Is Japan’s Ishiba too ‘weak’ to deal with Trump? Split views on when meeting should occur

Japanese conservatives are urging Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to delay his planned meeting with US president-elect Donald Trump, saying his weak political position and “unstable government” make him vulnerable to demands that could harm Japan, while others insist that engaging now is crucial to maintaining strong US relations.

In a column published by the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals, one of the country’s leading conservative think tanks, director Takashi Arimoto said Trump “prefers to deal with strong foreign leaders such as Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu”, regardless of whether they led democracies or dictatorships.

Arimoto added that Trump would take advantage of a meeting with Ishiba to make demands that “will only harm Japan’s national interests”. He suggested that Ishiba should wait until his domestic political position stabilised, allowing him to negotiate from a position of greater strength.

Others, however, believe that avoiding Trump could pose greater risks for Japan. Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo, agreed that there was a good chance Trump would “try to take advantage of Ishiba’s weak position”, but emphasised the importance of nurturing relations with Japan’s most crucial security and trade ally.

“Abe figured out that the way to deal with Trump is to flatter him, and Ishiba now needs to go to the US and do what he can to build up a strong relationship,” Kingston told This Week in Asia, referring to the late prime minister Shinzo Abe.

“If he does take this advice from conservatives and plays hard to get, then I do not think that Trump will take that well. Trump prefers supplicants to anyone that stands up to him, and that would only leave Japan in a weaker position.”