US President Barack Obama met with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso at the White House on Tuesday, stressing that the alliance between the two countries is the "cornerstone" of East Asian security.
"The alliance that we have is the cornerstone of security in East Asia, it is one that my administration wants to strengthen," Obama said.
"It is for that reason that the prime minister is the first foreign dignitary to visit me here in the Oval Office. It's a testimony to the strong partnership between the United States and Japan," Obama said at the beginning of his talks with Aso in the Oval Office.
In response, Aso told Obama that the relationship between Japan and the United States was "extraordinarily important," noting that the two countries must work together to fight the global financial crisis.
"We will have to work together and in hand," the Japanese prime minister said.
Aso, who arrived on Monday night, has become the first foreign leader to visit the White House since Obama took office on Jan. 20.
Aso's visit to Washington came one week after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton traveled to Japan, where the top U.S. diplomat said the alliance between the two countries is "a cornerstone of our foreign policy."
The so-called "cornerstone alliance," however, is facing the challenge of a political instability in Japan, as the prime minister has become one of the most unpopular post-war leaders.
According to the latest nationwide poll conducted by Japan's leading newspaper the Asahi Shimbun, 71 percent of the respondents want Aso to resign as soon as possible.
Another survey conducted on Saturday and Sunday by the Mainichi Shimbun showed Aso's support rate dropped 8 percentage points from the previous January poll to 11 percent. The survey also found that 39 percent of the surveyed think Aso should step down immediately. The disapproval rate for the Aso Cabinet reached 73 percent.
The United States and Japan are fellow G8 members and major trading partners.
(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2009)