Japan pM Heads to United States For Trump Summit

Japan and the US are crucial defence allies and each other’s leading foreign investors

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday left for the United States ahead of what will be President Donald Trump’s 2nd top with a foreign leader given that 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 country.

Ishiba will be pressing for peace of mind on the significance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump’s „America First“ program dangers trespassing on the countries’ trade and defence ties.

„It would be wonderful if we could affirm that we will work together for the advancement this area and the world and for peace,“ Ishiba informed press reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the trip.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper said Thursday the pair will release a joint declaration, which might vow to construct a „golden era“ of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to „brand-new heights“.

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

Ishiba might likewise propose importing more US natural gas– chiming with Trump’s strategy to „drill, baby, drill“ while improving energy security for resource-poor Japan.

Since Japan has actually cut its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it „frantically needs to open brand-new sources of LNG, and other energy more broadly“, Sheila Smith, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.

„The intent is to provide a win-win worth proposition from Ishiba to the president,“ she said.

Trump will meet Ishiba in Washington on Friday– just days after a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president stimulated outcry with a proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip.

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

– Taiwan danger –

Ishiba has worried the importance of US defence ties, pointing to dangers on Japan’s doorstep such as China pushing its claims of sovereignty on the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Tokyo must „continue to secure the US commitment to the region, to prevent a power vacuum leading to regional instability“, Ishiba just recently told parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are expected to affirm the importance 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.

Concentrating on this point is „incredibly important“ because Japan and the United States need to interact to avoid a potential crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, a worldwide relations professional at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the concern of defence costs, hb9lc.org nevertheless, there are issues Trump could provide less money and push Japan to do more, Smith said.

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

– After Abe –

Also triggering jitters is Trump’s willingness to slap trade tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico– though he has postponed measures against the latter two nations pending talks.

„I hope Ishiba will show him there are other methods to attain financial security,“ such as complying on technology, Shiraishi informed AFP.

One example is the Stargate drive, revealed after Trump’s January inauguration, to invest up to $500 billion in AI facilities in the United States, led by Japanese tech investment leviathan SoftBank Group and US firm OpenAI.

Reports said the leaders might also go over Nippon Steel’s $14.9 billion bid to purchase US Steel, which Biden blocked on national security premises.

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

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

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

Trump built a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith thinks he had a „genuine fondness“.

He will likely „see Ishiba through a various lens“, said Smith, and „it will be more the state-to-state relationship, not the personal“.

Ishiba, 68, will not be the very first to satisfy the 78-year-old Trump personally since he took workplace– a distinction held by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.