Trump added that he will travel to Beijing in April next year to meet with Xi
Japan declared this Tuesday that it considers a stable relationship between the United States and China to be “extremely important”, at a time of Sino-Japanese tensions and after the North American President spoke with his Chinese counterpart.
Ties between Washington and Beijing are “extremely important”, said Japanese Government spokesman Minoru Kihara, before stressing that the archipelago will continue to rely on the alliance with the United States to urge China to “fulfill responsibilities compatible with its role” on the international stage.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday night that he had “an excellent” telephone conversation with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, with whom he discussed the war in Ukraine and other issues such as fentanyl trafficking and bilateral trade in agricultural products.
Trump added that he will travel to Beijing in April next year to meet with Xi.
According to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, Xi argued during the telephone conversation with Trump that Taiwan’s so-called ‘reunification’ with China is an “important part” of the post-World War II international order.
Relations between China and Japan are going through a difficult time, after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi recently stated that a Chinese military attack on Taiwan could justify intervention by the Japanese army.
Beijing responded with harsh reprimands, economic retaliation and demanded that Takaichi withdraw the statement.
China also advised against non-essential travel to Japan – which led to the suspension of hundreds of thousands of air travel – and again banned the import of Japanese seafood, among other measures.
Takaichi refused on Friday – exactly one month after becoming the first woman to lead Japan – to backtrack on statements about Taiwan and stated that they reflect the “consistent position” of the Japanese Government.
