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By Gram Slattery, Nathan Layne and Kiyoshi Takenaka
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former Japanese prime minister Taro Aso, a senior figure in the country's ruling party, will meet Donald Trump on Tuesday, a Trump campaign official said, as the U.S. ally continues to ramp up engagement with the Republican presidential candidate.
Japan has been trying to connect with people close to Trump ahead of the Nov. 5 U.S. election, reflecting concerns that if he wins, the former president could resurrect protectionist trade measures or take other steps that could hurt the Japanese economy or impact strong defense ties with the U.S.
The Trump-Aso meeting is set to occur about two weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled plans for military cooperation and an array of projects aimed at strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance.
It will also mark the latest effort by a foreign country to shore up ties with Trump with polls pointing to an extremely close re-match between him and Biden.
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa told a Tuesday news conference that Aso's U.S. visit was "a personal activity" of a lawmaker and "the government is not involved", when asked about the diplomatic implications of the reported Aso-Trump meeting.
Aso, 83, is a former prime minister who currently serves as vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party. He was deputy prime minister under the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who formed a close bond with Trump during his presidency, and has decades of experience shaping U.S.-Japan ties.
"Aso not only provides a connection back to the Abe-Trump era but he can also speak authoritatively about how U.S.-Japan relations have evolved," said Nicholas Szechenyi, Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Japan's approach to Trump has been multifaceted and has involved sending emissaries in recent months to meet with Trump allies and potential policymakers at Trump-allied think tanks.
Sunao Takao, Abe's interpreter, is among those who will be deployed to bolster ties, Reuters reported in March.
Last week Trump met Polish President Andrzej Duda at Trump Tower in New York. That followed a dinner with British Foreign Secretary David Cameron earlier in April and a meeting with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban in March.
"Leaders from around the world know that with President Trump we had a safer, more peaceful world," Trump senior campaign adviser Brian Hughes said on Monday.
"He is widely recognized as a leader who, with the support of the American people, kept our nation and allies safe, our enemies in check, and American workers protected from unfair globalist trade policies."
(Reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington, Nathan Layne in Wilton, Conn., Kiyoshi Takenaka and Kantaro Komiya in Tokyo; Editing by Gareth Jones, Ross Colvin, Ros Russell, Cynthia Osterman and Michael Perry)
