beatlock

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

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday left for the United States ahead of what will be President Donald Trump's second 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 promoting reassurance on the significance of the US-Japan alliance, as Trump's "America First" agenda dangers trespassing on the nations' trade and defence ties.

"It would be wonderful if we might affirm that we will interact for the advancement this region and the world and for peace," Ishiba informed press reporters in Tokyo before leaving for the trip.

Japan's Nikkei paper said Thursday the pair will release a joint declaration, which might vow to construct a "golden age" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "new heights".

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

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

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

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

Trump will satisfy Ishiba in Washington on Friday-- just days after a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, where the US president triggered uproar with a proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip.

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

- Taiwan risk -

Ishiba has worried 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 secure the US dedication to the area, to avoid a power vacuum causing local instability", Ishiba 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.

Focusing on this point is "extremely important" because Japan and it-viking.ch the United States should interact to avoid a potential crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, a worldwide relations specialist at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the burden of defence costs, nevertheless, there are concerns Trump might offer 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 causing jitters is Trump's desire to slap trade tariffs on significant trading partners China, Canada, and Mexico-- though he has actually postponed measures against the latter 2 countries pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will show him there are other ways to attain financial security," such as working together on technology, Shiraishi informed AFP.

One example is the Stargate drive, scientific-programs.science announced after Trump's January inauguration, to invest approximately $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 might likewise talk about Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion bid to purchase US Steel, which Biden blocked on nationwide security premises.

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

During his first term, 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 dinner with Melania Trump at their Florida home.

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 first Japanese VIP to satisfy the 78-year-old Trump face to face because he took workplace-- a distinction held by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.