US President Donald Trump asked Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not to further escalate a dispute with China during talks this week, sources said, as he tries to preserve a fragile trade war truce with Beijing.
Takaichi touched off the biggest diplomatic dispute with Beijing in years when she told parliament this month that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan that threatened Japan could justify a military response.
Her remark enraged Beijing, prompting it to warn its citizens against travel to its East Asian neighbour.
In Tuesday’s telephone call with Takaichi, Trump said he did not want to see further escalation, said the two Japanese government sources.
Trump made no specific demands of Takaichi, however, one of the sources said, suggesting that he did not echo Beijing’s call for a retraction. Japan has said her remarks reflect longstanding government policy.
At a regular Press briefing yesterday, its Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara declined to comment on the details of the “diplomatic exchange”.
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