Kishida government trying to play a dirty trick
The Fumio Kishida government of Japan has reportedly been trying to send two messages to former US president Donald Trump since the latter won Republican primaries in Iowa and New Hampshire about two weeks ago: don’t try to strike any deal with Beijing that could upend years of collective efforts to rein in China and never weaken the United States’ support for the secessionists of the Taiwan island.
According to Reuters’ interviews with several anonymous Japanese officials familiar with the matter, Tokyo’s outreach includes dispatching a senior ruling-party figure to try to meet Trump, and engagement by Japanese diplomats with think tanks and former US officials aligned with Trump.
Although a Trump aide told the media that no recent meetings have taken place between Trump and Japanese officials, and they would not comment further, something underhand is apparently going on with the Japanese side trying to influence the United States’ China policy.
As Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida prepares for an April state visit to the US at President Joe Biden’s invitation, it would not prove a surprise for his team to try and pave the way through the aforementioned efforts for a possible meeting between him and Trump, or at least their respective advisors or aides, during his visit.
Tokyo has the tradition of making a bet in US presidential election and taking preemptive moves to establish relations in advance with the candidate that it thinks the most likely to win the election in a bid to try and command a good position as early as possible to influence the US’ future Japan policy.
That’s fine as long as the US side does not think such organized and systemic moves are attempts to interfere in its internal affairs or constitute behavior that seeks to manipulate the US’ presidential election.
Yet what the Kishida government has been trying to do this time is intolerable. The despicable nature of its ignominious maneuvers under the table regarding Sino-US relations and the Taiwan question only brings shame on Japan.
By trying to drive a wedge between Washington and Beijing and incite the US to obstruct China’s national reunification in such an open and provocative manner, Tokyo has rendered all its claimed efforts to mend Sino-Japanese ties over the past few years in vain, and seriously damaged, if not shattered, the delicate mutual trust it has just built with Beijing since the meeting of the leaders of the two countries in San Francisco in November last year. Before the Kishida government rebuilds its credit, it is not Sino-US ties that will be affected, but the Sino-Japanese relations.
What Japan actually fears is that it will be left high and dry once the Sino-US ties recover, as it is well aware how far it has gone these years ardently playing the anti-China vanguard role assigned by Washington.
Now the question is whether the tail can wag the dog.