Sep 23 11:43 PM US/EasternTOKYO, Sept. 24 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has achieved his initial diplomatic goals, building confidence with the leaders of the United States, China, Russia and South Korea through their first summit talks, the government's top spokesman said Thursday.
"I've heard the prime minister has felt a solid response (from the talks) that he was able to forge bonds of trust with the leader of each country," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told a news conference in Tokyo. "I believe he has achieved his initial big goals."
Hirano added that the "Hatoyama diplomacy" has gotten off to a good start, saying the prime minister was able to state his basic diplomatic stance in his own words during the series of bilateral talks with his counterparts.
Hatoyama, who took office on Wednesday of last week as the first prime minister from the Democratic Party of Japan, arrived in New York on Monday on his first trip overseas as Japanese leader.
In making his diplomatic debut, Hatoyama has so far met with such leaders as U.S. President Barack Obama, Chinese President Hu Jintao, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and South Korean President Lee Myung Bak.
On Tuesday, the prime minister delivered a speech at the U.N. climate change summit, in which he pledged to cut greenhouse-gas emissions 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.
This proposal, Hirano said, "has succeeded in making a strong impression on the international community about Japan's proactive stance on the issue of global warming."
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