The top-level summit provides an important opportunity to get US-Japan co-operation back on track after four years of work just preventing a Trump-induced disaster in alliance relations.
When Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga becomes the first world leader to be hosted by US President Joe Biden on Friday (Saturday AEST), restoring trust in the US-Japan alliance and deepening co-operation will top the agenda. This includes dealing with a still rising China, North Korea’s nuclear weapons, climate change and COVID-19.
After the damage wrought by the Trump administration, the Biden administration’s focus on co-operation has been welcomed by US allies including Japan. Yet as China continues to rise and the United States encourages allies to take on greater burden-sharing efforts, there is a risk of a serious perception gap emerging between Japan and the United States.
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Ben Ascione is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University. He is also the Japan editor at East Asia Forum and a research associate at the Japan Centre for International Exchange.
