TOKYO – Japan’s centre-left government on Wednesday named as its new foreign minister Takeaki Matsumoto, who hails from a powerful political family but faces tricky relations with the US, China and Russia. PM Naoto Kan picked the former banker and great great grandson of Japan’s first prime minister because of his “capability, knowledge and to ensure continuity of diplomacy”, said Kan’s top spokesman Yukio Edano.
Matsumoto, 51, replaces Seiji Maehara, an outspoken security hawk who resigned this week after just six months on the job over a donations scandal, dealing a blow to the embattled Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government.
Matsumoto, who served as a vice foreign minister under Maehara, said he will continue Japan’s current diplomatic policies. “My policy direction is to deepen the Japan-US alliance and further promote economic diplomacy,” such as reaching free-trade deals with other nations, he told his first press conference. “Based on the strong Japan-US alliance, I will further promote co-operative relations with neighboring nations including China, South Korea and Russia,” he said.
