[Biden Victory] Japanese Government Calls Biden's Win a "Natural Outcome"

Biden Candidate Leading from the Start... Weighing the Timing to Convey 'Congratulations'
Hope for Cooperation on COVID-19, Global Warming, and North Korean Nuclear Issues

[Asia Economy International Department Reporter] The Japanese government responded to Joe Biden's presidential election victory by calling it an "expected outcome."

A Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said in a phone interview with NHK on the 8th (local time), "I think (Biden's victory) is an expected result," adding, "From the beginning, we analyzed that Biden was likely to win, but it was a close race until the very end."

The official also stated, "The Japanese government will observe the situation going forward and determine the appropriate timing to convey congratulations to the president-elect," adding that the trend of most major U.S. media outlets reporting Biden's victory as certain will no longer be shaken.

Japan has traditionally sent congratulatory messages from the Prime Minister to the president-elect at the point when the opposing candidate concedes defeat after the U.S. presidential election.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In 2016, then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivered a congratulatory speech just 30 minutes after candidate Trump, who ran against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, declared his victory.

Following that, Abe made a phone call two days after the election day on November 10, then flew directly to the U.S. to meet President-elect Trump on November 17, showing prompt efforts to build a close relationship with the president-elect.

With Biden's victory virtually confirmed, the Japanese government is expected to launch a full-scale diplomatic campaign aimed at building trust between Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and President-elect Biden.

NHK reported, "The Japanese government views the establishment of a trust relationship between Prime Minister Suga and President-elect Biden as extremely important," adding, "They want to hold a Japan-U.S. summit at an appropriate time while monitoring the U.S. situation to confirm close bilateral cooperation on international issues such as COVID-19, global warming measures, North Korea's nuclear and missile issues, and security matters."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.