TOKYO, 17 NOV – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said yesterday that he will not hold a personal meeting with the President-elect of the United States (US), Donald Trump on his way back to Japan from South America, although he intends to do so, the News Agency reported. Kyodo.
Speaking to reporters in Lima, Peru, Ishiba said Trump’s team explained that the president-elect, who has received numerous requests for meetings from world leaders, cannot hold talks with them before taking office due to legal constraints.
Ishiba said, “I hope to have a discussion with him at the most convenient time and as early as possible for both sides,” expressing his desire to arrange a meeting shortly after Trump’s inauguration in January.
During a phone call in early November, Ishiba and Trump agreed to strengthen cooperation in improving bilateral relations, with the prime minister telling reporters that he ‘got the impression’ the president-elect was ‘friendly’ and ‘can talk honestly’.
Ishiba, who is on an eight-day visit to the summit of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Peru and the Group of 20 (G20) in Brazil, has considered the possibility of stopping in the US afterwards to meet with Trump.
Amid challenges such as China’s growing military assertiveness and North Korea’s nuclear and missile development programs, Ishiba has stressed that the Japan-US alliance is a ‘top priority’ for his country’s foreign and security policy.
On Friday in Lima, he held a brief meeting with US President Joe Biden and hailed the alliance as stronger than ever. – Named
