STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Japan's prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, is meeting with President Trump at the White House today. The meeting was intended to discuss China and business deals but may now be dominated by the war in Iran. Trump recently asked countries, including Japan, to send warships to the Middle East to police the Strait of Hormuz. NPR's Anthony Kuhn is in Seoul and following all this. Hi, Anthony.
ANTHONY KUHN, BYLINE: Morning, Steve.
INSKEEP: OK, so what has the prime minister said about Trump's request for ships?
KUHN: She says that there are no plans at present to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, but she has also not rejected Trump's request outright. Lawmakers asked her about this in parliament yesterday. She said, quote, "we intend to make it clear what we can do and cannot do" (ph). So that suggests that she doesn't want to overpromise, but if Japan cannot send troops or ships, there may be workarounds or other ways to help.
INSKEEP: Why would Japan decide not to send ships in response to this request?
KUHN: Well, Takaichi is popular at home, but she faces a lot of constraints. Some are unique to Japan, such as its constitution. The U.S. drafted this Constitution after World War II, and it forbids Japan from waging war. Japan also has security legislation that allows it to use its military in collective self-defense if Japan or another ally, like the U.S., is attacked, and it results in a situation that threatens Japan's survival. Now, Takaichi has refused to say whether the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran are legal or not. If she judged that the U.S. attacked Iran preemptively, that could make it hard to argue for sending troops. Public opinion is another hurdle. A recent Asahi newspaper poll shows 82% of Japanese don't support the war on Iran. And finally, Japan has maintained good diplomatic relations with Iran, and it doesn't want to be seen as engaging in hostilities against them.
INSKEEP: OK, tricky situation - legal constraints, political constraints. What could Japan offer then?
KUHN: It's done a lot in past. It sent mine sweepers to the Persian Gulf in 1991, troops to Iraq in 2004 and a destroyer to the Gulf of Oman in 2020. But in all of these cases, they were required to stay out of active combat zones. And at the time, the U.S. accepted these compromises, but there's no guarantee that such a move will satisfy President Trump this time. I spoke to a former defense official called Kyoji Yanagisawa, and he played a key role in sending troops to Iraq. Here's what he told me.
KYOJI YANAGISAWA: (Speaking Japanese).
KUHN: He said, "the Self-Defense Forces completed their mission in Iraq without firing a single shot and without a single casualty. If they were to suffer casualties in the Strait of Hormuz, it would be unprecedented in the history of the Self-Defense Forces." Now, by contrast, Prime Minister Takaichi wants Japan to get rid of these constraints and expand the military's offensive capabilities.
INSKEEP: Anthony, what was this meeting supposed to be about before the war broke out when it was scheduled?
KUHN: It was originally timed to come before President Trump travels to China for a summit. Ties between Japan and China are tense, and Takaichi wants Trump to help with that, but Trump has since postponed the trip. The two sides are expected to announce some deals as part of Japan's $550 billion in investments in the U.S., promised in exchange for lower tariffs. But now the Iran issue is overshadowing all of this, and any of these issues could just become bargaining chips for the other issues.
INSKEEP: Anthony, it's always good to hear your voice. Thank you so much.
KUHN: Thank you, Steve.
INSKEEP: That's our friend Anthony Kuhn in Seoul. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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