Japan's Abe to Address Security Alliance at Meeting With Trump
November 17 2016 - 3:30PM
Dow Jones News
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, ahead of a meeting with
Donald Trump in New York, said he wants to establish an
understanding with the president-elect about the Japanese-U.S.
security alliance, which Mr. Abe said is vital to Japanese
security.
"This is an alliance that lives and breathes only when there is
trust, and it is precisely that relationship of trust which I would
like to build with President-elect Trump," Mr. Abe said before
leaving Japan.
Japanese and Trump transition officials said the meeting wasn't
a "full-fledged" gathering but an opportunity for the leaders to
get to know one another. A Japanese official said the sides didn't
exchange agendas and talking points, as they would in a formal
summit.
Mr. Trump rattled officials in Tokyo and elsewhere during the
campaign when he suggested that Japan may need to obtain its own
nuclear weapons, rather than be protected by the U.S. nuclear
umbrella, and said allies must pay more to support U.S. troops in
their countries or risk their removal. The U.S. has approximately
54,000 troops in Japan.
Japanese officials say Mr. Abe hopes to convey that Tokyo
already bears a significant portion of the cost—more than $5
billion annually by one measure—and that the alliance benefits the
U.S. as much as Japan by keeping the peace in the world's most
economically dynamic region.
Mr. Abe last week planned his stop in New York as part of a
previously scheduled trip to Peru for the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation summit. President Barack Obama will attend that summit,
after a visit to Germany.
Japan relies heavily on exports to the U.S.: both goods shipped
directly and Chinese-made goods such as Apple Inc.'s iPhone, that
are packed with Japanese-made parts.
The lower house of Japan's Parliament ratified the Trans-Pacific
Partnership trade deal shortly after the U.S. election, even though
Mr. Trump has said he opposes the deal. Mr. Abe is now aiming to
get final parliamentary passage of the TPP soon. While he has
acknowledged that its short-term prospects are slim, he has said he
believes the TPP still has life under the next U.S.
administration—a view with which few outside observers agree.
Mr. Trump hasn't yet been in contact with officials at the State
Department, National Security Council or Pentagon about his visit
with Mr. Abe, and the president-elect had no briefing materials
from them ahead of his meeting with Mr. Abe.
"There's been no outreach to date," State Department spokesman
John Kirby said Wednesday. "We stand ready to support him and his
team with any information that they might require, either in
advance of or on the back end of these conversations."
Kellyanne Conway, Mr. Trump's campaign manager and a top
adviser, said Thursday that Mr. Trump and Vice President-elect Mike
Pence will meet Mr. Abe at 5 p.m.
The Trump transition team likely won't release a statement out
of the meeting to be deferential to President Barack Obama, who is
on his last foreign trip.
Damian Paletta and Peter Landers contributed to this article
Write to Felicia Schwartz at Felicia.Schwartz@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 17, 2016 15:15 ET (20:15 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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