Japan-United States of America Relations
Japan-U.S. Summit Telephone Talk
On December 17, commencing at 12:00 p.m. for approximately 15 minutes, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received a congratulatory telephone call from the Honorable Barack H. Obama, President of the United States of America. The overview is as follows. (Also in attendance were Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshige Seko, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister Eiichi Hasegawa, Secretary General of the National Security Secretariat Shotaro Yachi and others.)
1. At the beginning, President Obama said he was impressed with the resounding victory of the recent general election of the House of Representatives, and would like to commend the impressive results, and looked forward to continuing to work with Prime Minister Abe. In response to this, Prime Minister Abe expressed his appreciation to President Obama.
2. President Obama said that Prime Minister Abe is a great partner. The President added that owing to Prime Minister Abe’s leadership, the Japan-U.S. Alliance is strong in the Asia-Pacific region and plays a pivotal role in the international community, and that although recent Japanese politics had been unstable, it was important not only for Japan but also for the United States that the Japanese people gave credit to the Abe administration. Prime Minister Abe and President Obama agreed to continue to cooperate on the Ebola virus disease, efforts to counter ISIL, TPP, and review of the Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation.
3. Prime Minister Abe said that he looked forward to promoting Japan-U.S. relations as well as continuing to closely work with President Obama on global issues, and the both leaders shared the recognition that the two countries will address various issues in closely coordinated manner.