Word: japanned
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That is the positive face of the Obama era of diplomacy; it is the story that both leaders and their respective diplomatic corps want to broadcast. Japan and the United States stand together, connected by history and, as Obama announced, "bound" by the Pacific Ocean. Fact sheets were distributed to reporters as further evidence, showing agreements on climate change, on nuclear nonproliferation, on clean energy technologies...
...clenched hands tell only part of the story, beyond which new tensions add pressure to the relationship between the world's two largest national economies. Hatoyama's "change" campaign, for example, which shifted party control in Japan for the first time in a half-century, was marked in part by a more aggressive posture toward the United States. As he appealed for votes, Hatoyama spoke of seeking a more equal relationship" with America, a phrase that implied a continuation of the postwar subjugation of Japan...
Since taking office, Hatoyama has forced two small but notable concessions from the United States. At Hatoyama's direction, Japan will end its refueling program for U.S. warships in the Indian Ocean that support the military effort in Afghanistan, choosing instead to donate $5 billion to humanitarian and training support in the war-torn country. At the same time, Hatoyama has forced the Obama administration to reopen talks about the U.S. military presence on the Japanese island of Okinawa, just weeks after Defense Secretary Robert Gates came to Japan to announce that the issue was closed, and some marines would...
...first trip to Asia as President, he has the luxury of a largely united group of aides to guide him through the diplomatic and economic issues that have characterized U.S.-Asian relations for more than a decade: claims of unfair trade practices between the U.S. and China and Japan, the ongoing crisis of a potentially nuclear North Korea, the challenge of how to best address climate change and the fate of U.S. military bases in Japan...
...economic affairs, Obama leans on Timothy Geithner, the Treasury Secretary. Geithner has personal history in Asia, having studied China and Japan in college and graduate school before shifting to economics, eventually rising to become Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs in Clinton's second term. As the Bush Administration did throughout the dollar's slide, Geithner recently declared the importance of a strong dollar, even as it has continued to fall. Asian countries have huge dollar reserves and are skittish about the future of their holdings. Obama will attempt to bolster their belief in the currency's stability...