TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Thursday began a trip to Malaysia and Indonesia as part of an effort to strengthen defense and economic ties with Southeast Asia as China's threats grow in the region.
The visit, his first for bilateral talks outside of international meetings, shows Japan’s commitment to further those ties even as the U.S. presence in the region may decrease after President-elect Donald Trump takes office later this month.
Malaysia and Indonesia are maritime regional powers near vital shipping lanes and are key to Japanese and global security and the economy, and they share concerns over China's increasing assertiveness, officials say.
Ishiba, who will meet Friday with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, hopes to strengthen security cooperation and discuss efforts to ensure stable supply chains with Malaysia, which is chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year.
On Saturday, Ishiba and Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto will reportedly sign a deal for Japan's provision of high-speed patrol boats. Talks between the two leaders, who are both former defense ministers, are expected to focus on military cooperation and arms transfers.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, right, with his wife Yoshiko, center, departs for Malaysia and Indonesia, at the airport in Tokyo, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to the media, ahead of his tour of Malaysia and Indonesia, at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Jan. 9, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP)
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Tech billionaire Elon Musk is preparing to host a live-streamed chat on his social media platform X on Thursday with a leader of Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party, amplifying its message ahead of an upcoming national election and raising concerns across Europe about potential meddling by the world's richest man.
Musk worked last year to help reelect Donald Trump in the United States. Now Musk, in control of an influential social media platform that often spreads disinformation, is using it to endorse the far right in Germany ahead of its Feb. 23 election.
“Only the AfD can save Germany,” Musk wrote on X on Dec. 20, using the acronym for the party, known in German as Alternative für Deutschland. He later doubled down on support for the AfD in an article for the Welt am Sonntag newspaper, claiming Germany under center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz is “teetering on the edge of economic and cultural collapse.”
He will host a chat on X-Space at 7 p.m. in Germany (1800GMT) with Alice Weidel, a co-leader of the party and its candidate for chancellor in Germany’s election next month.
The forays into politics by the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive is raising alarm across Europe.
In addition to endorsing the AfD, Musk has demanded the release of jailed U.K. anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson and called British Prime Minister Keir Starmer an evil tyrant who should be in prison. In Poland, there are concerns he could use his influence to interfere in the country's presidential election in May.
Musk’s online chat will be monitored by watchdogs from the European Commission, which has accused X of violating the 27-nation bloc’s sweeping digital rulebook for cleaning up social media platforms and protecting internet users from online harm.
Commission officials say Musk has the right to express his views but that the rulebook — known as the Digital Services Act — is designed to rein in risks that platforms will be misused to amplify illegal content, including hate speech or election-related misinformation.
The commission has been investigating whether X complies. In preliminary findings issued last year, Brussels said the platform was in breach because its blue checkmarks originally intended as verification badges are deceptive, and because it falls short on transparency and accountability requirements. Regulators are still investigating other possible offenses.
In Germany, the AfD has risen in popularity, with polls showing that it has grown to be the second-most popular party in the country after mainstream conservatives as a taboo around the far right weakens across Europe. Still, the mainstream conservative Christian Democrats are favored to win the election, with the latest polling showing them at 31% support, compared with 20% for the AfD.
The AfD has been put under observation by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency for suspected extremism, and mainstream parties have shunned working with it. The AfD has strongly rejected the designation, portraying it as a political attempt to discredit the party.
AfD was formed in 2013 and has moved steadily to the right. Its platform initially centered on opposition to bailouts for struggling eurozone members, but its vehement opposition to then-Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to allow in large numbers of refugees and other migrants in 2015 established the party as a significant political force.
AfD's support has grown as a result of discontent with center-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-party coalition government.
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AP Business Writer Kelvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
FILE - Elon Musk jumps on the stage as Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show on Oct. 5, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
FILE - Elon Musk speaks before Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
