US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are to again bond on the golf course as the US president tees off his 11-day Asian tour with a visit to the Japanese prime minister.
Trump is to visit Japan from Nov. 5 to Nov. 7 as part of a five-nation Asian tour set to be dominated by concerns about North Korea’s weapons programs.
In the afternoon of his arrival day, Trump and Abe are to play golf with one of the world’s best professional golfers, Hideki Matsuyama, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters yesterday.
The golf-loving pair have forged close ties on and off the green.
Abe became the first foreign leader to visit Trump Tower in New York — before the now-president was even inaugurated — warmly shaking hands with the tycoon in glittering surroundings.
They then jetted off to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida for a spot of “golf diplomacy,” with the US president praising Abe’s “strong hands” and a “very, very good chemistry.”
As a present, Abe gave Trump a driver worth about US$4,500.
Abe, 63, has emphasized that his golf skills are not on par with the billionaire Republican’s.
Suga brushed off concerns over whether it was appropriate to hit the golf course with the threat of North Korean nuclear missiles hanging over the world.
“The situation is very serious, but it is also quite important to deepen friendship while taking thorough measures to manage the crisis,” Suga said.
“It is a golden opportunity to discuss tasks the international community faces and show the world again how solid the bond of the Japan-US alliance is when the regional security situation, including North Korea, is becoming more and more serious,” he added.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese