A congratulatory journey: Trump's state visit to Japan
Updated 22:59, 25-May-2019
Cheng Xiaohe
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Editor's note: Cheng Xiaohe is an associate professor at the School of International Studies under Renmin University of China and a senior researcher at Pangoal Institute. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.
President Donald Trump started his state visit to Japan on Saturday. To some extent, the visit could be characterized as a congratulatory journey. Trump will be the first foreign leader to meet Japan's new Emperor Naruhito and offer his personal congratulations. In comparison with his 2017 visit, this trip will be full of symbolism.
In addition to the traditional golf diplomacy, we have a strong interest in observing how Trump behaves in his meeting with the new emperor. Trump will watch a Sumo game and present the “Trump Trophy” to the winner at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, the sumo hall in the Tokyo, and will also land on the Kaga, an Izumo-class destroyer, in Yokosuka, a home port of the U.S. Seventh Fleet's forward-based carrier strike group.
All these planned activities are a display of Prime Minister Abe and his government's intention to impress the president, who is frantically fighting a trade war with China, a war of words with Democrats and mass media back home, a potential war with Iran and Venezuela, and fuming over trade deficits with Europe and the host country. No doubt, the host's meticulous arrangements will satisfy Trump and send a signal of solidarity between the two allies in front of the world. Nonetheless, Trump and Abe also have real work to do in their meetings.
First of all, they need to sit down to address their trade dispute. To Abe's dismay, President Trump quickly honored his promise he made in his presidential campaign to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP). In the name of national security, Trump slashed new tariffs of 25 percent on imports of steel and 10 percent on imports of aluminum. Japan, along with China, Russia, India, was not exempted. The Trump administration wanted to renegotiate a trade treaty with Japan.
After rejecting such a proposal for over three decades, Japan finally agreed to hold the first round of trade agreement negotiations with the U.S. on April 15 this year.
Even though the trade negotiation is on the fast track and the Trump administration really hopes to ink a deal as soon as possible, given the ongoing trade war between U.S. and China and the unfolding effectiveness of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Economic Partnership Agreement signed between Japan and the EU, it is difficult for Abe to make major concessions in the fields of agriculture and automobiles as the lower house's election is approaching and the Liberal Democratic Party must continue to rely on its traditional supporters in rural areas.
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Tokyo Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan May 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrive aboard Air Force One at Tokyo Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Japan May 25, 2019. /VCG Photo

However, the Japanese government can sweeten Trump's visit by lifting the 16-year-long ban on U.S. beef and adopting other measures to import more U.S. agricultural products and investing more in the U.S. auto industry.
Secondly, Trump and Abe may seek more security cooperation. Trump's planned landing on the Kaga will be something worth watching. President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines and the UK Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as the French president, have already done so.
But Trump's showing up on the top deck of the Kaga carries some special significance: It will demonstrate that the U.S. and Japan are close allies and determined to strengthen their alliance; the United States president will support Japan's efforts to build more offensive weapons, including destroyer-turned aircraft; the President may agree to the sale of F-35Bs to Japan.
In addition to strengthening bilateral military cooperation, we have reasons to believe that both Trump and Abe will spend some time discussing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) issue.
The second Trump-Kim summit failed to produce a concrete result and even though both sides continue to express their willingness to talk, neither has so far been willing to make concessions.
For Abe, he may be eager to know what Trump plans to do in dealing with the DPRK and try to convince Trump that eliminating the DPRK's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is not enough and the country's medium-range ballistic missiles, which pose a direct threat to Japan, also need to be addressed. He will encourage Trump to create more opportunities to bring the DPRK and Japan to the negotiating table.    
Trump did not go to Japan with heavy tasks. He just needs to open his arms to the new Japanese emperor, demonstrate U.S.-Japanese solidarity in a new challenging situation and speed up trade negotiations with Japan for an early trade agreement that may mitigate if not eliminate, their chronic trade disputes.
Certainly, Trump and Abe will exchange their views over the trade war between the U.S. and China, but as Japan does not want to derail the hard-earned momentum on Sino-Japanese relations and hopes to make the G-20 summit a success, their discussions over this issue will remain private. In order to avoid alienating anyone, both sides may not publish any joint statement.
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