Japan PM Heads To United States For Trump Summit
Japan and oke.zone the US are key defence allies and hb9lc.org 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 second summit with a foreign leader since his return to the White House.
Japan is one of the closest allies of the United States in Asia with around 54,000 US military workers stationed in the nation.
Ishiba will be pushing for reassurance on the importance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" agenda threats intruding on the nations' trade and defence ties.
"It would be fantastic if we could verify that we will work together for the development this area and the world and for peace," Ishiba informed reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the trip.
Japan's Nikkei newspaper said Thursday the pair will issue a joint declaration, which could vow to develop a "golden era" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "brand-new heights".
Ishiba is anticipated to tell Trump that Japan will increase defence from the United States, the Nikkei said.
Ishiba might 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 liquefied gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it "desperately requires to open up brand-new sources of LNG, and other energy more broadly", Sheila Smith, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP.
"The objective is to provide a win-win worth proposition from Ishiba to the president," she said.
Trump will satisfy Ishiba in Washington on Friday-- simply days after a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president triggered uproar with a proposition to take over the Gaza Strip.
The Japan top could be less stunning, Smith said, systemcheck-wiki.de as Trump "has a fairly strong dedication to the alliances in Asia".
- Taiwan danger -
Ishiba has actually worried the significance of US defence ties, pointing to risks 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 avoid a power vacuum leading to regional instability", Ishiba just recently informed parliament.
Trump and Ishiba are expected to affirm the value of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese media said.
That would echo joint statements made by the last US president Joe Biden with previous Japanese prime ministers.
Focusing on this point is "extremely crucial" because Japan and the United States need to collaborate to prevent a prospective crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, a worldwide relations specialist at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.
As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the problem of defence costs, nevertheless, there are concerns Trump might supply less cash 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 desire to slap trade tariffs on significant trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has postponed steps against the latter 2 nations pending talks.
"I hope Ishiba will show him there are other ways to attain financial security," such as complying on innovation, 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 leviathan SoftBank Group and US firm OpenAI.
Reports said the leaders might likewise discuss Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid to purchase US Steel, users.atw.hu which Biden obstructed on nationwide security grounds.
Japan and the United States are each other's top foreign investors, and the Nikkei reported that the leaders will settle on producing an investment-friendly environment.
During his very first term, Trump and Japan's then-prime minister Shinzo Abe enjoyed warm relations.
As president-elect in December, Trump also hosted Akie Abe, the widow of Japan's assassinated ex-premier, for a dinner with Melania Trump at their Florida home.
Trump developed 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 Japanese VIP to meet the 78-year-old Trump personally because he took workplace-- a difference held by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.