Japanese Prime Minister Kishida to Host Vietnam and EU Leaders for Summit Talks

▲Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan [Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is scheduled to invite two foreign leaders to Japan this month for consecutive meetings.

On the 22nd, Prime Minister Kishida is expected to focus on discussing ways to strengthen cooperation on Indo-Pacific regional issues during talks with Michelle, the Standing Chairperson, who is visiting Japan for the first time since taking office in December 2019.

Kyodo News predicted that the two leaders meeting in Japan will seek measures to check China, including making the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait a key agenda item.

The EU announced its first Indo-Pacific strategy last September, which includes strengthening relations with Taiwan.

Through this, it declared its intention to enhance cooperation with Japan and Taiwan in the semiconductor sector.

The Kishida administration is also pursuing economic security policies effectively targeting China, so the two leaders are expected to discuss cooperation issues related to strengthening supply chains for strategic materials such as semiconductors.

Earlier, in May, Standing Chairperson Michelle held a regular bilateral summit via video conference with then Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

After this meeting, both sides issued a joint statement emphasizing the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and urging a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues, which drew China's backlash.

Prime Minister Kishida is scheduled to meet with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, who will visit Japan ahead of Chairperson Michelle, on the 24th.

Vietnam is a country that is in conflict with China over territorial claims in the South China Sea, including the Truong Sa Islands (Spratly Islands, Chinese name Nansha).

During the meeting with Prime Minister Chinh, Kishida is expected to mainly discuss ways to strengthen cooperation to realize the "Free and Open Indo-Pacific," a strategy by Japan and the United States to check China.

Kyodo News reported that the visits of Chairperson Michelle and Prime Minister Chinh will mark the full-scale resumption of Japan's face-to-face summit diplomacy, which had been stalled due to COVID-19.

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