Trump’s pick for ambassador Hagerty terms US-Japan ties “Central Pillar”

May 19, 2017

WASHINGTON- William Hagerty, US President Donald Tr ump's pick for ambassador to Japan, on Thursday  termed  the  two countries' relations "a central pillar" of their international roles. "The US partnership and alliance with Japan is a central pillar of our role in Asia and beyond," Hagerty said in a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Hagerty,  57,  a founder of US private equity firm Hagerty Peterson  &  Co.,  promised  to "endeavor to deepen our part- nership and alliance with Japan so as to respond effectively to regional and global challenges." The committee is expected to confirm Hagerty in the near future, in the absence of clear opposition to the appointment, according to US Congress sources. He is seen taking of- fice in Japan after winning aSenate confirmation before summer. Hagerty discussed his Japan  policy  in  public  for  the first time he was nominated in March. He characterized North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs as the  region's  "most acute threat." "We should continue to coordinate closely with Japan and t r ilaterally with the Republic  of  Korea  in  pressuring" the regime of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he said. China's maritime expansion in the East China Sea and the South China Sea is "a source of concern,"  Hagerty  said.  "The US commitment to defend Japan through the full range of US military capabilities is unwavering." (Jiji Press)