U.S. administration officials and congressional leaders are positively considering Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s wish to address Congress when he visits Washington later this year, diplomatic sources said Sunday.
Abe actively conveyed the wish when he met recently with a delegation of U.S. lawmakers, the sources said. U.S. House Speaker John Boehner and other congressional leaders are also positive about Abe’s wish, they said.
Should the proposed address be realized, Abe would be the first Japanese prime minister to address the U.S. House of Representatives in 54 years. He would also be only the fourth Japanese leader to do so after Shigeru Yoshida in 1954, Nobusuke Kishi in 1957 and Hayato Ikeda in 1961.
Moreover, Abe is also reportedly seeking to be the first Japanese prime minister to address a joint session of the House and the Senate. Former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pushed for such an address in 2000, but it did not happen as the then House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman raised objections, citing Japan’s wartime past.
“There is still the question mark about a joint session address due to various variables,” a source said.
Abe’s visit, expected in late April or early May, is likely to be an occasion for the U.S. and Japan to celebrate progress in negotiations on an Asia-Pacific free trade deal, known as the Trans Pacific Partnership, and a revision to their defense guidelines.
White House officials have repeatedly said they would welcome Abe with grand ceremonies and other elaborate protocols as is with a state visit, even though Abe’s trip is technically an official visit as he is not a head of state.
South Korean organizations in the U.S. have launched a campaign to oppose Abe’s possible address before Congress, saying Abe has attempted to whitewash or beautify Japan’s wartime atrocities, such as the country’s sexual enslavement of Korean and other Asian women for its troops. (Yonhap)
