Originally published on July 8, 2019.
Through a special dialogue in the August issue of Hanada between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Sakurai Yoshiko, this essay examines the meaning of the maximum welcome extended to President Trump during his visit to Japan, and argues that The Asahi Shimbun’s criticism of it as a mere “staging of a honeymoon” reflects a lack of international perspective.
It brings out, through Prime Minister Abe’s own words, the importance of trust between allied leaders, concrete progress on the abductions issue, Japan-U.S. trade negotiations, and the realities and responsibilities of Japanese diplomacy amid the G20 and U.S.-China tensions.

2019-07-08
On the other hand, regarding the maximum welcome extended to President Trump throughout his visit, The Asahi Shimbun, for example, keeps repeating criticisms such as “The staging of a honeymoon has fallen flat.”
The following continues from the previous chapter.
Sakurai.
At the golf course, the selfie photograph was uploaded to Instagram and drew a great response.
Both of you had such natural and wonderful smiles.
Did you take that photograph yourself, Prime Minister?
Abe.
Yes, I took it myself.
I had not expected such a natural smile to come out of it (laughs).
Young people have been painting that photo and editing the faces of President Trump and me, and those images have spread across the internet, but I think it is nice that they have made us look even cuter (laughs).
Sakurai.
It was a photograph from which one could sense the closeness of the two of you.
And on the final day, you inspected the Maritime Self-Defense Force escort ship Kaga.
Abe.
President Trump, the supreme commander of the U.S. forces, and I, the supreme commander of the Self-Defense Forces, boarded the Kaga together and encouraged both the U.S. forces and the Self-Defense Forces.
I believe it was a meaningful visit both from the standpoint of deterrence and in terms of raising the morale of the personnel.
This was the first time in history.
Criticism Lacking an International Eye.
Sakurai.
On the other hand, regarding the maximum welcome extended to President Trump throughout his visit, The Asahi Shimbun, for example, wrote in its editorial of May 28, “The limits of hospitality diplomacy. We need a basis of values rather than subservience to the United States,” and in its opinion section of June 3 it repeated criticisms such as “A sense of deadlock in Abe diplomacy” and “‘The staging of a honeymoon’ has fallen flat.”
Abe.
The United States is Japan’s only ally.
And if, by any chance, Japan were to suffer an imminent and unlawful act of aggression, the only country that would fight to protect Japan is the United States.
If it is an alliance without trust, it does not necessarily mean they will fight together with us.
Of course, Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty clearly states that the two countries will act together to deal with armed attacks against territories under Japan’s administration and with common danger.
But would young American soldiers really risk their lives to defend a country with which there is no relationship of trust?
If there is trust between the leaders, the United States will certainly come to Japan’s aid.
By strengthening the bond between Japan and the United States even further, it becomes possible to prevent conflict before it occurs, in other words to increase deterrence by crushing any scheme by another country to wage war against Japan.
This is extremely important for Japan’s security.
I believe it is my duty as Prime Minister of Japan to build a relationship of trust with the President of the United States and show that relationship to the world.
I understand that there may be criticisms such as those raised by the newspaper you mentioned, Sakurai-san, but I act based on my own convictions.
At the second U.S.-North Korea summit held in Hanoi, immediately after the start of the first day’s one-on-one meeting, President Trump directly conveyed my thinking to Chairman Kim Jong Un and raised the abductions issue.
Furthermore, at the subsequent small dinner meeting as well, he again referred to the abductions issue.
This is precisely because a relationship of trust has been built between President Trump and me.
Chairman Kim Jong Un was probably surprised.
At the same time, he must have come to recognize that “the abductions issue cannot simply be avoided.”
I would like to ask those who make the criticisms mentioned earlier.
“Are you saying that there is no need to make efforts to build this kind of relationship of trust with the President of the United States?”
Those people do not mention President Trump’s raising of the abductions issue, or the process and background behind it.
That is not fair at all.
I have no choice but to call it criticism lacking an international perspective.
Sakurai.
Asahi does not mention that kind of background.
Not only that, because Japan has various weaknesses precisely because it has not revised the Constitution, Asahi also does not mention the point that, for that very reason, Japan must build an even closer relationship with the United States.
Abe.
For example, Japan does not have a multilateral alliance relationship like NATO, in which member states mutually exercise the right of collective self-defense.
Japan has an alliance only with the United States, and only the United States alone would use military force for Japan.
I repeat, I believe that building a relationship of trust with the leader of that United States, and showing it both inside and outside the country, is an important duty of the Prime Minister of Japan.
Through President Trump’s visit to Japan this time, the bond of the Japan-U.S. alliance has become an alliance that can no longer be shaken, the closest alliance in the world.
I feel that the significance of this is extremely great.
Trump’s Remarks That Go Unreported.
Sakurai.
While welcoming the construction of a strong Japan-U.S. alliance, at the beginning of this Japan-U.S. summit meeting, Mr. Trump said regarding the Japan-U.S. trade negotiations, “I think probably in August something tremendous will be announced for both countries.”
Was that an unexpected remark?
The day before the meeting, because Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter that “much will wait until after the July election,” various speculations have been flying around, linking it to the House of Councillors election.
To begin with, even at the summit meeting held in Washington in April, Mr. Trump said that “an agreement can be reached during the visit to Japan at the end of May,” and that became a topic of discussion.
Abe.
Certainly, President Trump sometimes says things in Twitter posts and press conferences that are unexpected from our perspective.
However, there has now been criticism in the Japan-U.S. trade agreement negotiations that “there may be a secret agreement,” but this is an extremely absurd story.
Last year, Motegi and Lighthizer held discussions, and in September President Trump and I issued the final Japan-U.S. Joint Statement.
There are two key points.
One is that Japan and the United States have clearly agreed on the major premise that, regarding agricultural products, the maximum scope will be the content already promised in past economic partnership agreements.
The second is that no additional tariffs will be imposed on Japanese automobiles while the negotiations are continuing.
I repeat, both points were confirmed directly with the President, and we issued a Japan-U.S. Joint Statement.
We have been conducting very open negotiations.
Those who make the completely out-of-bounds criticism of a “secret agreement” should once again examine this agreement carefully.
It is under this Joint Statement that negotiations will proceed from now on, and we are in agreement that, while firmly protecting the national interest and aiming for early results in a form that will be win-win for Japan and the United States, we will accelerate discussions further based on Japan-U.S. trust.
President Trump has also clearly stated, “something that will bring benefits to the economies of both countries.”
For some reason, remarks like that are not reported.
Sakurai.
Ill-natured media outlets reported that when Trump made that remark at the summit meeting, Prime Minister Abe’s expression clouded over.
Abe.
There was absolutely nothing like that (laughs).
I was perfectly calm.
The G20 and the U.S.-China Trade War.
Sakurai.
On June 28 and 29, the G20 will be held in Osaka.
Leaders from the United States, as well as Russia, China, South Korea, Europe, and other countries, will visit Japan.
With so many issues piled up, it seems it will be difficult steering as the chair country.
Abe.
Among those issues, the free trade system is the most important issue for the international community.
In particular, trade friction between the United States and China has become a major concern for the international community, including Japan, but I believe that retaliatory trade restriction measures benefit no country.
I intend to continue watching closely the impact that developments in U.S.-China trade talks may have on the Japanese economy and on other countries, and it is important that both the United States and China seek constructive solutions through dialogue.
I have firmly conveyed Japan’s thinking and position on these matters to both President Trump and President Xi Jinping.
At the G20 Osaka Summit, I want Japan to play its own distinctive role as chair country and produce good results.
Rather than emphasizing differences, I want to find common points on which each country can agree, bring the discussions together, and send a message that the G20 is moving in one direction.
That, I believe, is Japan’s role.
Sakurai.
At the Shangri-La Dialogue, the Asian security conference held in Singapore from May 31, there was a scene in which Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Shanahan and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe exchanged fierce criticism.
I now feel that the problem between the two countries has gone beyond being a mere trade issue, and that the United States in particular is questioning the very character and values of China.
Abe.
Regarding the important matter of values, Japan, the United States, and Europe fundamentally share the same values.
On the other hand, China faces major issues such as intellectual property rights violations, forced technology transfer, and subsidies to state-owned enterprises that distort the market.
This concerns not only the trade system but the very foundations of an economic order based on free, open, and fair rules.
Trade must, above all, be consistent with WTO rules.
Therefore, China is being required to change into something that is in harmony with the international economic order.
On that point, Japan and the United States are in complete agreement.
I repeat, retaliatory trade restriction measures do not benefit any country.
At the same time, because the world economy is in a relationship of mutual dependence through complex supply chains, it is also important to make efforts to restrain the impact on the economy so that it does not become harmful to too great an extent.
To be continued.