ID :
178122
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 22:14
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Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/178122
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Japan Foreign Minister Matsumoto secures Diet approval for 4-nation trip
TOKYO, April 26 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto secured Diet approval Tuesday for his trip to the United States and three other countries during Japan's Golden Week holidays from Friday as the Diet affairs chiefs of the ruling and opposition blocs agreed to give him the go-ahead.
The lower house budget committee is likely to convene during the period to deliberate on an extra budget for fiscal 2011 aimed at financing post-quake reconstruction measures. As is customary, the committee would call for the attendance of the prime minister and all ministers.
Government sources said earlier that Matsumoto was planning a six-day trip to the United States, Germany, Senegal and Belgium from Friday.
Matsumoto told a press conference Tuesday that he hopes to discuss with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ways to deepen the Japan-U.S. security alliance by setting new common strategic goals and when to hold the next ''two-plus-two'' meeting of the countries' foreign and defense ministers.
The next four-way ministerial talks are intended to agree on the configuration of a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa and to lay the groundwork for a summit between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and U.S. President Barack Obama planned by the end of June.
The two leaders are expected to release a joint statement on the bilateral security alliance, which marked its 50th anniversary last year.
On Saturday, Matsumoto will attend a meeting of nonnuclear states in Berlin to promote nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.
He will then travel to the Senegalese capital Dakar to co-chair a ministerial meeting on Sunday to follow up on the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which was last held in Yokohama in 2008.
On Monday, Matsumoto will meet with European Union ministers in Brussels to talk about the launch of negotiations to seal a free trade agreement between Japan and the 27-nation bloc, according to the sources.
Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto secured Diet approval Tuesday for his trip to the United States and three other countries during Japan's Golden Week holidays from Friday as the Diet affairs chiefs of the ruling and opposition blocs agreed to give him the go-ahead.
The lower house budget committee is likely to convene during the period to deliberate on an extra budget for fiscal 2011 aimed at financing post-quake reconstruction measures. As is customary, the committee would call for the attendance of the prime minister and all ministers.
Government sources said earlier that Matsumoto was planning a six-day trip to the United States, Germany, Senegal and Belgium from Friday.
Matsumoto told a press conference Tuesday that he hopes to discuss with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ways to deepen the Japan-U.S. security alliance by setting new common strategic goals and when to hold the next ''two-plus-two'' meeting of the countries' foreign and defense ministers.
The next four-way ministerial talks are intended to agree on the configuration of a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa and to lay the groundwork for a summit between Prime Minister Naoto Kan and U.S. President Barack Obama planned by the end of June.
The two leaders are expected to release a joint statement on the bilateral security alliance, which marked its 50th anniversary last year.
On Saturday, Matsumoto will attend a meeting of nonnuclear states in Berlin to promote nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.
He will then travel to the Senegalese capital Dakar to co-chair a ministerial meeting on Sunday to follow up on the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, which was last held in Yokohama in 2008.
On Monday, Matsumoto will meet with European Union ministers in Brussels to talk about the launch of negotiations to seal a free trade agreement between Japan and the 27-nation bloc, according to the sources.
