Vice President Harris is expected to join world leaders in Tokyo on Tuesday to honor the life of assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The event takes place as domestic controversy swirls over the ruling party’s links to a religious group.
The suspect, Tetsuya Yamagami, told police he wanted to carry out the assassination because his life and family had been ruined as a result of his mother’s large donations to the Unification Church, to which Abe had apparent close ties. The church has confirmed that Yamagami’s mother was a member.
Japanese authorities have stepped up security measures for the occasion, particularly in light of the Before the funeral, Harris is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Her advisers have said the discussions will broadly be about regional economic and security issues, including China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait and cooperation against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
On Monday, after arriving in Tokyo, Harris met with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, offering her condolences for Abe’s death and emphasizing the U.S.-Japan alliance and U.S. support for Abe’s vision of a “free and open Indo-Pacific.”With the U.S. midterm elections weeks away, both President Biden and Harris had intended to limit their travel to places in the United States, touting wins under their administration and campaigning and fundraising for Democrats.