PM Takaichi to Make Diplomatic Debut in Malaysia

Tokyo, Oct. 24 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office on Tuesday, will leave for Kuala Lumpur on Saturday to attend meetings related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Before leaving, Takaichi plans to hold her first telephone meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, who will visit Japan from Monday. While in Malaysia, the new Japanese leader will attend a Japan-ASEAN summit on Sunday and host an Asia Zero Emission Community summit jointly with Malaysia. She is also expected to hold bilateral meetings. After returning home, Takaichi will hold her first face-to-face meeting with Trump on Tuesday, with the aim of confirming the strengthening of the Japan-U.S. alliance. On Thursday, Takaichi will visit Gyeongju, South Korea, to attend an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. She is also expected to hold talks with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung. In her first policy address to the Diet on Friday, Takaichi vowed to strongly promote the free and open Indo-Pacific initiative, championed by the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as a pillar of the country’s diplomatic policy. According to an informed source, Takaichi has complained to her aides that the government was not doing enough recently to promote the initiative. At a press conference on Friday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said that ASEAN, which is in a geopolitically strategic location, is key to realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]