Not long ago, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid a state visit to the United States to discuss the upgrade of the US-Japan alliance with Biden, Kishida posted a selfie on social media, claiming that more than 70 agreements had been signed, saying that Japan and the United States have now developed a real "global partnership". Less than two weeks later, another heavyweight in Japanese politics arrived in New York, not to meet Biden, but to have an intimate meeting with Trump.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump met with Taro Aso, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, who is visiting the United States, at Trump Tower in New York
According to the Japanese side, this was a "private visit", and Taro Aso, who met with Trump, did not serve in Kishida's cabinet and was not considered a government official. His relationship with Trump dates back to Shinzo Abe's tenure as prime minister, when Japan increased defense spending under pressure from Trump, and Aso was the specific executor, as for how close the relationship between the two is, neither Japan nor Trump has disclosed.
This reason seems to be fine, but it is actually a big problem. Biden is also an old Jianghu and knows very well what tricks Fumio Kishida wants to do. Biden was very dissatisfied, according to a source close to the White House, who commented that the Japanese were doing very despicable.
Biden
What is Fumio Kishida's purpose in doing this? It's very simple, bet on both ends. Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the world has been in turmoil, and this US election will greatly affect the domestic and foreign policies of their allies and their client states. For example, if Biden can be re-elected in November this year, then the US-Japan military alliance can be upgraded as planned, and Japan can accelerate the promotion of military "normalization" and play the role of the "deputy sheriff" of the United States in the Asia-Pacific region.
But if Trump "returns as a king", he will not tolerate the Japanese government spending money on its own military, but will ask Japan to increase its defense spending so that it can pay more "protection money". It is impossible for Japan not to pay at that time, and with their current economic situation, it will either stop the process of military "normalization", or raise taxes on the people and collect more money to pay tribute, in short, it will not hurt to inquire about Trump's ideas in advance.
Polish President Duda met with Trump on the sidelines of a United Nations conference in the United States
But this touched Biden's mold. At the beginning of the month, you still interacted with me intimately, and at the end of the month, you sent someone to meet with Trump privately, Fumio Kishida, you don't want me to be re-elected. Recalling that Argentine President Milley, Polish President Duda, and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had private meetings with Trump to support his return to the White House, Biden felt even more uncomfortable. How is it that after four years as president, the "global leadership" of the United States is getting weaker and weaker?
We can see the clues to why US hegemony is weakening from US-Japan relations. Yes, Biden has promised to upgrade his alliance with Japan and allow Japan to push for military "normalization." But at the same time, he also forced the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates, lowering the Fed's expectations for interest rate cuts, and made it clear that he wanted to cut Japan's leeks before the election. As for Japan after being harvested, what to do with military "normalization", Biden will not care. This kind of practice of not wanting the horses to run but also not eating grass is still relatively difficult to convince Japan from resisting.
From the analysis of the performance of the allies "stepping on two boats", it seems that everyone is not optimistic about Biden's election
A similar situation has also appeared in Germany, the Philippines, and South Korea, which are the "main allies" identified by the Biden administration, so that in the past two years, "being a dog for the United States and buying dog food for yourself" has become a global consensus. It's a pity that the current United States no longer has the kind of hard power that just after the end of World War II, as long as he says a word, no one in the world dares to resist.