The new US President and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet in New York City.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet with Donald Trump in New York City on Thursday before the Japanese official goes to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.
According to a security adviser to Trump, the U.S. President-elect meeting with Abe may mark the beginning of talks to get the support of Japan for a push back against China’s growing influence in Asia.
To recall, Trump’s campaign comments, included a demand that Japan pay more for the upkeep of U.S. forces on its soil. This comments have worried Tokyo about a rift in a security alliance with the United States, in the face of a rising China and a volatile North Korea, that has been the bedrock of its defense since World War Two.
But there are also reports telling that a tougher stance against China, and a call for Japan to play a bigger security role through a Trump-Abe axis would match with the Japanese Prime Minister’s hawkish policies that include allowing the military to operate more freely outside Japan.
Trump was looking to Japan “to play a more active role in Asia”, the adviser said to Reuters. However, he declined to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
He added that Abe was “a uniquely placed figure to offer leadership in the alliance”.
Senior commanders of the US Navy have said they would welcome joint air and sea patrols with Japan’s military in the disputed South China Sea, which is claimed by China and other countries in Asia.
The advise added that in his first 100 days in White House, Trump would terminate budget sequestration that mandates spending, including cuts in military outlays, and submit a budget that would fund construction of dozens of new warships.
“It would send a message to Beijing as well as allies Japan and South Korea and other nations that the U.S. is intent on being in (Asia) for a long time”, he said.
