The Donald Trump administration’s targeting of the International Criminal Court with sanctions and insulting remarks is damaging America’s already shaky diplomatic relationship with key ally Japan. Bilateral relations have soured since Mr Trump made an inappropriate “joke” about the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour during a meeting with prime minister Sanae Takaichi in March, but the two leaders have otherwise been on cordial terms. The US president has lauded Ms Takaichi as a “powerful woman” and publicly endorsed her ahead of Japan’s snap election earlier this year.
Washington’s decision to sanction Japanese national and ICC president Tomoko Akane is set to test the strength of that relationship, however. The State Department said last week it had targeted Ms Akane and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegal national, with sanctions that froze any assets they had in US jurisdictions or that came into contact with the US financial system. US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that the Trump administration would “dismantle” the ICC “brick by brick, if necessary”, using “all the tools at our government’s disposal”.
The sanctioning of Ms Akane and Mr Seye continues an escalating campaign by the US to protect top Israeli officials, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, from ICC prosecution over the war on Gaza. Mr Trump said so explicitly last month. Tokyo, meanwhile, is one of the largest financial contributors to the ICC of any treaty member nation.
When she was appointed in 2024, Ms Akane said she felt a “profound sense of responsibility” as Japan’s first president of the world court. On Tuesday, Ms Takaichi denied that she had responded weakly to the sanctioning of Ms Akane. Tokyo had “pressed the US at various levels until the last moment” not to sanction Ms Akane, she claimed.
The US action was “incompatible with Japan’s position”, she added, and a matter that her administration “takes very seriously”. The EU deeply regretted the US sanctions and expressed “unwavering support” for the ICC. Australia, in a more muted response, said it “does not support sanctioning the ICC or its officials”.
A cross-party group of Japanese lawmakers called on the Takaichi government to lodge a clear protest and demand an immediate withdrawal of the sanctions. Even Ms Akane herself asked the prime minister to use Tokyo’s diplomatic influence to counter the US campaign against the ICC. The strain in US-Japan ties comes at a strategically challenging time in East Asia as Mr Trump attempts to revive diplomatic engagement with North Korea, leaving both South Korea and Japan anxious.
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