There are concerns in Tokyo that the US leader is prepared to walk away from the Singapore summit with an agreement that ignores Japanese demands.
This story is being published for POLITICO as part of a content partnership with the South China Morning Post. It originally appeared on scmp.com on June 4,2018.
Since the last time U. S. President Donald Trump visited Japan for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the once critically important bond between the two countries seems to have weakened. This could best be illustrated by the round of golf the two leaders had during Trump’s trip.
Abe — a keen rather than skilled golfer — sank a shot into a bunker, although he managed to whack his ball out with a problem.
However, as he was trying to get out, he lost his footing and tumbled back into the sand, his indignity caught with the long lenses of television cameras on hovering helicopters.
Trump, oblivious to Abe’s plight, continued down the fairway with only his ball in mind.
Seven months later, the U. S. leader is still forging ahead in his dealings with North Korea and leaving Abe and Japan trailing unheeded in his wake.
And that Trump is paying no attention to Japan’s primary concerns — security and the return of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korea — is causing concern in Tokyo.
Japan is disappointed it has been left out of discussions on issues it believes it has a stake in and, on more than one occasion, has been stunned after only finding out about U. S. policies through Twitter or media reports.
Abe is due to travel to Washington before Trump leaves for his summit in Singapore with Kim Jong Un. He is expected to urge the U. S. president to make sure Pyongyang commits to scrapping missiles capable of hitting Japan, destroying stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and provide details about missing Japanese, besides its promise to abolish nuclear weapons and long-range missiles.
