Japanese PM Ishiba: important to strengthen US-Japan alliance

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said on Tuesday he wanted to strengthen his country’s alliance with the United States, as he pushed for as early as possible a meeting with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

Japan is neighbours with an increasingly assertive China and a nuclear-armed North Korea that has been deepening military ties with Russia.

“I think it’s important to strengthen the U.S.-Japan alliance even further… and share a common understanding of the situation in north-east Asia,” he said at a press conference, adding that no dates for a potential meeting were set yet.

Ishiba, in office since October, has sought a meeting with Trump, but told reporters last month that the president-elect’s camp had said meetings with world leaders were restricted under the Logan Act before Trump’s January inauguration.

Trump has met with Akie Abe, the widow of the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Ishiba also said his cabinet plans to approve on Dec. 27 a draft state budget for the next fiscal year from April.

He also pledged to work on measures to raise minimum wages and to eliminate public concerns for the future to boost private consumption.