Tokyo, July 11: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday reached Japan to pay condolence on the death of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Speaking at Yokota military base, Blinken said, “I shared with our Japanese colleagues the sense of loss, the sense of shock that we all feel, the American people feel, at this horrific tragedy and killing. It’s such a loss too because during his time in office Prime Minister Abe really took the relationship between our countries to new heights.
“And as I shared with our colleagues, we saw in him something rare – a man of vision who had the ability to realize that vision. But mostly I came at the President’s behest because, more than allies, we’re friends. And when a friend is hurting, other friends show up. We try to help ease the burden, share the sense of loss, give a shoulder, and that’s what we’re trying to do today.”
After reaching Tokyo, the State Secretary met Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and also “shared letters that President Biden had written to the Abe family, to the prime minister.”
“And mostly, I thought it was just important to show our solidarity with our friend Japan and the Japanese people in this difficult time,” he said.
Abe was attacked by Tetsuya Yamagami, 41, on July 8 in Nara during his campaign speech.
