The United States of America President, Senator
Barack Obama Wednesday apologised to Japanese Government over an alleged publication by WikiLeaks claiming
Washington had been spying on some Japanese politicians, for more than a decades.
This was main public by a government official who disclosed that president Obama held a
telephone conversation with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Wednesday morning,
spokesman Yoshihide Suga said, adding that the pair agreed to work together on
global economic issues in the wake of a stock market meltdown sparked by fears
over China.
"President
Obama said he was very sorry... as the case caused a big debate in Japan,"
Suga told a regular news conference, without confirming the spying claims.
He added that Abe
reiterated his "serious concern" over the case.
"Prime
Minister Abe told (Obama) that, if the Japanese people concerned were subject
to these activities, it would risk jeopardising trusting relations between
allies," Suga said.
In an earlier
conversation with US Vice President Joe Biden, Abe voiced similar concerns if
the spying claims were confirmed.
Last month,
WikiLeaks said it had intercepts revealing years-long espionage by the US
National Security Agency (NSA) on Japanese officials and major companies.
Tokyo's response
has been widely seen as muted compared to the anger expressed in France and
Germany following similar NSA spying allegations.
Japan is one of
Washington's key allies in the Asia-Pacific region and they regularly consult
on defence, economic and trade issues.
Unlike German
chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Francois Hollande, Abe did not
appear to be a direct target of wiretapping -- but other senior politicians
were, according to WikiLeaks, including Trade Minister Yoichi Miyazawa.
Obama and Abe
also discussed market turmoil that has seen a massive global equities sell off
after China cut the value of its yuan currency in an apparent bid to boost
exports, sparking fears of an economic slowdown and the subsequent impact on
global growth.
"(Abe and
Obama) will firmly work together on the economy issue," Suga said, without
elaborating.
He added that
Obama repeated Washington's support for Abe's speech on the eve of the 70th
anniversary of the end of WWII in which he expressed regret but also said
future generations need not apologise for Japan's war record.
"The
president said he welcomed (Abe's remarks) as a whole," Suga said,
referring to the speech earlier this month.
Allies including
the United States and Britain supported Abe's statement, but China and South
Korea said he failed to properly apologise for Tokyo's war time aggression.
Japan's
neighbours suffered badly from its imperial march across Asia in the first part
of the 20th century.