Japan’s Role in a Shifting Indo-Pacific: Trump 2.0, China, and Taiwan
In this episode of DC Insiders, host Wenchi Yu interviews Ken Weinstein, former CEO and current Japan Chair at the Hudson Institute, about how the second Trump administration’s National Security Strategy reframes the Indo-Pacific, emphasizing greater burden sharing by Japan and South Korea, a firmer anchoring of Taiwan in the first island chain, and deeper cooperation with Japan and the Philippines in the South China Sea. Weinstein contrasts the new strategy’s tone with Trump’s first NSS, explains how ongoing US-China trade negotiations and a prospective Trump-Xi summit shape US signaling, and analyzes Japan’s evolving defense posture from postwar pacifism to a more assertive, Abe-style security role focused on the China challenge. This episode was recorded in December, 2025.
