Senior U.S. diplomat to visit Japan on disaster recovery effort

WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides will visit Japan later this week for talks on the country's reconstruction efforts following a devastating earthquake in March, State Department announced on Wednesday.

The State Department said in a statement that Nides, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources who is responsible for budget, will visit Tokyo from Thursday to Friday.

While in Tokyo, Nides will meet with Japanese senior officials to discuss the country's reconstruction efforts and the ongoing U. S. support for Japan's recovery from the disaster, said the statement.

In March, Japan was hit by a massive earthquake which triggered a tsunami that later sparked a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on a level unseen globally for 25-years.

According to the statement, the senior officials that Nides is scheduled to meet include Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, Reconstruction Minister Tatsuo Hirano and Minister of Environment Goshi Hosono.

The visit is meant to build on previous high-level visits by U. S. senior diplomats and to reinforce America's "close consultation and cooperation" with Japan on a wide range of "pressing bilateral, regional, and global issues," said the statement.