TOKYO, Jan 24, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba stressed on Friday the importance of close ties with the United States for regional stability, as he seeks to arrange a meeting with President Donald Trump.

"As the balance of power in the region undergoes a historic change, we must deepen Japan-US cooperation further, in a concrete manner," Ishiba told parliament.

Tokyo must also "continue to secure the US commitment to the region, to avoid a power vacuum leading to regional instability", he added in a policy speech.

His comments underscored jitters over China's military build-up in the Asia-Pacific and Trump's "America First" policies, which may include demanding that allies such as Japan shoulder a larger proportion of defence costs.

"Japan-US leadership is essential to strengthen the free and open Indo-Pacific by establishing multi-layered security networks including Japan-US-Australia-India, Japan-US-South Korea, and Japan-US-Philippines," Ishiba added.

"At a forthcoming Japan-US summit, I want to share understanding with President Trump on these security and economic issues," he said.
Japanese media said a meeting between Ishiba and Trump could take place as early as next month, likely in the United States.

Ishiba held a brief telephone call in November with then-president-elect Trump, and reportedly sought to meet with him in January before his inauguration, but this did not happen.

However, Trump hosted Akie Abe, the widow of Japan's assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe, for a private dinner with his wife Melania Trump at their Florida residence in December.

That same month, Masayoshi Son, head of Japanese tech investment behemoth SoftBank, stood beside Trump to announce a $100 billion investment in the United States.

Son attended Trump's inauguration this week, followed by an announcement that SoftBank would lead a $500 billion project to build AI infrastructure in the United States along with cloud giant Oracle and ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.