Abe visits Darwin, 75 years after WWII bombing
DARWIN, Australia - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a historic visit to Darwin on Friday, 75 years after Japan bombed the northern Australian city, as the two countries cement ties.
Trade and closer defense relations are the centerpieces of Abe's two-day visit and meetings with Prime Minister Scott Morrisons, before the pair travel to Papua New Guinea for a weekend APEC summit.
Abe is the first Japanese leader to visit the port city where more than 250 people were killed during multiple bombing raids in 1942-43 during World War II - the worst foreign attacks on the country.
Abe and Morrison paid their respects at memorials to the war dead in an act reminiscent of the Japanese leader's visit to Pearl Harbor in 2016.
"Abe's visit is deeply symbolic and significant and it will build on our two countries' strong and enduring friendship as well as our economic, security, community and historical ties," Morrison said.
In 2016, Abe became the first Japanese leader to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, built over the remains of the sunken battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, together with then US president Barack Obama.
Abe was also scheduled to attend a ceremony marking the opening of a $34 billion pipeline project, in which Japan's Inpex is the majority shareholder and operator.
The Ichthys LNG project - Japan's largest overseas investment - began shipping natural gas to Japan last month and is set to reinforce Australia's position as the country's main energy supplier.
The operation taps fields off Australia's northern coast and pipes the gas nearly 900 kilometers to a port near Darwin.
The leaders also met for talks that Australian officials said would include ongoing efforts to reach an agreement on enhanced defense cooperation, including regular joint military exercises.
Japan and Australia played leading roles in reviving the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal after US President Donald Trump withdrew US support for the agreement.
Afp - Reuters
(China Daily 11/17/2018 page8)
