Japan-United States of America Relations
Foreign Minister Hayashi’s Speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
July 29, 2022
On July 29, commencing at 2:50 p.m. (local time. 3:50 a.m. on July 30, Japan time.), for approximately 40 minutes, Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, who is visiting Washignton D.C., delivered a speech entitled “Our Future at a Historic Crossroads “A Free, Open and Inclusive International Order Based on the Rule of Law”” at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The overview of the speech is as follows.
- At the outset, Minister Hayashi presented his recognition that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is an outrage that has shaken the very foundation of the free and open international order that we have enjoyed since the end of the Cold War, and the international community is at a historic crossroads: whether or not it will be able to uphold a free and open international order based on the “rule of law.”
- Minister Hayashi emphasized that the Indo-Pacific region is of utmost strategic importance to Japan and the U.S., and that their goal is to prevent conflicts and to utilize the region’s potential for stability and prosperity.
- Minister Hayashi indicated the following three challenges that Japan and the U.S. need to address in the Indo-Pacific region, and expressed his determination that Japan and the U.S. would lead in building a free and open international order based on the “rule of law”, working together with other like-minded countries.
- (1) Restoration of strategic balance
- (2) Economic order formation and economic security
- (3) Promotion of multilayerd people-topeople exchange that upholds the Japan-U.S. Alliance