Shadow of Trump over Japan

Unilateral behavior of United States in its foreign policy is casing shadow over Japan. With deep division between U.S, and Russia over U.S. missile strikes on Syria, for which Japan immediately announced its support, it got unclear whether the planned meeting between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin later this month will be taken place. Being afraid of possible military option on North Korea, Tokyo Stock Exchange showed apparent decline these days. Donald Trump administration does not look like beneficial for Japan.

The meeting between U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov ended up with merely a reconfirmation of disagreement between both countries. While Tillerson assured that Syrian regime led by Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons on anti-governmental powers, Lavrov argued that the chemical weapons were what the anti-governmental militia had been keeping. “The world’s primary nuclear powers cannot have this kind of relationship,” regretted Tillerson after the meeting.

Distrust between U.S. and Russia is seriously deep. “Either Russia has been complicit or Russia has been simply incompetent,” Tillerson told the reporters before his visit to Moscow, expressing frustration over Russian policy toward Syrian crisis. Putin countered immediately. “We can say that the level of trust at a working level, particularly in a military level, has not improved but rather has degraded,” Putin said to the interview of Russian TV Channel Mir about the relationship with U.S. after Trump took seat in White House.

U.S. unilateral strike on Syria generated speculation on military option on North Korea. Explicit announcement of Trump that every option was on the table may cause further intimidation of Kim Jong-un regime. “It is true that tension is getting high,” told Abe in the meeting with lawmakers with Liberal Democratic Party in charge of abduction of innocent Japanese by North Korea. Issuing foreign safety information for South Korea caused broad concern on security situation in Korean Peninsula.

Trump’s willingness for unilateral measures without cooperation from China stimulates negative mind of investors in the market. Volatility in international politics urges them buying Japanese yen, which is regarded as one of the relatively stable assets. Rise of value of Japanese yen caused decline of Nikkei Average on Wednesday. It is the time that the myth of rally with Trump administration is disappearing.