The new Prime Minister of Japan, Sanae Takaichi, established a great rapport with President Trump right from the start - or so it seemed. But when she immediately lined up with Trump to draw a hard line with Xi Jinping's China, she turned around and discovered he wasn't there. Trump's America is interested, according to it's recent National Security Strategy (and its observed behaviour) in money. Not geopolitics. Not values. Money. Japan, having attracted the fury of Beijing, is suddenly wondering if its best ally is no longer an ally at all. And even the uncertainty throws the stability of Southeast Asia into a doubt it hasn't seen for a very long time. Let's discuss.
