Japan pM Heads to United States For Trump Summit

Japan and the US are essential defence allies and each other’s top foreign financiers

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday left for the United States ahead of what will be President Donald Trump’s second top with a foreign leader because his return to the White House.

Japan is among the closest allies of the United States in Asia with around 54,000 US military workers stationed in the nation.

Ishiba will be pressing for reassurance on the value of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump’s “America First” agenda dangers trespassing on the nations’ trade and defence ties.

“It would be wonderful if we could verify that we will collaborate for the development this area and the world and for peace,” Ishiba told press reporters in Tokyo before leaving for library.kemu.ac.ke the trip.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper said Thursday the pair will issue a joint declaration, which could vow to build a “golden age” of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to “new heights”.

Ishiba is expected to inform Trump that Japan will increase defence purchases from the United States, the Nikkei said.

Ishiba may likewise propose importing more US natural gas– chiming with Trump’s plan to “drill, infant, drill” while boosting energy security for resource-poor Japan.

Since Japan has cut its melted natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it “desperately needs to open up new sources of LNG, and other energy more broadly”, Sheila Smith, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, informed AFP.

“The intent is to present a win-win value proposition from Ishiba to the president,” she said.

Trump will satisfy Ishiba in Washington on Friday– just days after a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president sparked uproar with a proposition to take over the Gaza Strip.

The Japan summit could be less shocking, Smith said, as Trump “has a fairly strong commitment to the alliances in Asia”.

– Taiwan hazard –

Ishiba has actually stressed the significance of US defence ties, indicating threats on Japan’s doorstep such as China pushing its claims of sovereignty on the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Tokyo must “continue to protect the US commitment to the region, to avoid a power vacuum leading to local instability”, Ishiba recently informed parliament.

Trump and pattern-wiki.win Ishiba are anticipated to affirm the value of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese media said.

That would echo joint declarations made by the last US president Joe Biden with previous Japanese prime ministers.

Focusing on this point is “exceptionally essential” because Japan and code.snapstream.com the United States should collaborate to avoid a possible crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, an international relations professional at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence expenses, classifieds.ocala-news.com however, there are concerns Trump could offer less money and push Japan to do more, Smith said.

“That’s where … the Ishiba-Trump relationship could get a bit sticky,” she said.

– After Abe –

Also causing jitters is Trump’s determination to slap trade tariffs on significant trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico– though he has delayed procedures against the latter 2 nations pending talks.

“I hope Ishiba will reveal him there are other ways to attain economic security,” such as complying on technology, Shiraishi told AFP.

One example is the Stargate drive, announced after Trump’s January inauguration, to invest as much as $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the United States, led by Japanese tech investment behemoth SoftBank Group and US firm OpenAI.

Reports said the leaders could likewise discuss Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion quote to purchase US Steel, which Biden blocked on national security premises.

Japan and the United States are each other’s leading foreign investors, hb9lc.org and the Nikkei reported that the leaders will agree on developing an investment-friendly environment.

During his first term, smfsimple.com Trump and Japan’s then-prime minister Shinzo Abe delighted in warm relations.

As president-elect in December, Trump also hosted Akie Abe, wiki.eqoarevival.com the widow of Japan’s assassinated ex-premier, for a dinner with Melania Trump at their Florida home.

Trump built a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith believes he had a “authentic fondness”.

He will likely “see Ishiba through a different lens”, said Smith, and “it will be more the state-to-state relationship, not the individual”.

Ishiba, 68, will not be the first Japanese VIP to the 78-year-old Trump face to face since he took office– a difference held by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.