The gift offered by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump during their recent meeting was made by a branch of a Chinese company in Japan, Japanese media reported. 

As the first foreign leader to meet Trump since the election, Abe presented Trump with a golden golf club to reinforce mutual trust. However, the club was manufactured by a company that, while originally Japanese, has since been acquired by a Chinese enterprise. Honma Golf Ltd. was acquired in 2010 due to operational hardships.

Tomoo Marukawa, a professor at the University of Tokyo, argued that this fact could actually give the present more significance. By offering a gift that represents globalization to a man who encourages protectionism, the golf club could be viewed as a concealed warning from Japan.

Sports Hochi, a Japanese news site, commented wryly that the gift had clearly faciliated communication, since the scheduled 45-minute meeting continued for 90 minutes.