The call between the two allied leaders follows two days of Chinese military exercises that simulated a blockade of Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi held an “extremely meaningful” conversation with US President Donald Trump on Friday, adding that she would soon meet him as tensions over Taiwan grow.
“At President Trump’s invitation, we also concurred to coordinate in detail to realize my visit to the United States this spring,” Takaichi wrote in a Friday post on X.
The call between the two allied leaders follows two days of Chinese military exercises that simulated a blockade of Taiwan, the self-governing island Beijing claims as its own. The drills included live-fire exercises and the launch of long-range projectiles into the Taiwan Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, for the first time since 2022.
She and Trump spoke for 25 minutes, agreeing to further strengthen economic and security cooperation, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said in a statement.
Trump invited Takaichi to visit the United States and “the two leaders concurred to coordinate in detail to realise the visit to the United States this spring”, it said.
The statement did not make clear whether they talked about China, but Trump and Takaichi also “exchanged views mainly on the Indo-Pacific region and confirmed the close cooperation between Japan and the United States”, it said.
The development comes as a diplomatic row between
China and Japan continues to simmer after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi commented on Taiwan, seen as an interference by China as it considers the island-nation part of its own territory.
Last year in November, Trump called Takaichi this week and advised her not to provoke Beijing on the question of Taiwan’s sovereignty. The US president has been keeping up with the developments and has been in contact with both Takaichi and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
China launched missiles and deployed dozens of fighter jets, navy ships and coastguard vessels around Taiwan in live-fire drills last week.
The drills drew a chorus of international criticism, including from Japan, Australia and European countries.
With inputs from agencies
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