WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th July, 2022) US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to Japan to express his condolences on the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated on Friday, State Department Spokesperson Ned price said.
According to the spokesperson, Blinken's trip to Tokyo will be made at the end of his pre-scheduled July 6-11 Asia tour, following trips to Bali, Indonesia, and Bangkok, Thailand.
"Secretary Blinken will travel to Tokyo, Japan, to offer condolences to the Japanese people on the death of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and to meet with senior Japanese officials. The U.S.-Japan Alliance is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and has never been stronger," Price said in a statement on Saturday.
Abe was attacked on Friday morning in the Japanese city of Nara during his campaign speech. Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, approached the politician from behind and fired two shots from a distance of about 10 meters (33 feet). Police said Abe was conscious immediately after being wounded, but then, during transportation, his condition became critical "with cardiac and pulmonary arrest." Later in the day, Nara Medical University hospital pronounced him dead.
According to Politico, Blinken was attending a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bali on Friday when Abe was shot and killed. The Secretary of State is now in Thailand and will travel to Tokyo on Monday, Politico said on Saturday.
Speaking in Bali earlier on Saturday, Blinken expressed "shock and sadness" at Abe's assassination and said it was a "tragedy" not only for Japan, but for the world as a whole.
