Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will travel to Vietnam and the Philippines on a four-day official visit starting on Sunday. The visit is part of Japan’s summit diplomacy aimed at maintaining a rules-based international order in the Indo-Pacific region.
Ishiba’s visit follows Chinese President Xi Jinping’s recent visit to the region, the Japanese government said Wednesday. At a time when US President Donald Trump is creating uncertainties about the global economic and security environment, Japan aims to further strengthen its relations with Southeast Asian countries. Prime Minister Ishiba met with Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to deepen “personal” ties with the leaders. “Southeast Asia is a driver of global growth and a strategically important region. Therefore, strengthening ties with the region is one of the top diplomatic priorities for Japan,” said Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan’s Government Spokesperson and Chief Cabinet Secretary. Hayashi also stressed that Japan will actively pursue summit diplomacy to realize its vision of a law-based free and open Indo-Pacific.
