Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said she spoke with US President Donald Trump at his request, and that he briefed her on his phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping and the latest state of US-China relations.
Trump and Takaichi spoke as tensions between Tokyo and Beijing continue to smolder over the Japanese prime minister’s comments on Taiwan earlier this month. Takaichi said the two leaders reaffirmed the importance of close cooperation between the US and Japan. She said Trump talked through the Xi call in response to a question from a reporter asking whether they discussed Taiwan.
“We’ve been able to further confirm the close relationship between the US and Japan following President Trump’s recent Japan visit,” Takaichi told reporters. “He told me I’m a very close friend and that I could call him any time.”
The flurry of calls came as Japan and China continue to spar over Takaichi’s comments on Nov. 7 where she said that if China fought to take control of Taiwan, it could be considered a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, raising the theoretical possibility that Japan could deploy its military with other nations. So far the economic impact has been relatively limited, but China has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, and for students already there to exercise caution.
In a letter to the United Nations this week, Japan criticized an earlier missive from China as mis-representing the nature of remarks Takaichi made on Taiwan, saying Beijing’s letter was “inconsistent with the facts and unsubstantiated.”
“China’s assertion that Japan would exercise the right of self-defense even in the absence of an armed attack is erroneous,” Japanese Ambassador to the UN Kazuyuki Yamazaki wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres dated Monday.
Trump and Xi held their first talks on Monday since agreeing to a tariff truce last month, where they discussed trade, Taiwan and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US president said he agreed to visit Beijing in April, and that he had invited Xi for a state visit next year. Takaichi also said Tuesday that she gave her thoughts on the US’s efforts on achieving peace in Ukraine.
Opinion polls show that Takaichi’s support rating remains elevated following the spat with China and that at least half of polled voters back her remarks on Taiwan.
Separate surveys by the Yomiuri and FNN/Sankei showed her cabinet’s support rate at 72% and 75%, while a Mainichi poll showed her backing at 65%. All the polls showed levels far above the support rate for Takaichi’s immediate predecessor Shigeru Ishiba.
In the Yomiuri survey, 56% said they positively evaluated her stance on China. In the FNN/Sankei poll 61% said her Taiwan remarks were appropriate. In the Mainichi survey, half of respondents saw no problem with her comments.
“We’ve broadly discussed strengthening the US-Japan alliance and the situations and issues that the Indo-Pacific region faces,” said Takaichi. “Within that discussion, President Trump explained the latest state of the US-China relationship including his phone call with the Chinese leader.”
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
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