Press Releases
Japan-Singapore Foreign Ministers’ Telephone Talk
December 1, 2021
On December 1st, commencing at 10:00 a.m. for 20 minutes, Mr. HAYASHI Yoshimasa, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, held a telephone talk with H.E. Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Singapore. The overview of the talk is as follows.
- At the outset, Minister Hayashi expressed his intention to forge close ties with Minister Balakrishnan while referring to their meeting in the past. In response, Minister Balakrishnan conveyed a message of congratulations on Mr. Hayashi’s appointment as Foreign Minister.
- Minister Hayashi stated that he would like to reinforce cooperation in fields such as green, digital, third-country infrastructure, security, and also in tackling COVID-19. In response, Minister Balakrishnan stated that he would like to coordinate closely with Japan regarding the all above mentioned issues, and highly appreciate Japan’s leadership to promote free trade, including TPP11.
- The two Ministers concurred on advancing concrete cooperation toward the realization of a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” and “ASEAN outlook on the Indo-Pacific", which share many fundamental principles.
- The two Ministers also exchanged views on regional affairs, and Minister Hayashi expressed his strong opposition to unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East and South China Seas. The two Ministers also exchanged views on North Korea, and affirmed that they would continue to coordinate in dealing with North Korea, including on the abductions issue.