Japan hopes to strengthen relations with US during Obama's Asian tour

Japan hopes to strengthen relations with the US through discussions on a wide range of issues during US President Barack Obama's visit to Tokyo in April, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Thursday. "We want to enhance Japan-US relations by exchanging opinions on a wide range of fields at the summit talks, including bilateral cooperative ties on security and the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, as well as topics on the Asia-Pacific region such as North Korean issue and freedom of navigation," the top government spokesman told a press conference. Obama will hold talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the Japanese and US governments are making final arrangements, according to Suga. The White House announced Wednesday Obama will visit Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines in late April. It will be Obama's third visit to Japan since taking office, with the last in 2010. His visit will come as Japan's relations with China and South Korea have been strained due to territorial disputes and differences over wartime history, in addition to Abe's controversial visit to the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in December, which angered the two countries. The shrine honors 14 World War II Class-A war criminals along with 2.5 million war dead. For China and South Korea, which suffered from Japan's aggression in the early 20th century, the Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol of its militant past and consider visits to the shrine by leading Japanese politicians insensitive and insulting. Abe has not held formal bilateral meetings with Chinese and South Korean leaders since taking office in December 2012.