Adm. John Aquilino, the new commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, will visit Japan in the latter half of May for talks with defense leaders about China's growing military pressure on Taiwan and Beijing's assertive behavior in the broader Indo-Pacific, according to Japanese and U.S. government sources.
During his first trip to Japan since assuming leadership on April 30, Aquilino plans to meet with Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and Gen. Koji Yamazaki, chief of the Self-Defense Forces Joint Staff, to discuss regional issues such as Beijing's assertive claims over the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile programs.
The Taiwan issue drew attention in the meeting between Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington last month and during the Group of Seven foreign ministerial talks in London earlier this month.