Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at his office in Tokyo on Oct. 6, 2021. (Mainichi)

       TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will join a series of online meetings with ASEAN leaders on Wednesday to discuss issues including COVID-19 countermeasures and economic recovery, a government spokesman said Tuesday.

       Kishida separately said he will take part in U.N. climate change talks to be held in Britain. The leaders' session of the 26th Conference of the Parties to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change is scheduled for Nov. 1-2.

       Having taken office early this month, the meeting would be his first overseas trip, if he opts to attend it in person.

       Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told a press conference Japan "respects" the decision by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to bar Myanmar's military leader from attending the annual talks.

       ASEAN leaders on Tuesday met for their summit without a representative from Myanmar, where the democratically elected government was overthrown in a coup in February.

       Kishida is set to participate in meetings with the leaders of ASEAN as well as representatives from Australia, China, India, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States, Matsuno said, adding they are also expected to exchange views on issues concerning the South China Sea and North Korea, which has recently resumed ballistic missile tests.

       "With a population of 670 million, ASEAN is not only a global growth center but given its location is also the lynchpin for realizing a free and open Indo-Pacific," Matsuno said. "We look forward to the leaders having fruitful discussions, including on concrete ways to cooperate with ASEAN."

       Font Size S M L Print Timeline 0