The head of Japan says that he is preparing for difficult negotiations with Trump on the maintenance of the American presence

Tokyo (AP) – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishibafighting to stabilize his minority government, said on Friday that he would seek to maintain regional security and prepare for difficult negotiations with US President Donald Trump To gain its commitment to maintain a strong American presence in Asia-Pacific.

Ishiba has been looking to meet Trump since her electoral victory in November and is organizing a trip to Washington in the coming weeks.

With A minority government following Significant electoral loss In October due to voters’ anger at the financial scandals of his party, Ishiba has trouble staying in power at least until the next major elections this summer.

“With the balance of powers in the region which makes a historical change, we must deepen cooperation in Japan-United States and ensure the American commitment to the region to prevent any vacuum cleaner from power to destabilize it,” said Ishiba in a political discourse in parliament.

Japan concerns about an American retirement from the region is presented as China Soldiers are becoming more and more assertive and North Korea has tested several times Ballistic missiles because it advances its nuclear and missile programs.

Ishiba has said that Japan has faced “the most serious and complicated security environment” since the Second World War and has to strengthen its own defense capacities and raise the Japanese-American alliance while expanding and deepening links with other partners.

The United States is the only ally in the Japan Treaty and Japanese officials fear that Trump will be less important in relations in the region developed under former American president Joe Biden to counter the growing influence of China.

Ishiba has said that increasing dialogue is essential to avoid misunderstandings and expressed its desire to achieve constructive relations with China.

In addition to deepening the links of Japan-US, which Tokyo has traditionally considered the cornerstone of its foreign and security policies, Ishiba wants to develop multilateral executives such as three cooperation with South Korea And The Philippines And the quad This also includes Australia and India.

He said this week that he hoped to chat with Trump how Japan and the United States can “make national interests of others” and contribute to global peace and economic growth.

“In order to build multilayer networks for regional security and strengthen a free and open Indo-Pacific, Japan-US leadership is essential,” he said on Friday.

To demonstrate his accent on the region, Ishiba recently visited Indonesia and Malaysia and sent the Minister of Foreign Affairs to take in China, South Korea and the Philippines.

He declared that his political objectives also include responses to the decline in the population of Japan, to strengthen stagnant wages, to the reduction of national debt, and to his pet project, to the resilience of disasters. Instead of the previous national objectives of a “strong Japan” and a “rich Japan”, he said that he would seek “a fun Japan” in which diversity is respected and that people feel safe.