Japan, U.S. vow solid alliance under respective new gov'ts

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed Thursday that the two countries will maintain the close alliance under their respective new governments, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.It was the first foreign ministerial talks between Japan and the United States since Donald Trump won the presidential election in early November and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba took office last month. Ishiba was reelected this week.Iwaya and Blinken pledged to promote collaboration to "further strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance's deterrence and response capabili…READ FULL ARTICLE