US-Japanese relationship was important as a foundation for the regional security and any regional security matters would be addressed with the two countries’ close cooperation. He said that bilateral ties covered many fields in addition to security, adding that the US and Japan were the world’s leading economies and their cooperation would create opportunities to build a breakthrough economic institution in Asia-Pacific.
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| US President Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the joint press conference in Tokyo. Photo: Reuters |
After talks President Obama and Prime Minister Abe held a joint press conference where they released a joint statement, saying that the Senkaku island, known as Diao Yu in Chinese, is covered by the US-Japanese security treaty and the US rejects any unilateral moves that could cause damage to Japan’s management rights over the island.