Donald Trump may have backed away from his demand that US allies help him in Iran. That doesn’t mean Sanae Takaichi is off the hook.
The Japanese prime minister is due to meet with Trump at the White House tomorrow, one of the first foreign leaders to visit from a country singled out by the president since he launched the war.
Japan was among those nations Trump called on to help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a tough proposition for Tokyo given its pacifist constitution strictly limits the deployment of the military overseas. Like those others, Japan indicated it had no plans to meet the request.
Faced with a blanket no, Trump abruptly dropped his demand yesterday, saying that the US didn’t need any help. But the famously petulant president may yet try to extract a price from Takaichi.
The prospect of Trump pressuring Takaichi in the Oval Office is a worrying thought for Japanese officials who want the trip to demonstrate the strength of US-Japan ties.
They’re also looking for US support in a damaging standoff with China.
The timing had looked optimal: getting in Trump’s ear immediately before he visited Beijing.
That was before the joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran disrupted oil supplies, especially to Asia, and dragged on the global economy, prompting Trump to postpone his China trip.
Addressing parliament in Tokyo today, Takaichi said she’s facing an “extremely difficult” meeting. She did, though, hint at her possible approach of pledging more US investments.
While avoiding expressing support for Trump’s war, Takaichi has often repeated a guiding principle of Tokyo’s foreign and security policy: Countries shouldn’t seek to alter the geopolitical status quo through force.
It’s a message usually directed at revisionist powers like China and Russia. With its attacks on Iran, the US may now be in that bracket, too. — Alastair Gale