VISIT

Clinton Meets Japan PM in Tokyo

“We will never forget” U.S. aid, he says.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan during a brief visit to Tokyo Sunday, the highest-level U.S. official to visit the country since the March 11 quake and tsunami. "We will never forget and we will keep in our memory that the U.S. has provided such robust support," said Kan. The positive statements suggest that American aid to Japan has helped smooth over rocky relations caused by a dispute over an American military base in Okinawa. Approximately 20,000 U.S. troops have been mobilized in “Operation Tomodachi,” or “Friend,” the largest humanitarian mission the U.S. has conducted in Japan. Clinton expressed faith in Japan's ability to recover economically, saying, “We are very confident that Japan will recover and will be a very strong economic and global player for years and decades to come.” To that end, she and Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto announced the formation of a public-private partnership to encourage investment in the recovery effort.