Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s abrupt decision to effectively abdicate his post at the end of this month has unnerved alliance managers in Washington, who are holding out hope that Tokyo can avoid a revolving door of leaders and remain a stable, close partner in confronting global challenges, including those posed by China.
Still less than a year in office, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has already invested a significant amount of energy into building strong ties with the Suga administration and shoring up the alliance with Japan as Washington’s focus on the region intensifies.
Highlighting his administration’s goal of bolstering ties with Japan, Biden held his first in-person summit with Suga at the White House in April, after the U.S. defense chief and secretary of state both made Tokyo their first destination for so-called two-plus-two talks. The two sides also used their early meetings to set the stage for making concrete progress on a variety of economic and security issues before the year’s end, including establishing the U.S.-Japan Competitiveness and Resilience framework.