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Weekend Reads
Ahead of President Donald Trump’s summit with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) joined Hudson to discuss the Japan Chair’s latest report and how the United States and its most important Indo-Pacific ally can improve defense, energy, and trade cooperation to face the rising threat from China.
“It’s absolutely vital that our two nations are aligned and working side by side,” the senator said. More key insights from the event with Japan Chair Kenneth R. Weinstein are below.
Key Insights
1. Deterring China requires a strong America, a close US-Japan alliance, and greater cooperation with other allies.
“Longer term, they see China’s aggression moving toward Taiwan and think about, Where does it stop? And again, you get back to proximity. Japan feels the threat in a much more proximate way just because of their location. Japan has taken significant steps. If you think about the decision to go from 1 percent to 2 percent of GDP to be spent on national defense, I think that was all in response to the increased aggression of China in the Taiwan Strait. Again, that was in response to our failure in Afghanistan. I am still heartbroken over that, but what we need is a strong America. We need a strong US-Japan alliance. We need greater cooperation with partners like South Korea of course, but also Australia and India. That presents great potential for us.”
2. Increased US-Japan energy cooperation can weaken China’s Belt and Road Initiative and reduce the geopolitical importance of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
“What we have is the opportunity to significantly displace Russian LNG with US LNG. And the conversations that I had with my counterparts in Japan back at the time were serious and significant, and I think that we were on the same page in terms of the Japanese making multi-billion dollar investments in LNG terminaling both here in the United States and in Japan. . . . I think the South Koreans would like to partner with us as well. They’ve engaged in this conversation with me also. But if you think about a counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, how much more powerful would it be to provide clean US LNG throughout Southeast Asia?”
3. Washington and Tokyo have numerous opportunities to expand their trade and set an example for trade agreements with other partners.
“The Digital Trade Agreement—which is the highest standard digital trade deal that we’ve ever struck—I think that could stand as a template for many other nations to work with us. And also, a basic free trade agreement, that we put in place, that dealt . . . largely with agricultural commodities and a number of items that, I think, Japan realized they would benefit from perhaps buying from their partner, America, [rather] than other countries . . . I think with an ally nation like Japan, it’s something we sit down and we talk together and find a way forward.”
Quotes may be edited for clarity and length.
Go Deeper
Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Russia has been sending 90 percent of its oil exports to China and India. But ports in both countries have begun refusing to take delivery for fear of sanctions. Further sanctions could put Beijing’s appetite for conflict with the West to the test, writes Thomas J. Duesterberg.
Prime Minister Ishiba “could consider following Trump’s example and learning from [Shinzo] Abe’s time in office, not just to navigate his own political future, but also to forge a more strategic relationship with the US president,” writes Paul Sracic.
Senator Dan Sullivan (R-AK) joined Kenneth R. Weinstein to discuss how the US can meet the Indo-Pacific’s rapidly growing energy needs, as well as how to increase security and improve America’s relationships in the region, particularly with Japan.
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