customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

US Vice-President Kamala Harris met with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Monday soon after arriving in Tokyo for the state funeral of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe.
Abe, who was assassinated in July, will be honoured on Tuesday, and Harris is leading a US delegation to pay its respects.
“The alliance between Japan and the United States is a cornerstone of what we believe is integral to peace, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region,” Harris said at the Akasaka Palace.
Kishida said Abe “poured his heart and soul” into strengthening ties between their two countries. “I feel it is my duty to carry on his aspirations.”
Abe forged closer ties with the United States at a time of increased concern about China’s ambitions, and Kishida is continuing his push for a stronger national defence.
VIPs from US to France expected at Japan’s state funeral for ex-PM Abe
The potential for war over Taiwan, a self-governed island that China claims as part of its own territory, has troubled Japan, which would likely be pulled into such a conflict.
President Joe Biden said recently that the US would send its own troops to defend Taiwan if China attacked.
“The president has addressed that issue. And if it comes up, the vice-president will align with the president,” said a senior administration official, who requested anonymity to discuss a private meeting.
The official also said Harris would “make clear our ironclad commitment to Japan’s security”. More than 50,000 US troops are based there.
Harris, who is scheduled to spend three nights in Tokyo, is visiting at a politically fraught moment. Kishida’s decision to hold a state funeral for Abe, a conservative nationalist, has been controversial in a country where such memorials are uncommon, and some oppose honouring him in this way.


Kishida is also pushing for a dramatic expansion of defence spending that would give Japan the world’s third-largest military budget in the coming years, after the United States and China. A new national security strategy, the first in almost a decade, is in the works as well.
The debate is playing out as Japan re-evaluates the risk of war after the shock of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, said Christopher Johnstone, senior adviser and Japan chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
The fighting in Europe is a reminder that “conflict really is possible,” he said, and “Japan lives in a pretty difficult neighbourhood.”
Japan is upgrading missiles and considering using them for pre-emptive strikes – a move critics say would fundamentally change the country’s defence policy and breach the post-war pacifist constitution that limits use of force to self-defence.
It has also shifted its defence from the northeast to southwestern Japan, including Okinawa and other remote islands.


Eyeing China, Quad leaders to expand joint maritime security operations in Indo-Pacific

Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit region

Biden opens home to ‘Quad’ leaders for farewell summit

Hong Kong factors complicate China-Japan youth exchange

Japan

Kamala Harris calls US-Japan alliance ‘a cornerstone’ for peace, stability and prosperity

US Vice President Kamala Harris and Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meet at the Akasaka Palace ahead of Shinzo Abe’s funeral. Photo: AFP

Japan man in his 70s sets himself on fire in apparent protest against Shinzo Abe’s planned state funeral

Police officers and firefighters investigate the site where a man who was protesting a state funeral for former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe set himself on fire, near Prime Minster Fumio Kishida’s official residence in Tokyo, on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo via Reuters

A mourner pays tribute to the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a makeshift memorial in Tokyo in July. Photo: Bloomberg

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who is currently in New York to address the UN General Assembly, has defended plans for a state funeral for Shinzo Abe. Photo: AP

Former Taiwan premier in delegation for Shinzo Abe state funeral in Tokyo

The state funeral of assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe will be held in Tokyo on September 27. Photo: Reuters

Extra US$10 million for Shinzo Abe state funeral amid growing opposition from Japan’s taxpayers

In August there were protests about the state funeral for former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on July 8. Photo: EPA-EFE

Shinzo Abe was targeted by the gunman due to his perceived links to the Unification Church. Photo: AFP

US VP Kamala Harris to hold talks on issues from Taiwan to North Korea during Asia trip

US Vice-President Kamala Harris boards Air Force 2 in Maryland for travel to Japan and South Korea. Photo: AP 

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (left) and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York on September 21, 2022. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

Kamala Harris briefly holds US presidential power in first for women

US Vice-President Kamala Harris hugs US President Joe Biden during the signing of the infrastructure bill on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday. Photo: TNS

US President Joe Biden waves as he arrives at Walter Reed Medical Center to attend his routine annual physical in Washington, DC, November 19, 2021. - President Joe Biden will transfer power to Vice President Kamala Harris during the "brief" time Friday he is under anesthesia for a colonoscopy as part of a regular health check, the White House said. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP)

News

Asia

East Asia


US Vice-President is in Tokyo to attend funeral of former president Shinzo Abe who forged closer ties with the US at a time of increased concern about China
President Kishida Fumio’s decision to hold a state funeral for the late conservative nationalist is controversial, and some oppose honouring him this way



The US Vice-President is in Tokyo to attend the funeral of former Japanese president Shinzo Abe who forged closer ties with the US at a time of increased concern about China’s ambitions.
