The White House said Biden met Suga on the sidelines of the G7 summit and affirmed his support for the future of the Tokyo Olympics.
US President Joe Biden reaffirmed his support for the Tokyo Olympics during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Saturday, stressing the need to impose public health measures to ensure the safety of those involved.
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which were postponed last year due to the global spread of the coronavirus, are set to begin on July 23, facing opposition from most of the public, many Japanese companies and medical staff.
In a meeting with Suga on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in the UK resort town of Carbis Bay, Biden also raised a range of other issues, including COVID-19, North Korea, China and change climate change, the White House said in a statement. declaration.
“President Biden has affirmed his support for the advancement of the Tokyo Olympics with all necessary public health measures to protect athletes, staff and spectators,” he said.
“President Biden has expressed his pride in the American athletes who have trained for the Tokyo Games and who will compete in the best traditions of the Olympic spirit,” he said.
The comments echoed a similar statement made in April during Suga’s visit to Washington.
Even as Tokyo battles a fourth wave of infections and is in a state of emergency, the Japanese government and organizers have said they will move forward – except “Armageddon,” as one member put it of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Tokyo 2020 would be “grateful” if the G7 countries could support the Summer Games as planned, Tokyo 2020 organizing committee chairperson Seiko Hashimoto said on Friday.
