Robert Marquand

With quiet determination the Bush administration is attempting to revitalise strategic and military ties with Japan. The US is hoping to make the island nation and the world’s third largest economy an unambiguous “anchor” in an Asia that shows signs of fraying relations and uncertain alliances. The US is working to put Japan at the centre of its vision of Asia, at a time when North Korea may soon be labelled a nuclear state. American diplomats are also more explicitly benchmarking concerns about China, including the nation’s rapid military rise, and its unclear internal politics. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, stood in Tokyo less than 24 hours after the passing of George Kennan, the fabled US architect of Soviet containment, and articulated a new, modified, and “friendly” form of containment of China.

Describing the “rise of China” as a “new factor in global politics,” Rice stated that while the US regards China as a partner and desires its prosperity, that China’s political direction is unknown. The “strategic context” in Asia demands that the US foster stronger ties with Japan, South Korea, and India. Analysts were quick to note that geographically, alliances with these countries appear to “encircle China.”

Japan recently altered its Constitution to allow its military, the world’s fourth largest, to participate in “out of area” missions. In coming months, Pentagon sources say, US and Japanese officials will discuss enhancing command and control centres in Japan, missile defence, and deployment of forces, including a possible further draw down of US forces in Korea. These developments take place just months after official defence papers in Tokyo for the first time explicitly pointed to China as a “threat.” The US now unambiguously supports a UN Security Council seat for Japan. Relations between China and Japan remain mixed and often sour. Japan is concerned that China will simply use North Korea as a kind of proxy threat against Tokyo. Japan also worries that China will seize Taiwan and block oil lanes. Beijing is concerned that the US is aligning itself with a Japan whose own direction is not clear. While the US has encouraged Japan to take a more assertive role in the world, Chinese officials say that Japan remains unrepentant for its World War II past. Nor is South Korea’s view on a Japan-centric US Pacific policy entirely positive. South Korean officials have discreetly stated that Seoul does not want to have to choose between the US and China on regional hot spots, like Taiwan.

In a meeting with Hu Jintao Sunday evening, Rice told the Chinese leader that the US government “recognises fully the transformation that is going on in China, a remarkable transformation that people around the world are watching.” She added, “I’m quite certain that we will be able to manage the issues before us.” Wen Jiabao recalled his visit to the US in 2003. During that visit, President Bush made clear that the US was committed to the “one China” policy and opposes Taiwan independence. Rice also vowed to speak about religious freedom with Hu and Wen. The US for the first time this year did not take up China’s human rights record at the UN forum in Geneva. Yet Rice has raised it publicly and consistently on her trip. — The Christian Science Monitor