Clinton visits Tokyo in show of support for Japan

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By MATTHEW LEE

TOKYO (AP) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that America would stand by Japan, saying she was confident the country will fully recover from its tsunami and nuclear disasters.

"We are very confident that Japan will recover and will be a very strong economic and global player for years and decades to come," Clinton told Prime Minister Naoto Kan during a brief visit to Tokyo intended as a morale boost to the crucial U.S. ally.

Kan thanked Clinton for U.S. help with the crises triggered by a magnitude-9.0 earthquake on March 11 that unleashed a massive tsunami, wrecking cooling and power systems at a nuclear plant that has been leaking radiation ever since.

"We will never forget and we will keep in our memory that the U.S. has provided such robust support," said Kan, in comments suggesting the aid has helped soothe friction over an American military base in Okinawa that forced his predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, to resign last year.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20110417/D9MLH2900.html

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U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, second left, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, second right, join the hands with U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO President Thomas Donohue, left, and Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Japan's business association Nippon Keidanren, before a joint press conference in Tokyo Sunday, April 17, 2011. Clinton promised solidarity and support for longtime ally Japan as it recovers from a devastating earthquake and tsunami and copes with a nuclear crisis. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

[alp227]

1. Hmm, I was thinking about Bill, who visited Haiti after the earthquake

I guess that he might find some time in the future to come to Japan. But still a good story.