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| FM Iwaya with Secretary Rubio |
By Takuya Nishimura, APP Senior Fellow, Former Editorial Writer for The Hokkaido Shimbun
The views expressed by the author are his own and are not associated with The Hokkaido Shimbun
You can find his blog, J Update here.
January 20, 2025. Special to Asia Policy Point
2/2/25 UPDATE: PM Ishiba will meet with President Trump on Friday, February 7, 2025.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi IWAYA is in Washington, DC to attend the inauguration ceremony of the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump. Iwaya met with the foreign policy staff of the incoming Trump administration, including Marco Rubio, the new Secretary of State. Japan hopes to maintain the Biden administration’s diplomatic framework of Indo-Pacific multilateral cooperation.
As soon as he arrived Washington, Iwaya met with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Both ministers shared their belief that it is important for Japan and Australia to play a leading role in realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.” Iwaya also met with Indian Foreign Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (whose son heads an outpost of the Indian think tank, ORF, in Washington). Australia and India are the members of a quadrilateral security framework with Japan and the U.S., called the QUAD.
On his way to Washington, Iwaya stopped in three Asian countries for ministerial meetings—South Korea, the Philippines, and Palau. In the Republic of Korea, Iwaya and Korean Foreign Minister, Cho Tae-yul reconfirmed the importance of cooperation between both countries, as well as their trilateral relationship with the U.S. The meeting of the two ministers also commemorated the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea.
While Iwaya’s visit came at a time of great political volatility in South Korea with President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, Iwaya observed in his press conference that Korea is working to stabilize its policymaking under the constitution and laws.
In Manila, Iwaya gave the Philippine Foreign Minister Japan’s support for maritime security. The support will come through Official Security Assistance (OSA), a new Japanese government program to bolster the security of developing countries in the Pacific. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba referred to the OSA in his visit to Malaysia and Indonesia earlier in January.
Iwaya also had a short conversation with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung when they sat together at the inauguration ceremony for Palau’s President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr.
This series of diplomatic overtures to Asia-Pacific countries before Trump takes office signals Japan’s willingness to take the lead in formulating a cooperative security framework in the Indo-Pacific region. At his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month in Tokyo, Iwaya made a point of promoting cooperation among like-minded countries as seen in Japan-U.S.- ROK, Japan-U.S.-Philippines, and the QUAD.
Although their governments hold different views on the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, Iwaya and Blinken reaffirmed the importance of Japan-U.S. economic relations. After issuing a presidential order to block the acquisition, the Biden administration extended the deadline for Nippon Steel to abandon the takeover by June 18th. “The United States-Japan alliance is deeper and stronger than any single, one economic transaction or business transaction,” said the departing U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.
Having shored up diplomatic relationships with Japan’s key partners in the Indo-Pacific, Iwaya arrived in the U.S. with the mission to fix the date of a meeting between Ishiba and Trump. Although Ishiba tried to arrange a meeting with the President-elect as soon as Trump won the presidency in November, Trump did not grant the request. Indeed, Trump compounded the snub by meeting earlier with the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Ishiba rival, Akie Abe, and the leader of the communication business Softbank, Masayoshi Son (Son and Iwaya have been close friends since they were high school students).
According to Nikkei, the government of Japan has been negotiating with the Trump team for a summit meeting in early February. The leaders are expected to discuss the security and economic issues between the two countries. Several media outlets predict that Trump will raise harder requests than the Biden administration did, including demands that Japan bear greater financial responsibility for its security costs and that it enter into a trade deal preferable to the U.S.
The Ishiba administration does not seem to have a deliberate strategy to deal with the “unpredictable” Trump 2.0. If Trump seeks to deal directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping or North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Japan will have to revise its long-held view that in facing China or North Korea it will be backed by the U.S. and other allies. Japan is trying to improve bilateral relations with China, but there is no predictable future.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Takeshi IWAYA is in Washington, DC to attend the inauguration ceremony of the 47th President of the United States, Donald Trump. Iwaya met with the foreign policy staff of the incoming Trump administration, including Marco Rubio, the new Secretary of State. Japan hopes to maintain the Biden administration’s diplomatic framework of Indo-Pacific multilateral cooperation.
As soon as he arrived Washington, Iwaya met with Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Both ministers shared their belief that it is important for Japan and Australia to play a leading role in realizing a “Free and Open Indo-Pacific.” Iwaya also met with Indian Foreign Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (whose son heads an outpost of the Indian think tank, ORF, in Washington). Australia and India are the members of a quadrilateral security framework with Japan and the U.S., called the QUAD.
On his way to Washington, Iwaya stopped in three Asian countries for ministerial meetings—South Korea, the Philippines, and Palau. In the Republic of Korea, Iwaya and Korean Foreign Minister, Cho Tae-yul reconfirmed the importance of cooperation between both countries, as well as their trilateral relationship with the U.S. The meeting of the two ministers also commemorated the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between Japan and South Korea.
While Iwaya’s visit came at a time of great political volatility in South Korea with President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment, Iwaya observed in his press conference that Korea is working to stabilize its policymaking under the constitution and laws.
In Manila, Iwaya gave the Philippine Foreign Minister Japan’s support for maritime security. The support will come through Official Security Assistance (OSA), a new Japanese government program to bolster the security of developing countries in the Pacific. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba referred to the OSA in his visit to Malaysia and Indonesia earlier in January.
Iwaya also had a short conversation with Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung when they sat together at the inauguration ceremony for Palau’s President Surangel S. Whipps, Jr.
This series of diplomatic overtures to Asia-Pacific countries before Trump takes office signals Japan’s willingness to take the lead in formulating a cooperative security framework in the Indo-Pacific region. At his meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken earlier this month in Tokyo, Iwaya made a point of promoting cooperation among like-minded countries as seen in Japan-U.S.- ROK, Japan-U.S.-Philippines, and the QUAD.
Although their governments hold different views on the acquisition of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel, Iwaya and Blinken reaffirmed the importance of Japan-U.S. economic relations. After issuing a presidential order to block the acquisition, the Biden administration extended the deadline for Nippon Steel to abandon the takeover by June 18th. “The United States-Japan alliance is deeper and stronger than any single, one economic transaction or business transaction,” said the departing U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel.
Having shored up diplomatic relationships with Japan’s key partners in the Indo-Pacific, Iwaya arrived in the U.S. with the mission to fix the date of a meeting between Ishiba and Trump. Although Ishiba tried to arrange a meeting with the President-elect as soon as Trump won the presidency in November, Trump did not grant the request. Indeed, Trump compounded the snub by meeting earlier with the wife of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Ishiba rival, Akie Abe, and the leader of the communication business Softbank, Masayoshi Son (Son and Iwaya have been close friends since they were high school students).
According to Nikkei, the government of Japan has been negotiating with the Trump team for a summit meeting in early February. The leaders are expected to discuss the security and economic issues between the two countries. Several media outlets predict that Trump will raise harder requests than the Biden administration did, including demands that Japan bear greater financial responsibility for its security costs and that it enter into a trade deal preferable to the U.S.
The Ishiba administration does not seem to have a deliberate strategy to deal with the “unpredictable” Trump 2.0. If Trump seeks to deal directly with Chinese leader Xi Jinping or North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Japan will have to revise its long-held view that in facing China or North Korea it will be backed by the U.S. and other allies. Japan is trying to improve bilateral relations with China, but there is no predictable future.
