The United States and Japan have started arguing!, Less than a week away from the summit of the three heads of state, relations between the United States, Japan, and South Korea
Less than a week away from the David Camp summit of the leaders of the United States, Japan, and South Korea, surprisingly, the United States and Japan started arguing.
The United States, Japan, and South Korea will hold annual summit talks and joint military exercises
In an interview with Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan, US Ambassador to Japan Emmanuel stated that the US Japan South Korea summit will reach a consensus on holding trilateral talks annually and include it in a joint statement. At the same time, the Japanese Self Defense Force and the armies of the United States and South Korea also plan to hold joint military exercises every year. According to Asahi Shimbun, after the Camp David summit, the three leaders will issue a comprehensive strategy document called the Camp David Principles, as well as a joint statement covering defense, economic and security cooperation and other policies.
The United States, Japan, and South Korea both believe that the Camp David summit is "unprecedented"
The official name of Camp David is the Thurmont Naval Support Facility, which is a US presidential resort. It can be reached by helicopter from the White House in just 30 minutes. The environment here is elegant and the security is tight, and the US leadership often discusses major affairs or receives important foreign guests.
Because of this, the United States, Japan, and South Korea all referred to the Camp David summit as "unprecedented". The South Korean Central Daily News believes that choosing to hold a summit at Camp David is "enough to reflect the United States' emphasis on trilateral relations, and it means that the trilateral relations between the United States, Japan, and South Korea will experience a significant upgrade.". Kyodo News Agency of Japan mentioned that the Biden administration aims to demonstrate the unity of Japan, the United States, and South Korea through the warm hospitality of Tanaka and Yoon Seok yeol. Kirby, the National Security Council's Coordinator for Strategic Communications, also stated that this summit "will become a historic dialogue.".
However, the expectations of the three parties for this Camp David summit are not at the same level.
Expert: The United States hopes to bind trilateral relations and play a demonstrative role in the alliance system
Whaling triggers tensions between the United States and Japan. Japanese officials threaten to withdraw from the "Indo Pacific Economic Framework"
Surprisingly, before the Camp David summit, the first dispute to occur was between the United States and Japan.
According to the Financial Times, the US trade representative has been pressuring the Japanese government to accept the anti whaling language in the Indo Pacific Economic Framework, which has angered Japan. Japanese officials have threatened that if the Indo Pacific Economic Framework includes any provisions prohibiting whaling, Japan may withdraw from the framework.
Japan has a long history of whaling. The International Whaling Commission passed the Global Whaling Convention in 1986, which prohibits commercial whaling. However, Japan has been exploiting loopholes in the convention since 1987 to continue whaling under the pretext of "scientific research.". On June 30, 2019, Japan officially withdrew from the International Whaling Commission and resumed commercial whaling the following day. Although the whaling industry is difficult to make a profit without research subsidies, and public tastes are also changing, this issue still has political sensitivity in Tokyo.
The protests of anti whaling groups abroad have never ceased regarding Japan's whaling behavior. In this video, international anti whaling activists throw burning flame bombs onto Japanese whaling ships.
The Financial Times reported that due to Japan's opposition, the Biden administration may choose to remove content related to opposition to whaling from the Indo Pacific Economic Framework. The Indo Pacific Economic Framework was established by the United States in May 2022, with 14 member countries including the United States, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Its main purpose is to curb China's economic development.
