The State Department has said it had yet to hear from Trump’s transition team, raising the prospect of the Republican holding the meeting with Abe without any input from career diplomats with deep experience dealing with Japan.
“I conveyed my basic views on various issues to Mr. Trump but with regard to more of the specifics or details, because of the fact that Mr. Trump has not assumed the office as the president of the United States or today’s discussion was an unofficial discussion, I’d like to refrain from touching on details,” Abe said, adding that they agreed to meet again for a deeper discussion on a wider range of issues.
Both Japan and South Korea already pay considerable sums to support the US bases, and note that it’s also in America’s strategic interest to deploy troops in the region.
Trump has suggested that Japan and South Korea could obtain their own nuclear weapons, rather than rely on US deterrence, which risks triggering an atomic arms race in Northeast Asia.
(Sourced from agencies, feature image courtesy:breaking30.ddns.net)
