Shigeru Ishiba, a prominent Japanese politician, is scheduled to meet with President Donald Trump during his visit to the United States this week. The discussions are expected to focus on increasing imports of US shale gas and addressing a recent setback involving Nippon Steel's bid to acquire US Steel, which President Joe Biden blocked last month. Ishiba also aims to strengthen regional stability through tighter US-Japan cooperation and hopes to extend an invitation for President Trump to visit Japan at the earliest opportunity.
Ishiba's visit includes meetings with key figures in technology and defense. He plans to discuss the ambitious "Stargate" project with Masayoshi Son and Sam Altman, the chief of OpenAI. The Stargate initiative, led by SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI, aims to build cutting-edge AI infrastructure in the United States, marking a significant investment of US$500 billion.
"We want to create the cutting-edge AI infrastructure – what I mean by that is the world's biggest, cutting-edge AI data centres." – Masayoshi Son
Ishiba's visit comes during a pivotal time for Japan-US relations as both nations are each other's top foreign investors and key defense allies. Ishiba stressed the importance of reinforcing ties with the United States to maintain regional stability amidst shifting power dynamics.
"As the balance of power in the region undergoes a historic change, we must deepen Japan-US cooperation further, in a concrete manner." – Shigeru Ishiba
The visit will also address defense costs and regional stability, highlighting the strategic nature of the Japan-US alliance. This engagement follows a brief telephone call Ishiba had with then-president-elect Trump in November and his unsuccessful attempts to meet Trump before his inauguration in January. Meanwhile, President Trump hosted Akie Abe for a private dinner at their Florida residence last December, showcasing ongoing diplomatic interactions between the two nations.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, a Japanese official, emphasized the significance of this visit as an opportunity to fortify bilateral relations under the new US administration.
"Through this visit, we hope to build a strong relationship of trust with the new US administration and take the US-Japan alliance to new heights." – Yoshimasa Hayashi
"If circumstances permit, he will visit the US from Feb 6 to 8 and hold (his) first face-to-face Japan-US summit meeting with President Trump in Washington DC." – Yoshimasa Hayashi
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