Reuters, TOKYO
US President Donald Trump defended Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi when Chinese President Xi Jinping criticised her in the US-China summit this month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday, citing unidentified government sources.Japan’s ties with China have deteriorated since Takaichi suggested last November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.At the Beijing summit, Xi said that Takaichi and President William Lai (賴清德) pose a threat to regional peace and urged Trump not to support them, the story said.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends a party leaders’ debate at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo on May 20.
In response, Trump expressed his view that Takaichi is not the kind of leader who deserves criticism, the story said.No one was immediately available for comment at the Japanese prime minister’s office, foreign ministry or the US embassy in Tokyo outside regular business hours.
Trump had a phone call with Takaichi hours after ending his two-day visit to China. The two leaders reaffirmed an “ironclad” bilateral alliance during that phone talk, Takaichi has said.
