Trump throws weight behind Japan's Takaichi in meeting with Xi, Yomiuri says

In response, Trump expressed his view ​that Takaichi is not the kind of leader who ⁠deserves criticism, the paper said. No one was immediately available for comment ⁠at ​the Japanese prime minister's office, foreign ministry or the U.S. embassy in Tokyo outside regular business hours.

U.S. President Donald ​Trump defended Japanese Prime ​Minister Sanae Takaichi ‌when Chinese President ​Xi Jinping criticised her in the Sino-U.S. summit this month, Japan's Yomiuri ‌Shimbun daily said on Sunday, citing unidentified government sources. Japan's ties with China have deteriorated since Takaichi suggested last November that ‌a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan, the democratically governed ‌island China claims as its own, could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

At the Beijing summit, Xi stated that Takaichi and ⁠Taiwanese President ​Lai Ching-te ⁠pose a threat to regional peace and urged Trump not to support ⁠them, the Yomiuri reported. In response, Trump expressed his view ​that Takaichi is not the kind of leader who ⁠deserves criticism, the paper said.

No one was immediately available for comment ⁠at ​the Japanese prime minister's office, foreign ministry or the U.S. embassy in Tokyo outside regular business hours. Trump ⁠had a phone call with Takaichi hours after ending his two-day ⁠visit ⁠to China. The two leaders reaffirmed an "ironclad" bilateral alliance in that phone talk, Takaichi has ‌said.