No other politician has such a wide ¡°perception gap¡± in his home country and abroad than Fumio Kishida. The prime minister, on a state visit to the United States, declared the Japan-U.S. relationship as a ¡°global partnership¡± at his summit meeting with President Joe Biden. Biden gave an unreserved thumbs up with U.S. media coverage being relatively favorable, while the Japanese media was mixed at best.
The liberal-leaning Asahi Shimbun already reported there was a proposal to strengthen cooperation in ¡°¡®command and control¡¯ for the operation of their forces in case of emergency.¡± The paper offered the criticism that ¡°If bilateral command and control is deepened, there is a risk that the Self-Defense Forces could effectively come under U.S. command in the event of a contingency. ... It is unclear how the Japanese side will be able to guarantee independent command authority.¡± Even conservative politician Ichiro Matsui warned that Kishida shouldn¡¯t turn Japan into an ¡°unlimited ATM.¡±
In contrast, U.S. President Biden stated the following at a joint news conference. ¡°Over the last three years, the partnership between Japan and the United States has been transformed into a truly global partnership. And that¡¯s thanks in no small part to the courageous leadership of Prime Minister Kishida. And I mean that sincerely.¡± Biden¡¯s use of ¡°truly¡± or his statement ¡°I mean that sincerely¡± in his comments are probably genuine.
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