A meeting between Prime Minister Kishida and Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi has begun.
The meeting will take place at a time when the tensions between the United States and China caused by Chairman Pelosi's visit to Taiwan have spilled over to Japan and China.
Prime Minister Kishida and House Speaker Pelosi took a commemorative photo together at the Prime Minister's official residence on the 5th, and then had a meeting over breakfast from 8:00 am.
At the meeting, the two sides discussed issues such as strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance and cooperation toward the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific, as well as regional affairs, including China and North Korea, and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Opinions seem to be exchanged.
Prior to her visit to Japan, Speaker Pelosi, who is on a tour of Asia, visited Taiwan for the first time in 25 years as an incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives and met with President Tsai Ing-wen.
The Chinese side reacted to this, launching ballistic missiles during military exercises around Taiwan that began on the 4th, some of which are presumed to have fallen into Japan's EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone). The Japan-China Foreign Ministers' Meeting scheduled in Cambodia has been postponed.
The meeting between Prime Minister Kishida and Chairman Pelosi will take place as tensions between the United States and China spread to Japan and China.