U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Tokyo on Sunday to offer condolences following the assassination of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Blinken was already traveling in Southeast Asia for meetings with leaders of the Group of Seven and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation. He will return to Washington after the stop in Japan, which was added Saturday to his pre-scheduled tour.
“Secretary Blinken will travel to Tokyo, Japan, to offer condolences to the Japanese people on the death of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and to meet with senior Japanese officials,” the State Department wrote in a statement. “The U.S.-Japan Alliance is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and has never been stronger.”
July 9, 202201:40
Abe, 67, was shot and killed at a campaign event in Nara, near Kyoto, on Friday. Blinken will be the most senior U.S. official to visit the country since his death.
President Joe Biden on Friday condemned the attack, calling the former leader of Japan a “champion of the alliance between our nations and the friendship between our people.”
Later that day, Biden issued a proclamation ordering that United States flags be flown at half-staff at the White House and at all government buildings and military bases in memory of Abe.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
