[Provisional Translation]

(On the telephone talks with President Biden)
I just held telephone talks with President Biden. I congratulated him on his inauguration and we agreed to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. Alliance. We also shared the view that we will act in close cooperation to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Also, we agreed that Japan and the U.S. will also cooperate on common challenges the international community faces, such as measures to tackle the novel coronavirus and climate change. In addition, as for the application of Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty to the Senkaku Islands, further cooperation among Japan, the U.S., Australia, and India, cooperation towards the early resolution of the abductions issue, and cooperation towards the denuclearization of North Korea, we were in agreement that we will continue to act in firm cooperation in these areas as well.

 

This was the second time I had telephone talks with President Biden, following our first conversation after his election to the presidency. We enjoyed an exchange of views that was even more in-depth and substantial than we had in our first talks. Besides, we agreed that going forward, we will continue to firmly reinforce our alliance, while sharing this kind of phone calls.

I will work together with President Biden in a substantive way to further reinforce the Japan-U.S. Alliance while also deepening the personal relationship I have with him. It was a very good meeting.
 

Regarding my visit to the U.S., we shared the view that we will monitor the coronavirus infection situation and work in coordination to arrange the visit at the earliest possible time. We did not discuss the Tokyo Olympic or Paralympic Games.

 

 

(On the timing of a visit to the U.S.)
We will examine the COVID-19 situation closely and identify an appropriate timing.