Japan PM says TPP trade pact meaningless without US

“I am very honored to see the President elect ahead of other world leaders”, Abe told reporters before his departure.

Photographs taken inside the ornate meeting room at Trump Tower showed Abe accompanied only by an interpreter and Trump by his daughter Ivanka, her husband and Trump adviser Jared Kushner, and Retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn whom a senior Trump official said on Thursday had been offered the national security adviser position.

One has to wonder if Trump knew bloody well what he was doing, because his transition team didn’t allow any media into the meeting-not even the press pool. The specifics of the meeting were not made public. He said he explained his views on a range of issues, but declined to comment on the substance of the talks in a meeting that lasted about 90 minutes. The two other islands Japan claims are Kunashiri and Etorofu islands. Indeed, Najib moved his country strategically closer to China after sealing a contract there earlier this month for four 68m Littoral Mission Ships. In the last five months, the world has seen two substantial and largely unforeseen governmental upsets – Britain’s referendum on June 23 leave the European Union and Donald Trump’s victory on November 8.

As Japan’s most powerful leader in a decade, Abe invested political capital in overcoming opposition to the TPP from farmers and the medical lobby. But in Japan, it’s been a continuing story for some time. But it was likely that Abe brought to the table some pressing issues concerning Japan’s security and trade.

South Korea now pays more than $800 million a year — about 50 percent of non-personnel costs of the USA military deployment on its soil — and is paying $9.7 billion more for relocating US military bases, according to the Congressional Research Service. That is the largest amount among host nation allies of the United States.

One day before U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s first meeting with a foreign leader, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Japanese officials said they had not finalized when or where in NY it would take place, who would be invited, or in some cases whom to call for answers. Japan pays about $2 billion a year, about half of the cost of the stationing US forces.

Ambassador Noriteru Fukushima said in July that Japan aimed to increase investment to as much as US$3bn a year from its current level of US$100 million.

Officials in Japan are bitterly disappointed that Trump’s ascent delivered a fatal blow to hoped-for ratification of the Trans Pacific Partnership.

Abe is also said to have invited Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Tokyo to hold a trilateral summit along with South Korea later in 2016.

Failure to ensure the TPP comes into force will mean missing an opportunity to expand free trade in the Asia-Pacific region.

In particular, many countries are anxious about a trade war and impact on their exports under the Trump administration.