Roundup: Japanese politicians, scholars criticize Abe's "tribute diplomacy" with Trump

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to hold a formal summit with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on Friday, during which he is reportedly to present Trump with a number of ways Japan plans to work with the U.S. on trade and job creation.

While Abe claimed that he wants to "build a strong relationship of trust with Trump," many politicians as well as scholars here have criticized and cast doubts over the effects of Abe's "tribute diplomacy" with Trump.

During the summit, Abe is reportedly to present Trump with a five-pronged plan, called the "U.S.-Japan Growth and Employment Initiative," which sets out to create up to 700,000 jobs and new opportunities worth 450 billion U.S. dollars over the next 10 years for the United States, according to local media.

"Trump wants to impose tariff on Japan-made automobiles, but (Abe) now wants to promise to invest huge money in the U.S. infrastructure. This is indeed tribute diplomacy," said Seiji Mataichi, Secretary General of the Social Democratic Party.

"Japan has made a catalog of tributes before Abe set out for his meeting with Trump, including forcibly pushing forward construction work of the U.S. base in Henoko, Okinawa despite strong opposition from local people, as well as the promise to create 700,000 jobs for the U.S.," said Kazuo Shii, head of the Japanese Communist Party .

"Japan itself saw domestic jobs for regular employees decreasing, but Abe is now trying to create more jobs for the U.S.... Such a gesture of offering tributes from the Japanese side would only make Japan more subordinate to the U.S.," he said.

Trump has previously accused Japan of devaluing its currency and blasted Japan's top automakers, including Toyota, for unfair trade. He has also taken aim at Japan for not paying enough for U.S. military forces to be based here.

"Why does the prime minister of the country suffering from deflation try to help create jobs in the world's top economic superpower (the U.S.) ?" said Japan's Hokkaido Shimbun Press in a recent editorial.

The editorial also pointed out that targets such as creating 700,000 jobs and new markets worth 450 billion U.S. dollars will possibly impose huge burdens on private enterprises in Japan.

"Even though (the investment) is to be led by the Japanese government, it is private enterprises that actually pay for it. If the projects are not profitable, the investment and jobs may not grow as planned," said the editorial.

Last week, Abe met with Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda. Though it is not clear what they said, Abe apparently wanted to seek support from private companies such as Toyota to help making contributions to U.S. employment as a way to deal with Trump's trade policy, according to local media.

Earlier reports also said Abe planned to use money from the Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world's largest pension fund, to finance the cooperation he is to present to Trump, which drew wide criticism from opposition parties as well as the public for using public pension fund politically.

Abe later denied the accusation, saying the government has no plan to use money of public pension fund to invest in U.S. infrastructure development and he is not authorized to order the GPIF to make such investment, as the GPIF is in principle independent from the government.

GPIF President Norihiro Takahashi, however, did not rule out the possibility that the fund would expand its U.S. infrastructure investment on its own judgment, saying the fund has a quota to invest in advanced economies such as the U.S. and Europe, which, once again, raised concerns from the public.

Steve Clemons, editor at large of The Atlantic magazine and also an expert on Japan, for his part, said recently at Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo that he thinks Trump and Abe may actually be quite similar in the sense that Abe's previous actions show him to be a nationalist hawk, something Trump can relate to.

But "Abe's trip to the Trump Tower (in November 2016) made him look desperate for attention. It made him look weak in the eyes of Trump's family and advisers," said Clemons.

In Clemons' opinion, Abe could flatter Trump during the coming summit. "They (Trump and his advisers) played along for that moment. But I'm waiting to see if the real Trump, the more pugnacious Trump, begins to show himself with Abe in the Feb. 10 meeting, or whether we'll see a more grown-up Trump," he said. Endit