2009/2/18THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
Embattled Prime Minister Taro Aso accepted an invitation Tuesday to visit Washington next week, which will make him the first foreign leader to meet with new U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House.
The invitation was extended by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during talks with Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone. She arrived Monday for a three-day visit on the first stop of an Asia swing. It is her first foreign tour since she took office in January.
The summit meeting is scheduled for Feb. 24.
Tokyo had been seeking a meeting ahead of the Group of 20 summit on the global financial crisis to be held in April in London.
Speaking at a news conference after talks at the Iikura state guest house in Tokyo's Minato Ward, Clinton stressed the importance the U.S. administration places on its alliance with Japan.
The message was clearly a welcome sign for Foreign Ministry officials who took delight in the fact that Clinton chose Japan for her first foreign stop as an opportunity "to show that Japan is a reliable partner" of the United States.
Clinton and Nakasone also signed an agreement under which Tokyo will spend up to 250 billion yen to relocate U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam. The agreement also reaffirms the two countries' determination to complete an alternative facility by 2014 to transfer functions now performed at the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
After her talks with Nakasone, Clinton met with Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and then Aso in the evening.
She also met on the sidelines with families of Japanese abducted by North Korea and expressed her sympathy for the ordeal they had endured. Later, she met with Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the main opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) who had initially spurned an opportunity to meet with her.
On the issue of North Korea's nuclear development program, the two sides confirmed that they would closely cooperate in seeking resolution through six-party talks.
On other topics, Nakasone conveyed Tokyo's intention to host an international meeting to discuss ways to support Pakistan as a means of assisting peace-building in Afghanistan. Clinton expressed her support for the idea.
During her meeting with Hamada, Clinton expressed her appreciation of Japan's stated intention to dispatch two Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to waters off Somalia to fend off pirates from attacking Japanese ships.
She called on Tokyo to also consider providing safe escort to other foreign vessels and for Japan to take a more assertive role in U.N.-sanctioned peacekeeping operations.(IHT/Asahi: February 18,2009)
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