Valdai Club

Under Abe, Japan positioned itself as one of the world leaders in the liberalisation of trade, investment and other sectors of the economy, which could not have been imagined ten to fifteen years ago, writes Anna Kireeva, Associate Professor at the Department of Asian and African Studies, MGIMO University.

Japan and South Korea have received important US confirmations on the inviolability of security guarantees under their bilateral alliance treaties. It was a shock for both Seoul and Tokyo that President Trump announced a suspension of military exercises with the Republic of Korea at a news conference following the Singapore summit without previously having coordinated it with the allies.

The planned summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un on June 12 in Singapore forced the Japanese premier to request urgently a meeting with the American president. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe flew to the United States for the second time in two months. The meeting between the leaders of Japan and the US in the White House on June 7 showed that despite the official statements about common interests, the foreign policy priorities of the United States and Japan are different.

Russian-Japanese relations are not lacking for drama. The two countries gravitate to each other in the economic sphere, but are at odds over territorial issues. Neither country wants to take a back seat to the U.S. or China, yet neither wants to break off their alliance or partnership with them either.