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The Dean Acheson Auditorium in the State Department in Washington D.C.. (State Department photo)

With Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s scheduled to visit the US at the end of this month, the US government is working overtime to set the mood for Abe.

On Apr. 14, the US State Department held a town hall debate at the Dean Acheson Auditorium to celebrate the 70th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the US and Japan.

In terms of format, Monday’s event was very unusual. In general, debates about the relationship with a particular country are organized by a private sector think tank, which brings in senior government officials as keynote speakers.

But the event on Monday was hosted by the State Department itself, with the Japan-United States Friendship Commission (JUSFC), while Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivered the keynote address, increasing the gravity of the occasion.

The Japan-United States Friendship Commission is an agency established in 1975 with funds provided by Congress with the goal of promoting academic exchange between the two countries.

An official in the State Department said that few events of this kind had been held recently.

In his keynote address, Blinken said that he was greatly looking forward to Abe’s visit to the US and that he hopes that an agreement will be reached on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and on revisions to the US-Japan defense cooperation guidelines.

“What the guidelines will reflect is that Japan is playing an increasingly important and positive role in terms of being a provider of global security,” Blinken said.

Blinken also made clear that the TPP would not only benefit the economy - including both consumers and businesses - but would also play an important role on a “strategic level.” The implication is that the agreement will be an important tool for countering China.

Announcing that the legislative procedure for granting trade promotion authority (TPA), which is essential for reaching an agreement on the TPP, had begun on Tuesday, Blinken said that work to pass the TPP would be aggressive and swift. This remark suggests that the US means to use Abe’s visit to the US to put pressure on Japan, which has been delaying negotiations on the TPP as it waits to see if Congress will pass the TPP.

After the US government reaches a trade agreement on the TPP, the bill will be brought before the Congress for a yes-or-no vote, with no amendments.

On the subject of relations between South Korea and Japan, Blinken said that tension between the two countries is preventing them from focusing their attention on their shared agenda, including responding to North Korean nuclear weapons. But Blinken also said that relations between two countries appear to be moving in a positive direction, mentioning a bilateral security policy deliberative meeting that was held after a five-year hiatus.

By Park Hyun, Washington correspondent

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