Japan’s Takaichi Seeking to Bridge U.S., Europe at G7 Debut

Evian, France, June 15 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will seek to act as a bridge between the United States and Europe at her first G7 summit, amid a rift between the two sides over the Middle East and other issues. Takaichi will aim to serve as an intermediary by leveraging her relatively good ties with U.S. President Donald Trump at the meeting of leaders from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union in Evian, eastern France. The summit will begin in earnest with a working dinner on Monday night. At the event, Takaichi plans to explain the situation in the Indo-Pacific region and advocate a united response to China, which is stepping up its economic and military coercion. She will also aim to call for upgrading the “free and open Indo-Pacific” vision first advocated by Japan a decade ago. With the rise of China and instability in the Middle East, strengthening supply chains for critical minerals and energy has become a shared challenge for the international community. The prime minister plans to propose during the summit, which runs through Wednesday, a framework under which each G7 member establishes stockpiles of key minerals and cooperates with one another. She will also seek support for three principles on energy security, including efforts to secure oil stockpiles in cooperation with the International Energy Agency. G7 countries initially planned not to issue a comprehensive joint statement at the summit, in order to avoid showing discord between the United States and Europe over the Middle East situation. But after the United States and Iran agreed to end fighting, “the environment around the discussions has changed significantly,” a senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]