GitLab

Japan and the US are essential defence allies and scientific-programs.science each other's top foreign investors

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 because his return 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 country.

Ishiba will be pushing for reassurance on the importance of the US-Japan alliance, 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 work together for the advancement this region and the world and for peace," Ishiba told 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 develop a "golden age" of bilateral relations and bring the alliance to "brand-new heights".

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

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

Since Japan has actually cut its melted gas (LNG) imports from Russia, it "desperately requires 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 objective is to provide a win-win worth 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 stimulated outcry with a proposal to take control of the Gaza Strip.

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

- Taiwan hazard -

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

Tokyo must "continue to secure the US commitment to the region, to prevent a power vacuum leading to regional instability", Ishiba recently informed parliament.

Trump and Ishiba are anticipated to affirm the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Japanese media said.

That would echo joint declarations made by the last US president Joe Biden with previous Japanese prime ministers.

Focusing on this point is "very important" because Japan and the United States should work together to avoid a potential crisis, said Takashi Shiraishi, wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de a global relations specialist at the Prefectural University of Kumamoto.

As Japan and the United States renegotiate how to share the problem of defence costs, however, there are concerns Trump could provide less money and to do more, Smith said.

"That's where ... the Ishiba-Trump relationship could get a bit sticky," she said.

- After Abe -

Also causing jitters is Trump's willingness to slap trade tariffs on major trading partners China, Canada, akropolistravel.com and Mexico-- though he has postponed steps against the latter 2 nations pending talks.

"I hope Ishiba will reveal him there are other methods to attain economic security," such as complying on technology, Shiraishi told AFP.

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

Reports said the leaders could also go over Nippon Steel's $14.9 billion quote to purchase US Steel, forum.batman.gainedge.org which Biden blocked on nationwide security premises.

Japan and the United States are each other's top 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 took pleasure in warm relations.

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

Trump built a strong relationship with Abe, for whom Smith believes he had a "genuine fondness".

He will likely "see Ishiba through a different lens", said Smith, and "it will be more the state-to-state relationship, not the individual".

Ishiba, 68, will not be the first Japanese VIP to fulfill the 78-year-old Trump in person since he took workplace-- a distinction held by SoftBank creator Masayoshi Son.