Japan PM pledges ‘unchanging’ allegiance to US under Trump

TOKYO – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he plans to visit the U.S. as soon as possible to meet with Donald Trump after the new American president’s inauguration.

Abe said Friday in an annual policy address to parliament that the U.S.-Japan alliance is an “unchanging principle” for his country’s foreign and security policy.

Japan is worried about how Trump’s “America first” policy will affect U.S. commitment to the Asia region, as well as the fallout from any heightened tensions with China and North Korea.

“The Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of our country’s foreign and security policy, in the past, present and in the future,” Abe told parliament in an annual policy address. “It’s an unchanging principle.”

Abe met Trump in New York in November, shortly after the election win. He was the first foreign leader to meet the president-elect. Trump will be sworn in as president on Friday.