If Democratic Sen. John Kerry is elected president of the United States in November, the first half of his administration will be extremely important for Japan-U.S. relations, a prominent U.S. scholar told a recent seminar in Tokyo.
Kent Calder, director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Center for East Asian Studies, said the first year or two of a Kerry administration would provide an excellent opportunity to further Tokyo-Washington ties because U.S.-China relations tend to be troubled in the initial phase of a new presidency.
All U.S. presidents from Richard Nixon on tended to have "delicate, suspicious and often hostile" relations with the Chinese government in the initial phase of their administrations, although most ended up with better ties with Beijing, Calder told the June 25 seminar at Keidanren Kaikan, which was organized by Keizai Koho Center.