Japan and the US are crucial defence allies and 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 2nd top with a foreign leader given that 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 personnel stationed in the nation.
Ishiba will be pressing for reassurance on the importance of the US-Japan alliance, genbecle.com as Trump's "America First" program dangers trespassing on the nations' trade and defence ties.
"It would be wonderful if we could affirm that we will interact for the development this area and the world and for peace," Ishiba informed 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 construct a "golden era" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "brand-new heights".
Ishiba is expected to tell Trump that Japan will increase defence buy from the United States, the Nikkei said.
Ishiba may also propose importing more US natural gas-- chiming with Trump's strategy to "drill, baby, drill" while boosting energy security for resource-poor Japan.
Since Japan has actually cut its melted gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it "frantically needs to open 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 present a win-win value proposal 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 stimulated uproar with a proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip.
The Japan summit might be less shocking, Smith said, archmageriseswiki.com as Trump "has a fairly strong dedication to the alliances in Asia".
- Taiwan danger -
Ishiba has stressed the importance 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 dedication to the area, to prevent a power vacuum resulting in local instability", sciencewiki.science Ishiba just recently informed parliament.
Trump and gratisafhalen.be 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 important" because Japan and the United States must work together to avoid a possible crisis, akropolistravel.com said Takashi Shiraishi, a worldwide relations specialist at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.
As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the concern of defence costs, nevertheless, there are concerns Trump might supply less money and wiki.lafabriquedelalogistique.fr push Japan to do more, akropolistravel.com 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 postponed procedures against the latter two nations pending talks.
"I hope Ishiba will reveal him there are other methods to attain financial security," such as cooperating on innovation, 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 financial investment behemoth 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 investors, and the Nikkei reported that the will agree 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 likewise 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 whom Smith thinks 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 first Japanese VIP to fulfill the 78-year-old Trump personally given that he took workplace-- a distinction held by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son.
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Japan pM Heads to United States For Trump Summit
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