Blinken, Japanese counterpart to hold talks in London tomorrow; China likely on agenda

Tokyo [Japan], May 2 : Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken are set to hold talks on Monday in London on May 3, the Japanese Foreign Ministry has said.
Their talks will be held before a three-day meeting of foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) countries, Kyodo News reported, with issues linked to China, North Korea, and Myanmar are likely to be on the agenda.
According to the Japanese news agency, the two leaders are expected to discuss practical aspects of how the two countries can strengthen the bilateral alliance.
This comes a day after top officers from Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the US military on Friday agreed to stand firm against any attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea.
Koji Yamazaki, the chief of Japan's Self-Defense Forces' Joint Staff, discussed the situation in the Indo-Pacific region amid China's growing military activity.
The recent bilateral talks come in the backdrop of the first in-person meeting between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Affirming his "ironclad" support for the US-Japanese alliance, President Biden last month had said that both the countries are committed to work together to take on the challenges posed by China to ensure the future of free and open Indo-Pacific.
"Today, Prime Minister Suga and I affirmed our iron-clad support for the US-Japanese alliance and for our shared security. We committed to working together to take on the challenges from China and on issues like the East China Sea, the South China Sea as well as North Korea to ensure the future of our free and open Indo-Pacific," Biden had said after a meeting with Suga.
"Our commitment to meet in person is indicative of the importance and value we place on this relationship between Japan and the United States," he added.