Throughout the summit between the American president, Donald Trump, and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, held in Beijing between May 13 and 15 and which has just ended, Japan scrutinized every gesture and declaration of the two leaders with concern.
At loggerheads with China over the Taiwanese issue, the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi had in fact tried to organize a summit with the American president in Japan, just before his trip to Beijing. The idea was to prevent a possible rapprochement between the two superpowers. Tokyo remains concerned by the talk of a “G2” between the United States and China, released by Donald Trump in the fall. “This would imply a disengagement of the United States in East Asia in terms of security. Deterrence against China in the Taiwan issue, as well as against North Korea and its nuclear program, would be weakened… warned the newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
However, this Japanese diplomatic effort did not bear fruit. Trump rejected this invitation to go directly to China, even though Scott Bessent, his Finance Minister, went to Japan to speak with Sanae Takaichi on May 12.
Extension of a ceasefire
Snubbed by the Republican, Tokyo has therefore resolved
