irbiscontrol

adrianaoshaugh/irbiscontrol

Japan and the US are crucial defence allies and each other's leading foreign financiers

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday left for the United States ahead of what will be President Donald Trump's 2nd summit with a foreign leader since his go back 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 country.

Ishiba will be pushing for peace of mind on the significance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" program risks encroaching on the countries' trade and defence ties.

"It would be fantastic if we could affirm that we will interact for the development this area and the world and for peace," Ishiba told reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the journey.

Japan's Nikkei newspaper said Thursday the pair will issue a joint statement, which might vow to build 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 buy from the United States, the Nikkei said.

Ishiba may also propose importing more US gas-- chiming with Trump's strategy to "drill, baby, drill" while increasing energy security for resource-poor Japan.

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

"The objective is to provide a win-win value proposal from Ishiba to the president," she said.

Trump will fulfill Ishiba in Washington on just days after a joint interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president sparked outcry with a proposition to take control of the Gaza Strip.

The Japan top might be less surprising, Smith said, as Trump "has a fairly strong commitment to the alliances in Asia".

- Taiwan danger -

Ishiba has actually stressed the value of US defence ties, pointing to risks on Japan's doorstep such as China pressing its claims of sovereignty on the self-ruled island of Taiwan.

Tokyo should "continue to protect the US dedication to the area, to avoid a power vacuum leading to local 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 statements made by the last US president Joe Biden with previous Japanese prime ministers.

Focusing on this point is "incredibly important" due to the fact that Japan and the United States must work together to prevent a prospective crisis, biolink.palcurr.com said Takashi Shiraishi, a global relations specialist at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence costs, wiki-tb-service.com nevertheless, there are issues Trump could offer 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 triggering jitters is Trump's desire to slap trade tariffs on significant trading partners China, Canada, bio.rogstecnologia.com.br and Mexico-- though he has actually delayed procedures against the latter 2 nations pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will show him there are other methods to attain financial security," such as working together on innovation, Shiraishi told AFP.

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

Reports said the leaders could likewise talk about Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid to buy US Steel, which Biden blocked on nationwide security grounds.

Japan and the United States are each other's leading 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 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 residence.

Trump constructed a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith believes he had a "real 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 given that he took office-- a difference held by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.