Kishida confirms attendance at ASEAN, G20, APEC summits
Tokyo, Nov 7 (EFE).- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed Monday he plans to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the G20 and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summits to be held next week in Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, respectively.
On Friday, Kishida will leave from Japan for Phnom Penh, where he will take part in the ASEAN leaders’ meeting from Nov.12-13, along with leaders from other partner countries.
His next stop will be the Indonesian island of Bali, which will host the summit of leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies (G20) on Nov.15-16.
Kishida will then attend the APEC summit on Nov.18-19 in the Thai capital of Bangkok.
During these summits, the Japanese prime minister is expected to also hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from the US, Asia, and Europe, with a view to addressing issues of mutual and global interest such as the war in Ukraine, and the food and energy crises.
Sources from the Japanese government revealed that preparations are on for a trilateral meeting with US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, possibly in Bali to address the escalation of tensions in the Korean peninsula, among other matters.
According to local media reports, Tokyo has also initiated contacts with Beijing to organize a bilateral meeting between Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which would also take place on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
If held, the meeting would be the first between the leaders of the two countries since the pandemic started, and is likely to discuss issues such as peaceful resolution of tensions in the Taiwan Strait. EFE
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