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When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, she will be the first G7 leader to visit since the backlash over Washington\u2019s push for allies to help secure the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n
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Last weekend, Trump had asked Tokyo and other capitals to participate in his war effort and send naval vessels to unblock the critical waterway.<\/p>\n
After the allies rebuffed him, he aborted his call: \u201cBecause of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer \u2018need\u2019, or desire, the NATO Countries\u2019 assistance \u2013 WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea,\u201d Trump wrote on his social media account.<\/p>\n
Asked Wednesday in Parliament about Trump\u2019s comment, Takaichi said she intends to engage in \u201cin-depth discussions\u201d with the president on the situation in Iran and across the globe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe situation is changing day by day. The messages coming from the US side online are also changing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Committing Japanese naval forces to the area would face high constitutional and legal hurdles and would put Takaichi\u2019s government in a difficult position.<\/p>\n
So far, the Prime Minister, just recently re-elected in a landslide, has kept her cards close to her chest.<\/p>\n
While Japan\u2019s pacifist Constitution wouldn\u2019t bar it from helping with mine clearance around the Strait of Hormuz \u201cat the conclusion of the war\u201d, Tokyo has no plans to deploy mine sweepers to the region \u2013 for now, she said last week.<\/p>\n
Back in 1991, Tokyo had agreed to such a move when Japan sent six minesweepers to the Persian Gulf, more than six months after the US military wrapped up its operation \u201cDesert Storm\u201d that concluded the first Gulf War.<\/p>\n
Today, the Iran war has shot to the top of the Trump-Takaichi summit\u2019s agenda as Japan grapples with soaring energy prices amid the ongoing conflict.<\/p>\n
Japan is the fifth largest importer of oil in thew world, 95% of that comes from the Middle East.<\/p>\n
And prices are spiking as supplies are stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, with the weakness of the Yen increasing the import bill further.<\/p>\n
Takaichi is realizing that a war in which her country has no part in is driving up the cost of living and creating a domestic political headache – a war that leaves Japanese officials effectively scrambling for a response that would keep the country in Trump\u2019s good graces without alienating the peace-loving Japanese public.<\/p>\n
Sitting opposite Trump on Thursday, Takaichi will especially want reassurance about Washington\u2019s security umbrella, the cornerstone of Japanese foreign and security policy in the post Word War II era.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe international situation is changing very quickly, and it is important for us to secure the commitment of the United States,\u201d a top official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Euronews.<\/p>\n
Indeed, Japan\u2019s entire strategic thinking is based on stabilizing East Asia, deterring China and keeping the shipping lanes in the South China Sea open, which can only be achieved together with an engaged and committed Washington.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s sudden focus on the western hemisphere (Venezuela, maybe Cuba) and the Middle East (Iran) is therefore highly irritating for Japanese leaders.<\/p>\n
And his repeated criticism of Europe for not defending certain cultural values and \u201cChristianity\u201d enough, has also sparked consternation in Japan.<\/p>\n
Last week, when the Trump administration hastily ordered the redeployment of US missiles from South Korea to the Middle East, it left not only Seoul rattled, but also Tokyo.<\/p>\n
In both allied capitals, questions arose as to Trump\u2019s commitment to the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs Trump still interested in deterring North Korea? Will he take action in case Beijing moves against Taiwan?,\u201d asked Kazuto Suzuki, Director of the Institute of Geoeconomics at the International House of Japan, a Tokyo-based think tank.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring Trump\u2019s first term, he was very nice to Japan,\u201d Suzuki told Euronews. \u201cAnd we need to do everything to keep it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlike Europe which, at least in theory, can solve its security problems without the US, Japan doesn\u2019t have a choice, he added. \u201cWe don\u2019t have a Plan B.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so, unlike European leaders who clashed repeatedly with Trump over trade, Ukraine, Greenland and other issues, the Japanese would put on a poker face and not do or say anything to anger the man in the White House.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur strategy is: keep talking, keep smiling, move on, never say yes or no,\u201d said Yoko Iwama, professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo in an interview with Euronews.<\/p>\n
\u201cPsychologically, dealing with the Americans has always been difficult for Japan. Americans are Americans, they always get what they want, we\u2019re used to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
One thing that Trump wants his allies in Japan and in Europe to do is to do more.<\/p>\n
And here, Takaichi will want to use the good rapport she struck up with the US president at a meeting in October to emphasize Japan\u2019s considerable new commitments: accelerating a target to reach 2% of GDP on military spending, a pledge to develop aerial defenses as part of Trump\u2019s \u2018Golden Dome\u2019 missile defense plan, and an agreement to invest $550 billion in the US in return for lowering tariff from 25% to 15% last year.<\/p>\n
Whether Trump will give Takaichi any credit for this, is anybody\u2019s guess.<\/p>\n
For now, Tokyo is balancing the value of Trump\u2019s distraction in Iran with his unpredictability.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur best hope is for a swift ending of the Iran war,\u201d Hajime Funada, a leading member of Parliament of Takaichi\u2019s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) told Euronews.<\/p>\n
Funada is chairman of the parliamentary delegation dealing with the European Union.<\/p>\n
He has been advocating closer Japan-EU ties for a long time and now is seeing a particular need for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven the current crisis, the relations between the EU and Japan need to become stronger \u2013 and they will,\u201d Funada told Euronews, stressing that maintaining the international order are key common objectives.<\/p>\n
Already, relations between Europe and Japan are currently at an all-time high, evolving from a traditional trade-focused partnership into a broad strategic alliance.<\/p>\n
This shift is anchored by two major 2019 agreements: the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), which together created one of the world\u2019s largest economic zones.<\/p>\n
In addition, Brussels and Tokyo launched the EU-Japan Security and Defense Partnership in 2024, the first of its kind between the EU and an Asia-Pacific country, formalising deeper military and intelligence cooperation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEurope is getting more important for us,\u201d said Michito Tsuruoka, professor at the Keio Center for Strategy at Keio University in Tokyo. \u201cWe need stability and for that we need Europe\u201d, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.<\/p>\n
In terms of maritime security, he concedes that Europe cannot change the balance of power in the Pacific. But Europe should engage in \u201cstrategic messaging\u201d, reminding the Chinese that people are watching.<\/p>\n
So, why not dispatching European vessels to the South China Sea to underline Europe\u2019s serious interest in the region? \u201cSeeing is believing,\u201d Tsuruoka said.<\/p>\n
On economic security, Europe and Japan cooperate by strengthening supply chain resilience, securing critical technologies like semiconductors and raw materials, and setting international standards to counter external shocks and economic coercion.<\/p>\n
But more should be done with like-minded partners, especially in Europe, according to Akira Igata, political scientist at the University of Tokyo, where he leads the Economic Security Intelligence Lab.<\/p>\n
The strategic objective is joint resilience that is credible to coercive actors, workable for companies, and compatible with democratic governance.<\/p>\n
The Trump administration has created gaps in the international rules-based order that need to be filled. No easy task.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Japan and Europe can do it,\u201d Igata said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, she will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[54,1685,42,117780,1437,43,40,38,41,39,1032],"class_list":["post-345923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-donald-trump","tag-european-union","tag-headlines","tag-iran-war","tag-japan","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-united-states"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/345924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}