Abe to meet Hillary Clinton in New York

[yuiyoshida]

NEW YORK —

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold talks Monday with U.S. Democratic Party presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in New York, the Japanese government said.

The meeting, slated for the early evening at a New York hotel, comes at the request of Clinton, who served as secretary of state in President Barack Obama’s first term, Japanese officials said.

Abe and Clinton are likely to affirm the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance in an increasingly uncertain security situation in Asia in the face of China’s disputed territorial claims in the South and East China seas, as well as North Korea’s nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches.

Clinton will face Republican Party nominee Donald Trump in November’s presidential election. If elected, Clinton is expected to continue Obama’s policy of strategic “rebalance,” or “pivot,” to the Asia-Pacific region.

Abe arrived in New York on Sunday for the U.N. General Assembly and related meetings.

© KYODO