Welcome to NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard in Tokyo.
Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru and US President Donald Trump have met for their first summit. The two leaders agreed to enhance deterrence and response capabilities to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Now, in a joint statement after the meeting, they expressed a strong sense of crisis towards China on both security and economy.We've confirmed that we will work closely together with each other to improve the deterrence and response capabilities of the alliance and deal with regional issues.
Prime Minister and I will be working closely together to maintain peace. And security. And I also say peace through strength and all over the Indo Pacific.
Ishaba and Trump also said they'll strengthen cooperation with other countries through international frameworks such as the Quad Security Dialogue. Japan and the US are members of the group, along with Australia and India. Regarding moves by China, Ishiba said the leaders confirmed that Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty will be applied to the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. The article stipulates U.S. defense obligations.
Japan controls the Senkaku Islands. China and Taiwan claim them. The Japanese government maintains they are an inherent part of Japan's territory. Ishiba and Trump also confirmed the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait on the issues of economics. And apparently with China in mind, the two leaders also confirmed they would work to counter economic coercion and strengthen supply chains. They also confirmed they would increase bilateral investment.
Japan has been the largest investor for the United States in the last five consecutive years. Building upon that, we are ready to further increase our investment in the US.
Trump responded by saying his tax policies make the US an attractive destination for automakers, but he said the two nations need to address an imbalance in trade.
We do want to work on a deficit. We have about $100 billion deficit with Japan, which I'm not surprised because you're very good negotiators, I will say.
But we want to work on that and get that down to even equality, I call it. Let's be equal.
Ishiba said he wants to scale up investment in the U.S. even further to $1 trillion.
He and Trump reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on the development of AI and semiconductors. And they agreed to strengthen energy security by increasing exports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. to Japan.
Japan in particular, we're very happy that they're going to start immediately.
Now, on the issue of North Korea, they agreed to work toward together towards the country's complete denuclearization.
Ishiba said he gained strong support from Trump for an immediate resolution to the abduction of Japanese nationals by North Korean agents.
And Trump says Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel agreed to invest heavily in US Steel as opposed to owning it. He said he plans to meet Nippon Steel executives next week.
US Steel is a very important company to us. We didn't want to see that leave, and it wouldn't actually leave, but the concept psychologically not good.
I strongly shared the view with the president that neither of the two countries should have a one sided relationship to benefit just one of them. That was a big achievement for today.
In January, then U.S. President Joe Biden issued an order to block Nippon Steel's buyout, citing national security concerns. The two firms filed a lawsuit seeking to nullify the order and demanding a fresh review of the deal. Trump repeatedly showed his opposition to the takeover bid while campaigning in 2024. Now sources say that if the meeting takes place, Nippon Steel wants to explain to President Trump that the investment plan will expand the growth of U.S. Steel and create jobs.
And Trump says he may meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington as early as next week. He also says he will likely talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
I will probably be meeting with President Zelenskyy next week, and I will probably be talking to President Putin. I'd like to see that war end. Ohh While Trump expressed his hope to bring a swift end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he also indicated that he intends to ask for an agreement on Ukrainian mineral resources.
One of the things we're looking at with President Zelenskyy is having the security of their assets. They have assets underground, rare earth and other things, but primarily rare earth.
Meanwhile, the White House announced that Vice President J.D. Vance will attend the Munich Security Conference starting next Friday in Germany. Assistance to Ukraine will be on the agenda, with Zelenskyy taking part. Vance has been opposed to continuing U.S. support for Ukraine.
Japan's defense ministry has tested a new ground launched missile. The Hypervelocity Gliding Projectile is being developed as part of plans to defend remote Japanese islands. The test was conducted in the United States.
Ministry officials say the latest of four tests was conducted in January and the the flights went as planned. The HVGP is reportedly difficult to intercept. Research and development began in fiscal 2018. The government plans to deploy it in fiscal 2026 after more tests. The ministry is also developing an upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missile with a range of about 1,000 kilometers and a hypersonic missile that travels at more than five times the speed of sound. Officials are considering using them for counterstrikes against enemy bases in the event of a contingency.
Now an inflow of the coldest air mass this season has intensified snowfalls mainly in areas along the Sea of Japan coast.
Snow is even falling in flat lands around Japan's central to western regions, where snow is typically rare.
In Niigata city, 50 centimeters of snow fell over 12 hours. That's the most since statistics started being kept on the level in 1997. Snow also blanketed parts of the flatlands in the Kinki and Tokai regions. Heavy snow is expected to continue in the next 24 hours through Sunday morning. The Tohoku, Kantokoshin regions and Niigata Prefecture are likely to have up to 70 centimeters. The Hokuriku, Kinki Chugoku regions and Gifu Prefecture are forecast to get 50 centimeters. The heavy snow has led to delays and suspension of some Shinkansen bullet train services.
Weather agency officials say people should prepare for power outages and watch out for toppled trees, avalanches, lightning strikes and tornadoes.
Taiwanese firm Hon Hai is pushing for a tie-up with Nissan Motor. A top official at the electronics giant has reportedly discussed the idea with executives at the Japanese automaker.
Taiwan's Central News Agency quotes a source as saying Hon Hai Chief Strategy Officer Seki Jun arrived in Japan before the Lunar New Year. Seki is a former Nissan executive himself who now heads the Taiwanese firm's electric vehicle division. The report says he was instructed by Hon Hai Chairman Yong Liu to discuss a possible tie-up.
The firm's public relations official has declined to comment on the report. Hon Hai has been working on a plan to acquire a stake in Nissan and join its management.
The Japanese firm has been engaged in merger talks with Honda Motor since December, but Nissan rejected a proposal to become a wholly owned subsidiary. The negotiations are now expected to end.
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And those are the top stories for this hour.♫～
And that's a wrap for this edition of NHK Newsline. I'm Ramin Mellegard. Thank you very much for joining us.
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