TOKYO, May 25, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – US President Donald Trump arrived in Japan
Saturday for a four-day trip likely to be dominated by warm words and
friendly images, but relatively light on substantive progress over trade.
Air Force One touched down in Japan just before 5pm local time (0800 GMT)
on a sunny Tokyo afternoon.
Japanese and US officials hail as “unprecedented” the relationship between
Trump and his “golf buddy”, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the pair will
again find time for a round to cement their diplomatic bromance.
The official centrepiece is Trump’s meeting on Monday with Japan’s new
Emperor Naruhito, who only ascended the Chrysanthemum Throne at the beginning
of the month following his father’s historic abdication for health reasons.
“With all the countries of the world, I’m the guest of honour at the
biggest event that they’ve had in over 200 years,” said Trump before his
departure.
But the visual highlight is more likely to be Trump’s visit on Sunday to
the final day of the summer “basho” or sumo tournament where he is expected
to present the cup to the winner.
Trump’s appearance at the hallowed sumo hall has presented a logistical,
security and protocol nightmare, ranging from where he sits to how he should
be protected if the crowd start throwing pillows — as tradition dictates
when a Grand Champion (yokozuna) falls.
The leaders will play golf before going to the sumo and then repair with
their wives to a restaurant in Tokyo’s Roppongi entertainment district, where
the menu features skewers of prime sirloin beef at 5,184 yen ($47) for two.
Abe has just recently returned from Washington and Trump himself will be
returning to Japan in just over a month for the Group of 20 leaders’ summit
in the western city of Osaka.
“Three visits in both directions in a short amount of time is really
emblematic of just how close the relationship is,” said a senior Trump
administration official, who asked not to be identified.
Japanese diplomat said the frequency of contact “demonstrates the
unprecedented level of close personal relations between the Japanese and US
leaders”.
– ‘Smart move’ –
The formal diplomatic part of the trip is limited to a short bilateral
meeting and a working lunch on Monday, after which the two leaders will brief
the media.
They are also poised to meet families of people abducted by North Korea
during the Cold War era to train Pyongyang’s spies, an emotive issue in Japan
that Abe has pressed Trump to raise in talks with the North’s leader Kim Jong
Un.
Trump will also address troops at a US base in Japan, highlighting the
military alliance between the two allies at a time when tensions are running
higher with North Korea after the failure of the Hanoi summit in February.
Hours before Trump landed, hawkish National Security Advisory John Bolton
told local media there was “no doubt” Pyongyang’s recent missile tests had
violated UN Security Council resolutions but insisted Washington is still
ready to resume talks.
But analysts expect little progress on the main issue that divides Japan
and the US: trade.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is expected to hold talks with
his Japanese counterpart on the sidelines of the visit but with Abe facing
upper house elections in the coming months and Trump battling China, both are
likely to avoid concessions.
Some observers suspect Abe is rolling out the red carpet to present Japan
as the most favourable of the countries currently engaged in trade disputes
with Washington.
“Japan’s strategy is to proceed with negotiations in a cool-headed
manner,” in contrast to the aggressive tit-for-tat tariff retaliations
between the US and China, Shujiro Urata, a trade expert and professor at
Tokyo’s Waseda University, told AFP.
However, the trip is more likely to be about smiles and reaffirmations of
a close alliance — something Trump will doubtless welcome amid pre-2020
election turmoil at home and a bellicose Iran and China abroad.
“It’s a smart move that shows he knows something about foreign policy and
that he actually has a friend,” said Robert Guttman, who lectures on foreign
policy at Johns Hopkins University.