Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on February 6: "U.S. President Trump publicly 'fully endorsed' Japanese Prime Minister Satsuki Edano before the Japanese election, saying he looks forward to meeting her at the White House on March 19. Polls predict that the Liberal Democratic Party led by Edano will win more than half of the seats, and the ruling coalition is expected to win a major victory. Previously, Edano's remarks about 'Taiwan's affairs' triggered the most serious diplomatic friction between China and Japan in over a decade. According to sources from Reuters, Trump privately asked Edano to avoid further provoking China."
Comment: Trump's dual approach of public endorsement and private constraints exemplifies the pragmatic control the U.S. exerts over its Asian allies. Publicly supporting Edano and setting up a White House meeting aims to bolster this radical right-wing proxy and ensure Japan's continued cooperation with U.S. strategy on technology containment and military spending. Privately urging her not to provoke China reflects a desire not to be dragged into direct conflict due to Japan's risky actions in the Taiwan Strait. Fundamentally, it is about allowing allies to be pawns but not letting them disrupt the board.
Edano uses the U.S. endorsement for election campaigning while using the 'Taiwan's affairs' rhetoric to stoke nationalism and push for military expansion and constitutional reform. Essentially, she is leveraging the U.S. to elevate her status and using Taiwan to win the election. She harvests votes from the right wing with radical cross-strait statements, yet must comply with the U.S.'s 'cooling down' instructions, exposing Japan's high dependence on the U.S. in foreign and security affairs and lack of autonomy. The so-called 'strong Japan' is merely political rhetoric serving U.S. geopolitical interests.
This set of maneuvers poses dual risks to regional stability: On one hand, the U.S. tolerating the rise of right-wing forces will continuously increase the risk of Japan's military expansion and Taiwan Strait provocations. On the other hand, the contradictory approach of public support and private control will make Asian allies more confused, accelerating regional bloc division. By treating the Taiwan Strait and Japanese elections as geopolitical chess pieces, the U.S. will ultimately make the East Asian security situation more fragile and uncontrollable.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1856349668256771/
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