Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga speaks with reporters on April 15 before leaving for the United States for talks with President Joe Biden. (Koichi Ueda)

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga did some last-minute cramming ahead of his high-profile U.S. trip, which will be a major test of his diplomatic skills.

He called high-ranking Foreign Ministry officials to his office over the weekend of April 10 and 11 to prepare for his first face-to-face meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 16.

“The fact that he is studying so hard is a sign that he does not consider foreign affairs to be his forte,” said a source in the prime minister’s office.

When Suga served as chief Cabinet secretary to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, he mainly handled domestic policy while Abe went jetting off to meet with leaders of other nations.

As chief Cabinet secretary for seven years and eight months, Suga only made two trips outside of Japan: once to Guam and the other to the United States.

But while Suga may not have much experience dealing with other world leaders, he has worked closely with U.S. ambassadors, such as Caroline Kennedy and William Hagerty.

And he has scored some diplomatic points with the United States.

Suga played a key role in resolving a long-held request from the U.S. military based in Japan for a landing practice site for fighter jets stationed on aircraft carriers.

When negotiations stalled between the Defense Ministry and the private owner of an uninhabited island off Kagoshima Prefecture, Suga stepped in and proposed a higher purchase price of 16 billion yen ($147 million) that the owner accepted, resolving the issue.

“That was my biggest hit,” Suga later told associates.

He has also pushed for the land reclamation work needed to move U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from Ginowan in Okinawa Prefecture to off the coast of the Henoko district in Nago, also in Okinawa.

Suga’s last visit to the United States in May 2019 was also a major success, when he met then-Vice President Mike Pence in Washington. It was a clear sign the Trump administration considered him to be the major contender to succeed Abe.

But the mood will be different this time, and not only because of the change in administration in the United States. The focus of his talks with Biden will be China, and the increasingly confrontational relationship between Washington and Beijing will cast a long shadow over the discussion.

“The fact the U.S. administration agreed to a meeting amid the COVID-19 pandemic is a sign that they want to gain some form of concession from Japan,” one government source said.

Foreign Ministry officials huddled with Suga and gave him various alternatives to propose in response to whatever Biden may bring up.

But government officials note that, in the end, the call is up to the prime minister. Given the uncertainty of what might be suddenly raised during the summit, Suga will have to think on his feet and not depend on prepared answers written up by bureaucrats.

(This article was written by Ryo Aibara and Ryutaro Abe.)

Related News