Press Releases
Vice Minister Mori’s Meeting with U.S. Deputy Secretary Sherman
July 20, 2021
On July 20, commencing at 1:00 p.m. for approximately one and a half hours, Mr. MORI Takeo, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, held a meeting with Ambassador Wendy R. Sherman, Deputy Secretary of State of the United States of America. The overview of the meeting is as follows:
- At the outset, Vice-Minister Mori welcomed Deputy Secretary Sherman’s visit to Japan and stated that it is a pleasure that Japan and the U.S. have been together carrying forward concrete diplomatic policies. In response, Secretary Sherman stated that her visit to Japan exemplified U.S. determination to attach importance to cooperation with its ally, Japan, and wished for the success of the upcoming Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.
- Both sides shared the view that Japan and the U.S. would continue to cooperate closely to strengthen the Japan-U.S. Alliance, realize a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and address global issues such as COVID-19 and climate change.
- Both sides exchanged their views on a broad range of regional issues including China and North Korea.
- (1) The two sides reaffirmed their strong opposition to the continued and intensifying unilateral attempts by China to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas and reconfirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. In addition, the two sides shared their serious concerns regarding the situations in Hong Kong and the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
- (2) Regarding North Korea, the two sides confirmed that Japan and the U.S. would continue to work closely together towards the complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions. They also reaffirmed the importance of close cooperation among Japan, the U.S. and the Republic of Korea. Furthermore, Vice-Minister Mori requested continued understanding and cooperation towards the immediate resolution of the abductions issue, to which Deputy Secretary Sherman offered her support.