Japan’s foreign ministry said President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to visit the United States this spring during a phone call Friday, a move Japan framed as its ultraconservative premier’s first trip to the U.S. since taking office in October. The White House had not yet confirmed the call and the invitation.
In a statement Friday, Japan’s foreign ministry said Takaichi and Trump agreed to coordinate for the visit to happen this spring. Kyodo News, Japan’s news agency, suggested the trip could coincide with the annual cherry blossom festival in Washington.
The ministry said the two leaders affirmed they would “carve out a new chapter in the history of the Japan-U.S. alliance,” and that they would “further deepen the friendly relations” between the two countries, including economic and security cooperation. The statement said they also agreed on promoting cooperation among like-minded partners, including the Japan-U.S.-South Korea partnership, and on promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The foreign ministry said the leaders exchanged views “mainly on the Indo-Pacific region,” but it did not provide details on the discussion, including whether the two discussed recent actions by Beijing.
The invitation comes as Japan and China ties remain strained. Beijing staged two-day military exercises in the waters off Taiwan this week, according to the report, and the episode followed heightened political tension tied to comments by Takaichi late last year about China’s potential military action against Taiwan.
The report said Takaichi infuriated China after she said Chinese military action against Taiwan could be grounds for a Japanese military response, breaking from what it described as former Japanese leaders’ strategic ambiguity on the highly sensitive issue. It said the China drills off Taiwan also came after the Trump administration announced a package of arms sales to Taiwan valued at more than $11 billion.
The report said the arms package, if approved by Congress, would represent the largest such aid to the island ever. It also said China criticized the announced arms sales package sharply, while Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and vows to seize it by force if necessary.
The report said the U.S. is obligated by domestic law to provide Taiwan with sufficient hardware to deter any attack from the mainland. It also said Trump told reporters on Monday that he was not informed of the exercises in advance, even as he continued to tout his relationship with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The developments follow a prior meeting between Trump and Takaichi in Tokyo in October shortly after she took office. The report said they exchanged warm words, and that Trump took her with him when he spoke to U.S. troops aboard an aircraft carrier in Japan. After Takaichi’s Taiwan comments angered Beijing, the report said Trump called her and said they were “extremely good friends” and that she should call him any time, according to the Japanese leader, without disclosing whether the two discussed her Taiwan remarks.