Trump, Japan’s Takaichi discuss China in meeting ahead of Xi’s US trip

TOKYO - US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi agreed to closely coordinate on issues related to China just days before a high-stakes trip to Washington by Chinese leader Xi Jinping, a Japanese government spokesman said.During around half an hour of talks at the United Nations on Sept 22, Trump and Takaichi discussed economic and security relations with China, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masano Ozaki told reporters, suggesting they were aligned in trying to blunt Beijing’s leverage over them.“At this vitally important moment, we have showed the unwavering resilience of our alliance,” Ozaki said.Tokyo has been looking to ensure it has Trump’s ear as it watches to see how the president’s looming meeting with Xi might affect its relations with its sole security treaty ally and its biggest regional challenger.Takaichi, who moved up her plan to speak at the UN by two days in order to catch Trump before his summit with Xi on Sept 24, has been looking for support from the US president after she became the target of anger from China over remarks she made last year about Taiwan.As part of a campaign to try and get Takaichi to retract her comments, China restricted supplies of rare earth minerals to Tokyo late last year. China has also blacklisted many Japanese companies. In November, Takaichi said any Chinese invasion of Taiwan would be an existential threat to Japan, implying that Tokyo might support a collective defense of the island democracy, which is claimed by China as part of its territory.Ozaki appeared to reference the Chinese pressure campaign against Japan when describing the key economic areas in which Tokyo was working with Washington.“Taking into account the recent situation surrounding our country, the two leaders confirmed that economic security cooperation aimed at winning the technological competition in areas such as AI, semiconductors and critical minerals,” Ozaki said.Later in the day, Takaichi is set to deliver her maiden speech at the UN General Assembly, where she will call for the removal of references in the UN charter that refer to Japan and Germany as “enemy states”, according to a copy of her prepared remarks provided by the Japanese Foreign Ministry. China has highlighted that language as part of its pressure campaign against Tokyo.Alliance praiseGoing into their closed-door meeting, Trump and Takaichi showered praise on each other in front of the cameras, with the US president calling her a “friend of mine” who’s “going to go down as one of the great prime ministers”.Takaichi, speaking in Japanese, thanked Trump for his commitment to the Japan-US alliance.“Against the backdrop of an increasingly severe security environment – including the Asian security environment in recent years – I would like to seize this opportunity to demonstrate to the world how robust our alliance is,” she said.Ozaki declined to say whether the leaders touched on Taiwan during their talks. He did say they discussed the worsening regional security environment and Japan’s plans to build up its military. There was no specific request from Trump on Japanese defense spending, Ozaki added.Defence plansTrump has urged Japan to ease the burden on the US military in the Asia Pacific region. Tokyo is currently considering raising defense spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product, joining NATO and South Korea in setting that as a target following American pressure.Trump and Takaichi “discussed efforts aimed at strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-US alliance, and confirmed that these efforts will be advanced”, Ozaki said.The leaders also expressed a firm commitment toward the complete denuclearization of North Korea, he said.During the talks, the leaders discussed Japan’s US$550 billion (S$701 billion) investment pledge in the US, made in return for a reduction in Trump’s trade tariffs, according to Ozaki, as well as the “current global financial situation”.The meeting came after joint US-Japan intervention in the currency market to support the Japanese yen and unprecedented pressure from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates.Japan’s flailing currency has heightened concerns about rising US interest rates, with Japanese Finance Ministry data suggesting Japan likely sold some of its large holdings of Treasury securities this year to fund yen buying. Ozaki declined to say whether monetary policy was a subject of discussion during the talks.One point of tension between the US and Japan has been the recent US move to sanction the Japanese head of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane. Takaichi brought up the subject with Trump in the meeting and the two leaders had a “frank exchange of views”, Ozaki said, suggesting there was continued disagreement over the issue. BLOOMBERG