Kuala Lumpur, Oct 27 (IANS) US President Donald Trump is scheduled to depart Malaysia shortly, continuing to Japan for the second stop of his six-day, three-nation tour of Asia.
Trump is expected to depart Kuala Lumpur around 10 a.m. local time Monday and arrive in Tokyo around 5 p.m. local time, CNN reported.
Upon landing, his only scheduled public engagement is a courtesy visit with Japanese Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace.
Trump will also hold talks with Japan’s newly elected Conservative Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, while in the country, CNN reported.
As with his stop in Malaysia, Japan’s hosts are expected to flatter the American leader with some pomp and circumstance.
From Malaysia, Trump heads to Japan and South Korea, where he is expected to make progress on talks for at least $900 billion in investments for US factories and other projects that those countries committed to in return for easing Trump’s planned tariff rates down to 15 per cent from 25 per cent.
The trip to Tokyo comes a week after Japan elected its first female PM Takaichi.
Trump is set to meet with Takaichi, who is a protege of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Trump was close to Abe, who was assassinated after leaving office.
Trump spoke to Takaichi during his flight.
While in Japan, Trump will also meet with US troops who are stationed in Japan, according to a senior US official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity about the planned trip.
In South Korea, Trump is expected to hold a highly anticipated meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit.
While the APEC summit is set to be held in Gyeongju, the Trump-Xi meeting is expected to take place in the city of Busan, according to the US official.
The meeting follows months of volatile moves in a trade war between China and the US that have rattled the global economy.
Trump was infuriated earlier this month after Beijing imposed new export controls on rare earths used in technology and threatened to hike retaliatory tariffs to sky-high levels.
Trump told reporters on Friday that he might ask Xi about freeing Jimmy Lai, a pro-democracy newspaper founder, saying “it’ll be on my list”.
The only meeting that could possibly eclipse the Xi summit would be an impromptu reunion with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
But such a meeting is not on the President’s schedule for this trip, according to the US official.
Trump suggested on Friday that it was hard to reach the North Korean leader.
“They have a lot of nuclear weapons, but not a lot of telephone service,” he said.
Trump’s first stop was at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur.
Trump attended the annual ASEAN summit only once during his first term, but this year it comes as Malaysia and the US have been working to address a skirmish between Thailand and Cambodia.
On Sunday, he scheduled a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, followed by a joint signing ceremony with the Prime Ministers of Thailand and Cambodia.
Trump threatened earlier this year to withhold trade deals with the countries if they didn’t stop fighting, and his administration has since been working with Malaysia to nail down an expanded ceasefire.
The US President credited Ibrahim with working to resolve the conflict.
“I told the leader of Malaysia, who is a very good man, I think I owe you a trip,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One late Saturday evening.
Trump on Sunday also had a significant meeting with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who wants to see the US cut a 40 per cent tariff on Brazilian imports.
The US administration has justified the tariffs by citing Brazil’s criminal prosecution of former President Jair Bolsonaro — a Trump ally.
–IANS
int/khz
