Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Laos from Sunday to Tuesday to attend a series of regional foreign ministerial meetings involving the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.
In the Laotian capital of Vientiane, Kishida will discuss ways to strengthen cooperation with ASEAN and exchange views on regional and international affairs including China's military buildup in the South China Sea, a senior official said.
He also plans to hold bilateral talks with Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Philippines counterpart Perfecto Yasay on the sidelines of the meetings, which include the 27-member ASEAN Regional Forum and the ASEAN Plus Three foreign ministerial meeting, a Japanese government source said.