TOKYO, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko expressed feelings of regret that the U.S. had pulled out of the Paris climate pact when meeting with U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry here on Monday.
It's regrettable that the United States has exited from the accord, Seko was quoted as saying.
The U.S. official, however, assured Japan that the United States would continue with its commitments to environmental issues despite President Donald Trump withdrawing from the accord.
During their meeting on Monday, Seko and Perry agreed that both countries will work together in areas connected to renewable energy, liquified natural gas and nuclear power and technology.
The pair also discussed issues pertaining to the stricken Fukushima Daiichi complex which was central to the world's worst commercial nuclear disaster in 2011 following an earthquake-triggered tsunami.
Perry, who had visited the plant a day earlier, told Seko that the U.S. has the best nuclear waste disposal technology and will offer Japan as much assistance as possible.
Seko and Perry also exchanged opinions on the embattled Toshiba group and its U.S. nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Co., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March.
Apart from Seko, other Japanese senior officials have also voiced disappointment at the U.S. pulling out from the accord, with Japan's Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida saying recently that Trump's announcement was disappointing.
Japan was hoping to work with the United States within the framework of the Paris agreement and so the announcement by the U.S. administration on its withdrawal from the Paris agreement is regrettable, Kishida said.
