An aide to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and a congressman close to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday affirmed the importance of Trump visiting Japan and the Indo-Pacific region at an early date.
Katsuyuki Kawai, a special adviser to Abe, said after meeting with Rep. Chris Collins, a member of the Trump transition team executive committee, in Washington that they also agreed Abe and Trump should hold a meeting as early as possible after Trump takes office Jan. 20.
The two agreed it is important that Trump "visit Japan and the Indo-Pacific region at an early date and actually feel regional situations through his eyes and ears," Kawai told reporters.