Berliner Boersenzeitung - Japan PM to boost defence alliance with 'very friendly' Trump

EUR -
AED 3.853118
AFN 71.487088
ALL 98.351691
AMD 409.273718
ANG 1.891004
AOA 955.659295
ARS 1055.8819
AUD 1.612967
AWG 1.8909
AZN 1.791713
BAM 1.958186
BBD 2.118481
BDT 125.382746
BGN 1.954864
BHD 0.395437
BIF 3099.635186
BMD 1.049043
BND 1.413949
BOB 7.277143
BRL 6.075321
BSD 1.049278
BTN 88.459852
BWP 14.334009
BYN 3.433683
BYR 20561.242475
BZD 2.115017
CAD 1.466756
CDF 3011.802607
CHF 0.930365
CLF 0.037034
CLP 1021.883333
CNY 7.602447
CNH 7.600206
COP 4602.760013
CRC 534.751454
CUC 1.049043
CUP 27.799639
CVE 110.399493
CZK 25.312332
DJF 186.844746
DKK 7.458245
DOP 63.237038
DZD 140.21928
EGP 52.041967
ERN 15.735645
ETB 130.835383
FJD 2.383215
FKP 0.828027
GBP 0.834471
GEL 2.874889
GGP 0.828027
GHS 16.525762
GIP 0.828027
GMD 74.48204
GNF 9042.015322
GTQ 8.10187
GYD 219.525805
HKD 8.16221
HNL 26.514301
HRK 7.483095
HTG 137.717773
HUF 409.871701
IDR 16631.527459
ILS 3.830549
IMP 0.828027
INR 88.403953
IQD 1374.474436
IRR 44138.483745
ISK 144.998255
JEP 0.828027
JMD 166.522864
JOD 0.744093
JPY 161.466076
KES 135.850881
KGS 91.045812
KHR 4211.290929
KMF 495.663583
KPW 944.138287
KRW 1468.476567
KWD 0.32278
KYD 0.874399
KZT 523.928269
LAK 23043.511793
LBP 93961.950734
LKR 305.321955
LRD 188.863681
LSL 18.970511
LTL 3.097551
LVL 0.634556
LYD 5.135256
MAD 10.541642
MDL 19.181099
MGA 4903.066576
MKD 61.374869
MMK 3407.250689
MNT 3564.648001
MOP 8.408664
MRU 41.727834
MUR 49.0118
MVR 16.217958
MWK 1819.451211
MXN 21.316857
MYR 4.670377
MZN 67.044183
NAD 18.970511
NGN 1770.238816
NIO 38.607033
NOK 11.638329
NPR 141.536123
NZD 1.79454
OMR 0.403883
PAB 1.049298
PEN 3.973941
PGK 4.22715
PHP 61.811735
PKR 291.423123
PLN 4.321649
PYG 8174.959041
QAR 3.827663
RON 4.973193
RSD 116.911696
RUB 109.267171
RWF 1432.686323
SAR 3.939045
SBD 8.79471
SCR 15.772293
SDG 630.946122
SEK 11.515901
SGD 1.411939
SHP 0.828027
SLE 23.844842
SLL 21997.91181
SOS 599.641938
SRD 37.234757
STD 21713.071748
SVC 9.181185
SYP 2635.751818
SZL 18.965104
THB 36.344126
TJS 11.185153
TMT 3.67165
TND 3.328154
TOP 2.456962
TRY 36.289233
TTD 7.126818
TWD 34.022525
TZS 2779.964489
UAH 43.543546
UGX 3887.736186
USD 1.049043
UYU 44.724485
UZS 13460.397961
VES 48.842442
VND 26666.672639
VUV 124.544491
WST 2.928499
XAF 656.769623
XAG 0.03462
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.835091
XDR 0.802578
XOF 656.757086
XPF 119.331742
YER 262.182031
ZAR 18.932178
ZMK 9442.575435
ZMW 28.933351
ZWL 337.791413
  • RIO

    0.7350

    63.085

    +1.17%

  • BTI

    -0.0150

    37.365

    -0.04%

  • SCS

    0.5450

    13.815

    +3.94%

  • GSK

    0.1800

    34.14

    +0.53%

  • CMSD

    0.1150

    24.575

    +0.47%

  • RBGPF

    -0.9500

    59.24

    -1.6%

  • BP

    -0.5050

    29.215

    -1.73%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0500

    6.75

    -0.74%

  • RELX

    -0.2000

    46.55

    -0.43%

  • AZN

    0.5150

    66.145

    +0.78%

  • BCE

    0.0400

    26.81

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.1500

    8.88

    +1.69%

  • CMSC

    0.1378

    24.81

    +0.56%

  • NGG

    0.0050

    63.115

    +0.01%

  • BCC

    10.1900

    153.97

    +6.62%

  • JRI

    0.1420

    13.352

    +1.06%

Japan PM to boost defence alliance with 'very friendly' Trump
Japan PM to boost defence alliance with 'very friendly' Trump / Photo: Richard A. Brooks - AFP

Japan PM to boost defence alliance with 'very friendly' Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Thursday he had agreed with US president-elect Donald Trump in a phone call to strengthen the nations' alliance, after the tycoon's victory sent defence-related shares surging.

Text size:

Trump's "America First" approach could mean less cash from Washington for security in the Asia-Pacific region, analysts say -- with investors betting on Japan upgrading its own military capacities.

Key allies Japan and the United States are each other's top foreign investors, and 54,000 US military personnel are stationed in Japan, mostly in Okinawa east of Taiwan.

Ishiba, who took office just over a month ago, said he and Trump hoped to organise a face-to-face meeting "as soon as possible", describing the president-elect as "very friendly".

"He is the kind of person I will be able to talk to candidly," Ishiba told reporters.

"I would like to hold active discussions on the strengthening of the Japan-US alliance from various standpoints including specific equipment, operations and integration, not just money," he added.

Shares in Japanese defence contractor IHI ended up nearly 20 percent Wednesday, as Trump's victory began to look secure, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries gained almost 10 percent.

The expectation is "that Trump will demand that allies do more and spend more to defend themselves", said Claudia Junghyun Kim, an assistant professor of international affairs at City University of Hong Kong.

Japan is already in the process of doubling its military spending to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP.

"This pressure from Trump doesn't exactly clash with Ishiba's hope to increase defence spending," Kim told AFP, and it "should be good news for Japan's defence industry".

- Railway enthusiast -

When Trump last won a US election in 2016, then-prime minister Shinzo Abe was the first foreign leader to meet the president-elect at his Manhattan skyscraper.

Japanese media said Ishiba could arrange a trip to the United States around the time he attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Peru this month.

"On a personal level, Ishiba might be in a challenging position" when he meets Trump, Daisuke Kawai, deputy director of the University of Tokyo's economic security research programme, told AFP.

"Ishiba is a railway enthusiast who doesn't enjoy golf or social dinners, and unlike Abe, he's not particularly adept at engaging in social or entertaining conversations. This could mean their personal chemistry may not align well."

Both Ishiba and Trump perceive the US-Japan alliance as unequal -- but in opposite directions -- so "initiating productive discussions could be difficult", Kawai added.

Ishiba led his ruling coalition to a disastrous loss of its majority in snap elections last month.

He is expected to lead a minority government or widen the coalition to include other parties.

Japan and the EU announced a sweeping new security and defence pact on Friday.

Kawai said it was important for Tokyo to build a defence ecosystem "that generates profits through joint production with other countries".

Japan, which for decades has relied on the United States for military hardware, is also developing a new fighter jet with EU member Italy and Britain set to be airborne by 2035.

(U.Gruber--BBZ)