13 May 2010

Last night, Prime Minister Hatoyama made a phone call to Mr. David Cameron, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Prime Minister Hatoyama congratulated the victory of the Conservative Party and their return to the government after 13 years. Prime Minister Hatoyama mentioned that the United Kingdom and Japan share the fundamental values such as freedom and democracy, and both countries are members of the G8 and G20, among others, and therefore Prime Minister Hatoyama looked forward to cooperating with the new UK Prime Minister on various international issues. Prime Minister Cameron thanked Prime Minister Hatoyama for his congratulations, and he said he also looked forward to working with Prime Minister Hatoyama. He mentioned that he looked forward to meeting with Prime Minister Hatoyama in Canada next month on the occasion of the G8 and G20 Summit Meetings. Prime Minister Cameron also expressed appreciation to Japan for Japan's investment in the United Kingdom, as the investment is contributing to the employment creation there.

Prime Minister Cameron also stated that he wished to exchange views on non-proliferation, Afghanistan, and Iran, among other issues.

As for the bilateral relations, Prime Minister Hatoyama expressed his wish to further deepen the bilateral relationship, and invited Prime Minister Cameron to visit Japan at an early date. To this Prime Minister Cameron said that he already visited Japan in 1985, however, ever since he has not visited Japan and he looks forward to visiting Japan. Finally, Prime Minister Hatoyama reiterated once again that he looked forward to meeting his U.K. counterpart in the G8 Summit in Canada, and looked forward to exchanging views on such issues as Afghanistan, climate change, Iran, and others.