WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will attend Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration for his second term as president, ensuring that a high-ranking official from a key Asian ally is on hand for the event, two people familiar with the matter said.
Iwaya was invited by Trump’s camp and has accepted, the two people said, confirming earlier Japanese media reports.
The Nikkei newspaper said that Iwaya would be the first Japanese cabinet member to attend the swearing-in of a U.S. president.
Japan’s embassy in Washington and officials with Trump’s inauguration team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Iwaya is hoping to arrange a meeting with Senator Marco Rubio, Trump’s pick for secretary of state, during his visit to the United States, one of the people familiar with the matter said.
Satsuki Katayama, a lawmaker and member Japan’s main governing Liberal Democratic Party, has also said she plans to attend the inauguration. She said she was invited by U.S. Senator Bill Hagerty.
It will be Iwaya’s first visit to the United States since he became foreign minister in October, and Japan, a long time U.S. ally that enjoyed good relations with Trump during his first administration, will be keen to get off to a good start in his second.
Iwaya will visit South Korea on Monday to shore up security cooperation between the East Asian neighbors and their mutual U.S. ally meant to counter China’s growing regional power.
Deepening trilateral security cooperation promoted by the outgoing Biden administration could be more difficult given the political turmoil in South Korea prompted by the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Iwaya will also travel to the Philippines, another U.S. treaty ally, and then to the Pacific island nation of Palau, which relies on Washington for economic support and defense.
The Financial Times reported on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping would send a high-level envoy to Trump’s inauguration. It said Xi could send Han Zheng, a vice president who sometimes stands in for him in ceremonial roles, while another option was Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
(Reporting by David Brunnstrom in Washington, Nathan Layne in New York and Yoshifumi Takemoto in Tokyo; Editing by Alistair Bell and Shri Navaratnam)
