Japan weighs trust in Trump as US says defence of Diaoyu Islands rock solid
Japanese governments routinely request such confirmations from incoming US administrations, but analysts say the urgency is greater this time. Trump’s transactional approach to foreign policy has raised doubts in Tokyo about his commitment to protecting the uninhabited islands, especially if he sees no direct benefit to the US.
“If you are the minister of defence in Japan and you look at the incoming Trump administration, you will have very good reason to doubt the reliability of the alliance and the strength of the Japan-US security alliance,” said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo.
He told This Week in Asia that Japanese politicians and security experts were often troubled by the “bit of wiggle room in the wording of the treaty on whether the US is required to militarily respond to a contingency surrounding the Senkakus”.