THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 13, 2024 at 16:43 JST
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba heads to his office on Nov. 12. (Takeshi Iwashita)
The first meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese President Xi Jinping has been scheduled for Nov. 15, likely to discuss economic issues and prepare for the impact of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.
Although various issues had prevented the two leaders from meeting in the past, they are now set to meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Lima, Peru.
Ishiba will depart for Peru on Nov. 14 and meet with Xi the following day.
One high-ranking Foreign Ministry official said, “The Chinese side wanted a meeting (with Ishiba) as soon as possible.”
Beijing likely wants to strengthen its relationship with Tokyo as it expects an increasingly confrontational stance with Washington once Trump returns to office in January.
With the Chinese economy slowing, officials also want to encourage Japanese investment, according to sources.
On Nov. 4, Takeo Akiba, the secretary-general of the National Security Secretariat, met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, a Politburo member and China’s top diplomat, for four and a half hours.
Sources said Akiba passed on Japan’s concerns over the dispatch of North Korean troops to help Russia fight its war against Ukraine.
Ishiba is also expected to discuss the increasingly complicated security situation in the Asia-Pacific region during his meeting with Xi.
The prime minister will also meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
Biden had made a point of strengthening multilateral ties with allies by holding three-way meetings with Japanese and South Korean leaders.
Initially, such a trilateral meeting was to have been held in the United States, but those plans were tabled when it increasingly became likely that Trump might win the U.S. presidential election.
Rather than hold such a meeting in the United States, officials of the three nations decided to meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
Ishiba will meet with Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol in Lima in addition to his one-on-one session with Biden.
After attending the APEC summit on Nov. 15 and 16, Ishiba will fly to Rio de Janeiro to attend the Group of 20 summit on Nov. 18 and 19.
(This article was written by Shino Matsuyama and Nen Satomi.)
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