1 Japan pM Heads to uS For Trump Summit

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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 considering 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 fishtanklive.wiki peace of mind on the importance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" agenda threats intruding on the countries' trade and defence ties.

"It would be fantastic if we might affirm that we will collaborate for the development this area and the world and for peace," Ishiba told press reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the trip.

Japan's Nikkei paper said Thursday the pair will release a joint declaration, which could vow to develop a "golden era" of bilateral relations and wiki.lafabriquedelalogistique.fr bring the alliance to "new heights".

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

Ishiba may also propose importing more US natural gas-- chiming with Trump's plan to "drill, infant, drill" while boosting energy for resource-poor Japan.

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

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

Trump will satisfy Ishiba in Washington on Friday-- simply days after a joint interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president sparked uproar with a proposal to take over the Gaza Strip.

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

- Taiwan threat -

Ishiba has stressed the importance of US defence ties, indicating threats 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 informed parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are anticipated to verify 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.

Concentrating on this point is "very essential" due to the fact that Japan and the United States must interact to prevent a prospective crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, an international relations expert at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the concern of defence expenses, however, there are concerns Trump could provide less cash 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 determination to slap trade tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has delayed measures against the latter two countries pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will reveal him there are other ways to attain financial security," such as cooperating on technology, Shiraishi told AFP.

One example is the Stargate drive, announced 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 quote to buy US Steel, which Biden blocked on nationwide security premises.

Japan and the United States are each other's leading foreign investors, library.kemu.ac.ke and the Nikkei reported that the leaders will settle on producing an investment-friendly environment.

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

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

Trump developed a strong relationship with Abe, for wikitravel.org 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 personal".

Ishiba, 68, setiathome.berkeley.edu will not be the very first Japanese VIP to satisfy the 78-year-old Trump personally given that he took workplace-- a difference held by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.