Japan's Ishiba to Seek Trump Visit, Reaffirm Taiwan Strait Peace at Summit

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is planning to ask U.S. President Donald Trump to visit Japan this year when they hold a summit in Washington later this week.

Ishiba is also expected to reaffirm with Trump the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as past Japanese and U.S. leaders have done, during their planned talks on Friday as part of a three-day visit to the United States starting Thursday.

It will be the first in-person meeting between the two after Ishiba took office in October and Trump was sworn in for his second nonconsecutive four-year term last month.

If realized, Trump's visit to Japan is expected in the latter half of 2025, possibly before or after this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit to be held in South Korea in the fall.

Ishiba's U.S. trip comes as he seeks to establish a personal rapport with Trump to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance amid rising security concerns, with China ramping up military activity in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Taiwan Strait.

Communist-led China regards Taiwan, a self-ruled democratic island, as a breakaway province to be eventually reunified with the mainland by force if necessary.

"We need to make necessary efforts to stabilize the Japan-U.S. alliance further," Ishiba told a parliamentary committee on Monday, saying that the two nations have common visions such as a "free and open Indo-Pacific" and the rule of law.

At their meeting on Friday, Ishiba and Trump are expected to issue a joint statement affirming that Article 5 of the bilateral security treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands, which are administered by Japan but claimed by China in the East China Sea.

Article 5 commits the United States to defending territories under Japan's administration from armed attack. Tokyo remains on alert as Beijing continues to send coast guard vessels into waters around the uninhabited Senkaku Islands, which China calls Diaoyu.

On the economic security front, Ishiba is considering making a proposal to promote bilateral collaboration on semiconductors, artificial intelligence and other cutting-edge technologies, and to expand exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas.