![Japanese prime minister addresses ‘undercurrent of self-doubt’ about US role abroad Japanese prime minister addresses ‘undercurrent of self-doubt’ about US role abroad](https://wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/AP24102556128133-1024x682.jpg)
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida emphasized the importance of the alliance between the United States and Japan and urged lawmakers not to retreat from their role on the world stage during what he called an “inflection point” in history during a joint address to Congress on Thursday.
“As we meet here today, I detect an undercurrent of self-doubt among some Americans about what your role in the world should be,” Kishida told Congress. “This self-doubt is arising at a time when our world is at history’s turning point.”
Kishida, elected in 2021, is the first Japanese prime minister to address Congress since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to Washington in 2015. His speech to a joint meeting of Congress comes as Kishida is set to participate in an inaugural U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral summit at the White House with President Joe Biden and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Japan is …