INTERVIEW: Expert Urges Japan, U.S. to Reaffirm Importance of Alliance

Washington, March 16 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and U.S. President Donald Trump should reaffirm the importance of their countries’ alliance when they meet in Washington this week ahead of Trump’s visit to China, a prominent U.S. expert has said. The Takaichi-Trump summit is also expected to focus on a possible minesweeping operation by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces amid the deteriorating situation involving Iran, according to Kent Calder, director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. “Most importantly, Japan should want to reinforce the U.S.-Japan alliance and the inclination of President Trump to think of Japan’s interests ahead of China,” Calder said in a recent interview with Jiji Press. Trump is very “transactional,” Calder said, adding, “It seems…his economic sense and his sense of wanting a good deal goes ahead of his sense of geopolitics.” Noting that the United States is “in a difficult situation now,” Calder emphasized the need for Japan to show Washington how it could contribute to resolving various issues, such as soaring energy prices and inflation. He pointed out that Japan “has one of the strongest fleets of minesweepers in the world,” and said that Japan may be asked to engage in minesweeping or convoying activities once the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has calmed down. Trump may also urge Japan to expand its defense spending, Calder said, adding, however, that the U.S. president is likely more interested in defense industry cooperation, rather than a numerical target. The U.S. side is also watching Japan’s planned easing of restrictions on defense equipment exports, he said. Regarding Japan-U.S. discussions over U.S. tariffs on Japanese products and envisioned Japanese investments in the United States, Calder underscored the need to “show some evidence of progress.” Concrete plans over artificial intelligence and data centers are the “most realistic” progress that the Japanese side could present, Calder said. He warned, however, that Trump is “under the assumption that, basically, the United States is going to administer these projects.” “So naturally, the Japanese side would like to see projects that are also, in other words, a sort of win-win,” he added. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]