Abe to meet Trump amid struggles at home

Japan, China agree trade war will harm global economy

TOKYO, April 17, (Agencies): Domestic political scandals and sinking approval ratings are weighing on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he heads to US President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for two days of talks starting Tuesday. Trump himself may empathize with Abe’s struggles at home.

Before boarding his flight from Tokyo, Abe took the unusual step of pledging to clean up the mess in government when he gets back. “As head of the government, I’m committed to deal with every single problem responsibly to uncover the truth and squeeze out the pus,” he said.

Abe’s meetings with Trump may provide a brief respite from his problems at home and could even stem the slide in his popularity. The two leaders plan to golf, as at their two previous summits.

But this round of talks may prove more challenging than the first two. Abe will have to overcome policy divisions on trade and potentially North Korea that have emerged in Trump’s second year in office. A poor summit showing could further undermine Abe’s position at home.

The Japanese leader’s approval ratings have declined to below 30 percent in some polls as Abe has been hit by accusations of cronyism and the mishandling of official documents by several ministries. That contrasts with the 50 percent approval rating he enjoyed at the time of his Tokyo summit with Trump in November, soon after leading his ruling party to a landslide election victory.

A school land deal scandal linked to Abe’s wife re-erupted in March after a newspaper revealed that Finance Ministry officials had altered documents related to the school’s purchase of state land at a huge discount. Abe has denied that he or his wife intervened in the sale.

Then, a second allegation of favoritism resurfaced, in which a friend of Abe got permission to establish a new veterinary school in western Japan. Abe weathered both scandals last year, but the discovery of new evidence has reignited the charges.

Separately, the Defense Ministry has acknowledged mishandling documents related to a former peacekeeping mission in South Sudan, and a top Finance Ministry official has been accused of sexual harassment.

The mounting scandals have called into question Abe’s chances of securing a third term as party leader this September, which seemed assured earlier this year, and could even force him to step down before the leadership race. Other party leaders with an eye on the premiership are ready to pounce should Abe fall, though he has bounced back from setbacks before.

Abe’s aides hope that the meeting with Trump will showcase the leaders’ close personal relationship, as the two summits last year did.

“While playing golf, they can take time and exchange views on a range of issues while deepening their relationship of trust,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said at a regular briefing Tuesday.

Trump surprised Abe, and much of the world, when he announced that he would meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. That summit is expected in May or early June.

Abe will want to make sure Trump doesn’t cut a deal with North Korea that leaves Japan exposed to shorter-range missiles that do not threaten the US mainland. He also is expected to ask Trump to raise with Kim the issue of Japanese abducted by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.

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Japan and China agree that a trade war will have serious consequences for the world economy, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said on Monday after a highlevel economic dialogue between the world’s third- and second-largest economies.

Concern is growing about a trade row between China and the United States in which the two nations have threatened each other with tariffs. Japan has been criticised by US President Donald Trump on trade and been hit with tariffs on steel and aluminium, but it has not yet threatened counter-tariffs.

“We have shared understanding that a trade war, no matter which country has brought it about, would have a very large impact on the prosperity of the international economy,” Kono told reporters after the first such dialogue in more than seven years.

Kono and the Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, cochaired the Tokyo meeting. Wang is also foreign minister.

Financial markets have been roiled recently over fears that a full-blown US-China trade war could shatter global trade and economic growth.

Trade issues will likely be at the forefront of a summit between Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Trump later this week. Tokyo is eager to avoid being pushed into talks on a two-way free trade agreement aimed not only at market access but at monetary and currency policies.

Kono also said it was possible that Japan works with China on Beijing’s Belt and Road projects.

“It is quite possible that Japan cooperates with China on various (Belt and Road) projects on a case by case basis where international standards are met,” Kono said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative, unveiled in 2013, aims at building a modern-day Silk Road connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.