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1 Japan pM Heads to United States For Trump Summit

Japan and the US are key 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 given that 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 workers stationed in the country.

Ishiba will be pressing for reassurance on the value of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" agenda dangers encroaching on the countries' trade and defence ties.

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

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

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

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

Since Japan has actually cut its liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it "frantically 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 proposal from Ishiba to the president," she said.

Trump will meet Ishiba in Washington on Friday-- simply days after a joint interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, king-wifi.win where the US president triggered uproar with a proposition to take over the Gaza Strip.

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

- Taiwan hazard -

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

Tokyo needs to "continue to protect the US commitment to the region, to avoid a power vacuum causing regional instability", Ishiba just recently told parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are expected 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.

Focusing on this point is "extremely essential" due to the fact that Japan and the United States need to work together to prevent a possible crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr an international relations expert at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence costs, however, there are concerns Trump might 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 determination to slap trade tariffs on significant 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 ways to attain economic security," such as complying on innovation, Shiraishi informed AFP.

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

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

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

During his 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, [mariskamast.net](http://mariskamast.net:/smf/index.php?action=profile