When Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide became the first leader in the world welcomed by US President Joe Biden on April 16, it restored trust with the US-Japan alliance and deepened relations. Bilateral cooperation will be on the top of the agenda.
To be sure, the two leaders will also discuss how to deal with a rising China, North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Narrow a large cognitive gap
For now, the Biden administration will put an emphasis on promoting cooperation with allies, including Japan, and this is warmly welcomed by America’s allies. .
However, as China continues to rise and the US is urging its allies to assume greater responsibility in international affairs, there is a danger of a large gap between the US and Japan. awareness.
Although Japan is very concerned about China’s behavior, in recent years Tokyo has maintained a cooperative rather than an adversarial approach.
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide (left) and US President Joe Biden (right) will discuss many ‘hot’ issues. (Source: AP)
In October 2018, former Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo visited Beijing, and Japan signed memoranda of understanding with China on more than 50 joint projects related to infrastructure construction in third countries. .
Chinese President Xi Jinping was scheduled to make a state visit to Japan in April 2020, but the tour was subsequently postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under Prime Minister Suga, figures of “doves” and “hawks” toward China in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) often fought for influence.
The hawks have sought ways to postpone Xi Jinping’s state visit when it comes to Xinjiang and Hong Kong issues. LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai, a supporter of Prime Minister Suga, opposed the delay, but the visit is not expected to take place in 2021.
Although Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi urged China to resolve the Xinjiang issue, Tokyo still shied away from imposing economic sanctions on its neighbor because of its lack of legal frameworks. like that.
Therefore, the US should prepare mentally that Japan will adopt a more moderate approach towards China. Japan will certainly continue to strengthen the role and mission of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) within the framework of the Peace Constitution and the US-Japan alliance.
At the same time, Japan will also seek a clear commitment from the United States to avert Chinese military provocations, especially around the Senkaku Islands (which China also claims and calls for). Diaoyu) after China passed a new Customs Law last month, granting China’s coast guard the right to use weapons.
Analysts say the US will certainly be disappointed if it wants Japan to take significantly more aggressive military action against China. Although Japan passed a security law in 2015 that allowed the SDF to engage in limited collective defense activities, constitutional restrictions essentially forbid Japan from using force for purposes of does not involve defense.
Furthermore, the Japanese public still supports Article 9 – the peace clause – in the Rape and has little desire for the SDF to engage in combat missions that pose a risk of casualties.
Get cooperation back on track
About North Korea, both leaders advocated adopting a tough approach. Unlike his predecessor, Donald Trump, Mr. Biden is not too close to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Mr. Suga will be anxious to express his tough stance towards North Korea in the face of domestic public opinion when asking for US assistance to repatriate Japanese citizens previously kidnapped by North Korea.
President Biden had to find a way to reassure the US-Japan-Korea trilateral partnership that Trump has ignored. The key bottleneck here, however, remains tensions between Japan and South Korea over forced labor – issues that have engulfed the enthusiasm of cooperation between the two countries even though they share a common desire to curb the chapter. North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
Addressing climate change and fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic will be a “fertile ground” for the US-Japan to promote cooperation.
Regarding climate change, President Biden quickly brought the US back to the Paris Agreement and is scheduled to hold a climate summit with 40 world leaders from April 22-23.
Prime Minister Suga pledged that Japan will reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2050.
Since the financial institutions of the US and Japan lead the world in supporting the use of coal, under the leadership of these two countries, it is likely that the world will be promoted to transform energy, without using fuel. fossils that turn to renewable energy could eventually forge clean energy partnerships.
With regard to Covid-19, Since Japan and the US have a long history of cooperation in international health, the lack of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic is surprising. A lot of people fear that the Tokyo Olympics will turn into a super infectious event this pandemic.
More communication against Covid-19 did not yield much results. This includes Japan’s use of a supercomputer in an AI-based Covid-19 study, American doctors’ experience in treating Covid-19 patients, and the logistics of government vaccination. Mr. Biden.
Japan and the US could also support more multilateral efforts, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the EU-operated Covid Tool Access Accelerator, to help stop the spread of spread globally and vaccinate people around the world before the emergence of resistant mutations.
The US-Japan summit provides an important opportunity to get bilateral cooperation back on track. However, to best strengthen cooperation and close the perception gap, these two allies should not shy away from discussions regarding thorny issues.
(according to EastAsia Forum)
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