10/24/2018

CHINA/JAPAN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It was the awkward moment beamed around the world. Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, meeting for the first time as leaders in 2014, shook hands, their gaze downcast, expressions grim. Both men seemed determined to avoid any hint that they were enjoying the encounter at a forum in Beijing. Four years later, Abe is about to receive a far warmer reaction when he arrives in Beijing Thursday [10-25-18] for his first official visit to China in years. And it is largely thanks to US President Donald Trump. The Trump administration’s unconventional foreign policy toward trade and military alliances has left Tokyo feeling unsure of the US support which has underlined its international relations since the end of World War II. The president has repeatedly urged military allies in east Asia to pay for their own defense, teasing the end of a US military presence in the region while encouraging Japan to buy more American weapons.”

Ben Westcott, “Donald Trump’s unconventional diplomacy is pushing China and Japan closer together,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, October 24, 2018 2:42 am