Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pictured in the oval office following a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama on February 22, 2013 in Washington, DC. Abe will be meeting with Obama again April 28, 2015. File photo by Kristoffer Tripplaar/Pool/UPI |
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TOKYO, March 27 (UPI) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he holds the "fullest confidence" in President Obama and the U.S.-Japan alliance remains "unshakable," providing a prelude to his state visit to Washington in April.
In an exclusive interview with The Washington Post, the Japanese prime minister provided a comprehensive overview of Japan's economic recovery, bilateral relations with the United States and offered a rare condolence to the comfort women, victims of sex slavery enforced by the Imperial Japanese Army, who have demanded an apology for Japan's militaristic past.
The Washington Post reported Abe's friendly overture to the United States is emblematic of the Japanese leader's prioritization of its national security. In 2014, Obama promised U.S. support for Japan in its dealings with China over disputed territory.
On March 16, China's foreign ministry reproached the Japanese government for displaying a 1969 Chinese map of the disputed Senkaku Islands that identifies the territory as Japanese.
Abe said he seeks a more assertive Japan but provided what his aide said was an unprecedented reference to the comfort women, describing them as victims of human "trafficking."
"When my thought goes to these [comfort women], who have been victimized by human trafficking and gone through immeasurable pain and suffering beyond description, my heart aches," Abe said.
Yonhap reported foreign envoys in Washington said Abe's use of the term "trafficking" was too broad and that the prime minister failed to point out the agent responsible for the systemic enslavement of women who were mostly Korean.
The Washington Post reported Abe has launched three steps in his "Abenomics" recovery policy: modest fiscal spending, highly stimulative monetary policy and structural reforms. Japan's stock market has benefited from the reforms -- the Nikkei has doubled since Abe assumed office in 2012.
Abe's meeting with Obama on April 28 is likely to address problems revolving the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Kyodo News reported Abe said Friday Japan will not easily concede Japanese agricultural interests during negotiations.
