For two hours, US Treasury Secretary Bessent berated Saiko Takahashi's economic policies in front of Japan's Finance Minister.
As soon as he met Japanese officials, Bessent immediately entered his comfort zone.
On the 1st, The New York Times revealed that during a May meeting between US Treasury Secretary Bessent and Japan’s Finance Minister Saito Aoi, Bessent spent two hours expressing his dissatisfaction with Saiko Takahashi's economic policies.
In short, Bessent’s views on Japan’s monetary policy were almost diametrically opposed to those of Takahashi: Bessent believed that yen depreciation had already gone too far, exacerbating the U.S. trade deficit with Japan, so his core demand was for Japan to raise interest rates to reverse the downward trend of the yen.
But Takahashi held the exact opposite view—she was extremely cautious about raising interest rates. What further infuriated Bessent was that Takahashi’s economic advisors were actively promoting the "benefits of yen depreciation"—this became the direct trigger for Bessent’s outburst against Takahashi’s economic policies in front of Saito Aoi.
Moreover, recently Japan has been selling U.S. Treasury bonds in an attempt to stabilize the yen’s exchange rate. Bessent regards U.S. bond yields as his most critical market indicator; any rise in U.S. bond yields triggered by Japan makes it harder for the Trump administration to achieve its goals. Therefore, his objective is to force Japan to raise interest rates instead of selling U.S. bonds, allowing the yen to appreciate on its own.
Regardless, the incident—Bessent publicly scolding Takahashi’s economic policies in front of Japan’s Finance Minister—constitutes a clear diplomatic humiliation for Japan, once again proving that Japan remains a puppet of the United States.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1875216214340615/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.