By Steve Holland and Kiyoshi Takenaka
NEW
YORK (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe wrapped up a hastily arranged meeting on Thursday
that was intended to smooth relations following Trump's campaign
rhetoric that cast doubt on long-standing U.S. alliances.
The
meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes, according to a Trump official,
was the president-elect's first face-to-face conversation with a foreign
leader since his election on Nov. 8.
The two men met at Trump Tower in Manhattan.
Abe was expected to take questions from reporters following the meeting.
The
high-level conversation came as Japan's leadership was nervous about
the future strength of an alliance that is core to Tokyo's diplomacy and
security.
Abe
and other Asian leaders were alarmed at Trump's pledge during his
election campaign to make allies pay more for help from U.S. forces, his
suggestion that Japan should acquire its own nuclear weapons and his
staunch opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.
(Additional
reporting by Steve Holland in New York, Linda Sieg, Nobuhiro Kubo and
William Mallard in Tokyo, and David Brunnstrom, Doina Chiacu, Matt
Spetalnick and Susan Heavey in Washington; Writing by Roberta Rampton
and Richard Cowan; Editing by Alistair Bell and Peter Cooney)
0 comments:
Post a Comment