US urges Japan to name task force members for disaster relief hub
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US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel urged Tokyo to provide the names of four Japanese officials at its “earliest convenience”.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TOKYO – The US has called on Japan to name its representatives for a joint task force that will determine the location and resources for a humanitarian assistance and disaster relief hub they have agreed to establish in Japan.
In letters seen by Reuters on Aug 22, the US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel asked Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Defence Minister Minoru Kihara to provide the names of four Japanese officials at their “earliest convenience” and urged them to propose a date for the inaugural task force meeting.
Mr Emanuel told Reuters in a separate comment: “The effects of climate change are bringing devastation and destruction to communities around the world with ever-greater frequency and ferocity.”
Emergency supplies at the hub could also likely be used to help civilians displaced by any conflict in Asia.
The commitment made in April by US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to establish the facility came amid growing concern about Chinese military drills around Taiwan.
In his letter, Mr Emanuel said that he, along with Lieutenant-General Roger Turner, the US Marine Corp commander in Japan, Colonel Patrick Biggs, the country’s US Army Corps of Engineers chief, and regional USAid head Heath Cosgrove, would represent Washington on the task force.
A Japan Ministry of Defence spokesperson said the ministry had received Mr Emanuel’s letter, but no decision had been made about the Japanese representatives.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a request for comment. REUTERS
