Last week’s visit to the US by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was a success, even if he avoided making any further surprise concessions to open up the protected Japanese market in order to get the much-discussed trade deal of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) off the ground.
Nonetheless, both leaders agreed that after 10 years of talks, the 12-nation TPP was still important and should be concluded as soon as possible.
Abe was the first Japanese leader to address both houses of US Congress and he used the event to speak forcefully in favour of the military aspect of the US pivot to Asia.
The danger in the Japanese approach towards the Americans is that Abe it trying to define the US presence in the Pacific Rim as being based on the Japan-US alliance, whereas the US is seeking a broader arrangement, which would include China and South Korea.
Abe’s refusal to break through with China or South Korea clearly illustrates how he sees the reinforced US presence in Japan as a valuable tool with which to contain the rising power of China, whereas US policy-makers prefer to see their relationship as more neutral.
