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 2nd summit with a foreign leader since his go back to the White House.

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

Ishiba will be promoting peace of mind on the significance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" agenda threats trespassing on the nations' trade and defence ties.

"It would be fantastic if we could verify that we will collaborate for the development this region and the world and for peace," Ishiba told press reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the journey.

Japan's Nikkei paper said Thursday the pair will provide a joint declaration, which might vow to construct a "golden age" 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 might also propose importing more US natural gas-- chiming with Trump's strategy to "drill, infant, drill" while enhancing energy security for resource-poor Japan.

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

"The intention is to provide a win-win worth proposition from Ishiba to the president," she said.

Trump will fulfill 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 proposal to take over the Gaza Strip.

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

- Taiwan hazard -

Ishiba has actually worried the significance 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 should "continue to secure the US commitment to the area, to prevent a power vacuum leading to local instability", Ishiba just recently informed parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are expected to affirm the significance 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 "exceptionally important" since Japan and the United States must interact to prevent a prospective crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, an international relations specialist at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence expenses, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de nevertheless, there are concerns 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 major trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has actually delayed steps against the latter two nations pending talks.

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

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

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

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

During his very first term, Trump and Japan's then-prime minister Shinzo Abe delighted 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 house.

Trump developed a strong relationship with Abe, for gratisafhalen.be 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 satisfy the 78-year-old Trump in person considering that he took office-- a by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.