Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is likely to postpone his first trip to the United States as Japanese leader for talks with President Joe Biden until next year amid concerns over the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus, NHK reported Saturday.
Kishida held his first in-person talks with Biden early last month on the sidelines of the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. During those talks, the two agreed on an early meeting in Washington, with hopes of holding the talks before the year’s end on bolstering the U.S.-Japan alliance and cooperating on maintaining a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” amid China’s growing assertiveness.
However, considering the concerning new variant’s spread and the U.S. political situation, Kishida has taken to considering rescheduling the summit meeting until after the new year, NHK reported without citing sources.
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