Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed late Sunday to boost their country's security relationship. Suga became Japan's new leader last week.
In their first phone conversation since Suga took office the two leaders exchanged views about a free and open Indo-Pacific and the situation with China and North Korea.
The two heads of government agreed to work closely on producing a vaccine and other measures in dealing with the world health crisis.
Suga also spoke by telephone with Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier in the day - the first leader he spoke with since his election.
Suga - who became Japan's new prime minister in almost eight years - said without elaborating he was willing to talk with other world leaders on the telephone after his 25-minute conversation with the U.S. president.
Trump was quoted by the Japan prime minister as saying that the two countries' partnership should be enhanced even further and that he was welcome to call Trump "24 hours a day, if something ever happened," the Japan Times reported.
Shinzo Abe, Japan's longest-serving leader whose second term in office started in late 2012, is known to have established close ties with Trump - often playing golf together.
China is at loggerheads with neighbors including Vietnam and Japan over islands in the South China Sea. China's growing military presence in the area has been a concern for its neighbors and the U.S. has pledged to defend their sovereign claims.
Meanwhile, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen on Sunday said her government wasn't planning for her to speak by telephone with Suga - eliciting worries in China.
Taiwan, which is claimed by China, has close cultural relations with Japan but Japan acknowledges China's government but not Taiwan's.
