UK PM Johnson backs Tokyo Olympics, Japan wants more G7 support

The logo of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games that have been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, is seen through signboards, at Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office building in Tokyo, Japan January 22, 2021. (REUTERS/File Photo)

CARBIS BAY, England  – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday gave the Tokyo Olympics a show of public support at a meeting with Japan’s Yoshihide Suga and welcomed efforts to ensure the Games can take place safely.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which were postponed last year due to the global spread of the coronavirus, is scheduled to start on July 23.

At a meeting with Suga on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit in the British seaside resort of Carbis Bay, Johnson agreed to work together on a range of issues from trade and technology to defence and climate.

“The prime minister expressed his support for the Tokyo Olympics, and welcomed Japanese efforts to ensure the Games can take place safely,” a Downing Street spokesperson said after the meeting.

Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson arrives by boat to visit the workshop of Scott Woyka, ahead of the G7 summit, in Falmouth, Cornwall, Britain June 10, 2021. (REUTERS/Pool)

The Japanese government and Olympic organisers have said the Games will go ahead – barring “Armageddon”, as one International Olympic Committee (IOC) member put it.

Tokyo 2020 would be “grateful” if G7 countries could support the Summer Games going ahead as planned, Tokyo 2020 organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said on Friday.

“It is Japan’s expectation that the other members of the G7 countries share the idea of Japan,” said Tomoyuki Yoshida, press secretary at Japan’s Foreign Ministry. “It is quite encouraging for us for the G7 countries to support the efforts of Japan on this occasion as well.”

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