US-Japan Alliance Will Cause Further Discord

At the press conference following the Obama-Abe summit, President Obama said that the dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku islands (Diaoyu in Chinese) was covered in the alliance’s postwar security treaty. In other words, the U.S. defended Japan in the island dispute with China.

By doing so, the U.S. strengthened the alliance with Japan. However, it will also bring more troubles between Japan and China, which will lead to unstable situations in East Asia.

It was the first time that the U.S. president officially said America’s mutual security treaty with Japan applied to the territorial dispute between Japan and China. With Obama’s comment, Japan seems to think they have diplomatic superiority over China.

What Obama said will make it harder for peaceful solutions in the territorial disputes. It ruled out any room for later discussions. Also, it may result in confrontation between China, Japan and the U.S. Indeed, China immediately opposed America’s interference in the territorial dispute with Japan. It seems like this conflict will bring instability to East Asia’s political conditions.

The major purpose of Obama’s Asia trip was to re-balance the U.S. military to the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. emphasized that reinforcing the alliance with Japan was essential to pursue the military re-balance in the Asia-Pacific region. This was evident through the U.S. support of Shinzo Abe’s hardline nationalism, standing against China and denying Japan’s distortions of past history in their textbooks.

The U.S. also confirmed that it advocated for Japan’s right of collective self-defense. This is problematic, because it may encourage Japanese right wing conservatives — who were focused on nationalism in the past — to break the mutual cooperation of countries in East Asia.

As the U.S. focused on strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance, efforts to solve other issues in the Korean peninsula — such as North Korea’s nuclear weapons — have decreased. President Obama only stressed the military re-balance in the Asia-Pacific region targeting China. The U.S. method of dealing with the nuclear weapon issue is to just wait for reactions from North Korea.

The U.S. and China have to cooperate to manage problems in Korea, but this conflicts with the American military’s re-balance policy. In the meantime, the nuclear issue is getting worse as North Korea prepares for their fourth nuclear test.

A more realistic approach is necessary for President Obama to solve important problems peacefully in Asia. I hope President Obama’s coming visits to South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines will help him to find feasible solutions. Needless to say, the most important part of the upcoming U.S.-South Korea summit on April 25 is to see progress in promoting six party talks.