Abe's bid to augment Asia-Pac ties with US a patchy success

JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with US President Donald Trump in Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday. The trip, coming at a time of big domestic troubles for the prime minister, gave him his latest opportunity to deepen his personal bond with the mercurial president and to fortify US-Japan ties in the face of significant international uncertainty.

Previously, Mr Abe's charm offensive had appeared to be paying some dividends, with Mr Trump pointing last year to the bilateral relationship as the "cornerstone of peace" in the Asia-Pacific and the strong US commitment to the "security of Japan". Yet, in recent weeks Tokyo has been caught by surprise on several fronts by the American leader.

Mr Abe is especially concerned to mitigate tensions in the bilateral relationship, given Mr Trump's negative comments on the 2016 campaign trail about Japan, which was not, unlike some other allies, exempted from Mr Trump's trade tariffs in March.