The U.S. government is looking to further strengthen ties with Japan after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga was elected Monday as the head of the ruling party, putting him on course to succeed the outgoing Shinzo Abe as the country's next prime minister.
Suga, 71, a longtime Abe loyalist, has vowed to continue to value the alliance with the United States as the cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy and security and to advance a free and open Indo-Pacific region in the face of China's growing clout — policies that are in line with Abe's.
Continuity in Japan's foreign policy is apparently reassuring to the U.S. government, which has praised Abe for making their bilateral relationship what it calls "the strongest it has ever been" through his nearly eight years in office before he decided to step down due to health concerns.