(Tokyo) Donald Trump, who arrived in Japan on Monday, was resolutely optimistic before his crucial meeting Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, supposed to resolve the trade dispute with China.
He also repeated, with some insistence, that he would “very much like” to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during this trip, which began in Malaysia and will end in South Korea, for this highly anticipated summit with his Chinese counterpart.
“We will have a very good conversation” with Xi Jinping, predicted the American president, during an exchange with the press aboard his plane.
“I think we will find an agreement” on trade, he added, praising his relationship marked by “respect” with the Chinese president.
The 79-year-old billionaire was also enthusiastic about his visit to Tokyo, which began Monday with a brief meeting with Emperor Naruhito.
PHOTO ISSEI KATO, ASSOCIATED PRESS
US President Donald Trump and Japanese Emperor Naruhito
After this formal visit, the American president will see the new Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, on Tuesday, this time to talk business.
He said he was “can’t wait” to meet her, saying he had heard “phenomenal things” about her. Donald Trump stressed that the head of the Japanese executive was “a great ally and friend” of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, to whom he was particularly close.
Japan is relatively spared from the great protectionist offensive of the American president, who has piled customs duties on the historic allies of the United States, as much, if not more, than on their rivals.
During a first telephone interview on Saturday, Sanae Takaichi assured the American president that he had placed “as the main priority of (his) government” the strengthening of bilateral ties in terms of security in particular.
Aircraft carrier
Donald Trump, who has a resolutely transactional approach to diplomacy, wants to condition the military protection of the United States on the efforts made by its allies.
Some 60,000 American troops are stationed in Japan. He will visit some of them on Tuesday aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washingtonoff Yokosuka, south of Tokyo.
Sanae Takaichi announced that Japan would increase its defense budget to 2% of GDP from the current fiscal year, which will end on March 31, two years ahead of the previously set schedule.
As for trade, Washington and Tokyo already reached an agreement in July.
Discussions on Tuesday could address outstanding points, such as the form that the 550 billion Japanese investments planned in the United States will take.
Trade negotiations with South Korea, where the American president will visit on Wednesday, are also continuing.
The main customs file still open, the stakes of which go beyond the two protagonists to encompass the entire world economy, is China.
The former New York real estate developer has vowed to reduce the colossal trade deficit of the United States against the Asian giant, but he stumbles over the complexity of an economic relationship made up of rivalry as much as interdependence.
Washington wants to be optimistic about the possibility of finding compromises on Thursday on two sensitive issues, on the one hand the United States’ access to Chinese rare earths, these materials essential to technological industries, and on the other hand China’s purchase of American soybeans.
Donald Trump also did not rule out Monday extending his stay in Asia to meet Kim Jong-un. Their last, spectacular interview took place in 2019 in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas.
Repeating several times that he “would very much like” to see the North Korean leader again, he said: “I got along very well with Kim Jong-un. I appreciated him. He liked me.”
