Japan’s Ishiba vows deeper ties with US amid regional tension

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba who took office on October 1, 2024. Pic/PTI

Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Saturday renewed a pledge to build up his country's military and deepen its alliance with the United States under President-elect Donald Trump.

According to Ishiba, breaches of Japanese airspace by Chinese and Russian warplanes earlier this year, not only violated Japanese sovereignty, but also threatened the safety of Japan and are absolutely unacceptable. He said Japan faces growing threats from China's accelerating military activity around Japanese coasts and from North Korea's repeated missile firings.

The Japan-US alliance is the lynchpin for strengthening Japan's diplomacy and security, Ishiba said, pledging to elevate Japan's ties with the United States and work closely with Trump as they agreed during a brief telephone conversation on Thursday.

Ishiba took office on October 1, replacing his predecessor Fumio Kishida, but his governing coalition badly lost a recent parliamentary election and could face difficulty pursuing his party's planned policies and budget plans in coming months.

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