The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Sunday marked its 75th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban.
Experts pinpointed two critical issues that could have motivated Trump’s remarks: upcoming trade negotiations with Japan, and the expiration of an agreement dictating how much funding Japan contributes to host U.S. troops.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe traveled to Tehran on Wednesday to warn that an “accidental conflict” could be sparked amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S., a message that came hours after Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Saudi airport, wounding 26 people.
By Aya Batrawy, The Associated Press and Jon Gambrell, The Associated Press
As its nuclear deal with world powers unravels amid heightened tensions with the U.S., Iran will see a week of high-stakes diplomacy capped by the first visit of a Japanese prime minister to Tehran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Seemingly contradicting his national security adviser, President Donald Trump on Sunday played down North Korea’s recent missile tests and said they were not a concern for him.
Japan plans its first aircraft carrier and big increases in defense spending and weapons capability in the coming years, according to new defense guidelines approved Tuesday that cite its need to counter potential threats from North Korea and China and other vulnerabilities.
China is pitted against smaller neighbors in multiple disputes over islands coral reefs and lagoons in waters crucial for global commerce and rich in fish and potential oil and gas reserves.