Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abewill be seeking to put a strong U.S.-Japan alliance on fulldisplay in the face of potential threats from a nuclear NorthKorea and an assertive China when he meets U.S. President BarackObama on Friday.
Abe, who has kept his ratings high since taking office inDecember, also needs Obama's signoff on his economic revivalrecipe of big spending and hyper-easy monetary policy.
Expectations for "Abenomics," especially drastic monetaryeasing, have sliced about 10 percent off the yen's value againstthe dollar since Abe took office, raising concern that Japan isweakening its currency to export its way out of recession.
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"The situation in East Asia is becoming more and moreprecarious," said Mikitaka Masuyama, a professor at Tokyo'sNational Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. "One of thethings he wants to achieve will be reinforcement of theJapan-U.S. alliance."
"It would be a successful trip for Abe if his economicpolicy wins a nod from the U.S. side or at least if it is notrejected outright," he added.
Abe, due to arrive in Washington late on Thursday, alsohopes to secure at least a wink and a nod from Obama that wouldallow him to argue that Japan can negotiate special treatmentfor politically sensitive sectors such as rice if it joins talkson a U.S.-led free trade pact.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk told Reuters in aninterview on Wednesday that Tokyo must be open to negotiation onall trade sectors, but did not rule out the possibility ofspecial treatment in the final deal.
Japan's big businesses wants it to join the Trans-PacificPartnership (TPP) pact to avoid being left behind in globalcompetition, but powerful farm lobbies are opposed, dividingAbe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).
Previewing the meeting, Michael Froman, Obama's adviser oninternational economics, said the two leaders would review thestatus of TPP consultations and insisted that Japan would beexpected to put everything "on the table" for negotiation asother countries in the process have done.
Froman declined to say whether the president would raiseJapan's currency during the talks. But he told reporters: "TheU.S. and Japan have a shared interest in seeing stronger globalgrowth in the economy and we agree that no countries shouldtarget currencies for competitive purpose or try to grow at theexpense of others."
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Shoulder to Shoulder
Aides say Abe's top priority for the visit, during which hewill hold a summit on Friday with Obama and deliver a policyspeech entitled "Japan is Back," is to repair an alliance theyargue was dented by the 2009-2012 rule of the Democratic Partyof Japan (DPJ).
"During the three years and three months of the DemocraticParty government, there was a great gap in the U.S.-Japanalliance," said a close aide to Abe. "So the biggest objectiveis to rebuild the alliance."
Outside experts agree the alliance suffered under the firstDPJ prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, who tried unsuccessfully torevise a deal to move a U.S. Marine air base to a sparselypopulated part of Japan's Okinawa island.
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But Abe's immediate predecessor, Yoshihiko Noda, did much torepair the damage, they say.
The two leaders will spend time on the need for strongersanctions on North Korea and are likely to discuss beefed upmissile defense after Pyongyang's latest nuclear test last week.
Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, saidthey would consult on North Korea's "provocative acts" as partof Washington's effort to reaffirm its commitment to Asianallies while sending a message to Pyongyang that it will be heldresponsible for its actions.
The hawkish Abe will also be hoping that putting a robustalliance on display sends a signal to China not to escalate therow over tiny islands in the East China Sea claimed by bothJapan and China.
"It is important for us to have them recognize that it isimpossible to try to get their way by coercion or intimidation.In that regard, the Japan-U.S. alliance, as well as the U.S.presence, would be critical," Abe told the Washington Post in aninterview.
Tension has raised fears of an unintended military incident near the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyuin China. Washington says the islets fall under a U.S.-Japansecurity pact, but it is keen to avoid a clash in such aneconomically vital region.
"No one wants to allow tensions...to escalate," said DannyRussel, Obama's Asia adviser.
The president "will value hearing the prime minister'sassessment and will welcome any and all constructive steps toengage diplomatically and to manage the maritime situation in away that prevents the risk of miscalculation," he said.
Obama and Abe may also discuss cyber-security, the WhiteHouse said. U.S. officials have become increasingly concernedamid growing reports of China's role in cyber-attacks on U.S.government and corporate entities - something Beijing denies.
Abe is expected to come bearing one welcome gift - a promiseJapan will finally join an international treaty on cross-borderchild custody disputes, known as The Hague Convention.
Japan has been the only member of the Group of Eightadvanced nations not to join the pact, despite pressure from theUnited States and other countries.