Close Tokyo ties 'crucial' for US

Report's advice reflects Washington's strategic shift to Asia, analysts say

A report by a Washington think tank that calls for a closer alliance with Tokyo shows the US wants to make Japan an important part of its "return to Asia" policy to check China's growth, analysts said.

The report — written by former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage and Harvard University professor Joseph Nye — comes as Japan faces strained foreign ties with China and South Korea over territorial issues.

The analysis from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies was released on Wednesday as disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea have grown, giving the US an excuse to throw its weight behind its Asian allies that have claimed sovereignty over China's islands.

On Wednesday, 14 Chinese protesters were arrested by Japanese after the protesters' planned landing on China's Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Japan also claims the islands.

China's Foreign Ministry lodged strong protests and demanded an immediate release of the protesters.

Washington is "not going to take a side" in the territorial issue, US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday. But Nuland said "these kinds of pressures and pushing are not helpful to an environment where they can sit down and work it out".

Armitage said it's impossible to answer the hypothetical question of whether the US, under a revised treaty with Japan, would be forced into a war with China if an armed conflict over the Diaoyu Islands were to break out.

However, the CSIS report describes the Chinese navy's presence as "increased" in the East China Sea and South China Sea. The report said China has referred to the South China Sea and the Diaoyu Islands as "emerging interests".

Yuan Peng, an expert of American studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said the report reflects Washington's concern over China's maritime interests, and it provides "a tangible access" to help the US form a consensus with Japan.

The report — the third in a series that began in 2001 and continued in 2007 — came in the wake of the US-Japan joint statement in May.

"Freedom of navigation" in the South China Sea was also a catchphrase in the report, which suggested Japan enhance maritime cooperation with the US.

"The US is shifting its strategic emphasis from Northeast Asia to Southeast Asia, and it needs Japan's assistance to enhance its strategic basis there," Yuan said.

Meanwhile, Washington needs Tokyo to activate the "resonance effect" by stirring up issues in both the East China Sea and the South China Sea, Yuan said. "This will help spread the so-called threat by China's rise and share the duties for the US' pivot to Asia," Yuan said.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak sparked protests in Japan last week when he visited the islands both Seoul and Tokyo claim.

The Armitage-Nye report recommend that Japan confront historical issues that have long complicated relations with South Korea. It suggests that Tokyo examine bilateral ties from a long-term strategic perspective.

The US has worked hard for trilateral collaboration with Japan and South Korea. The US is not expecting conflicts triggered by territorial issues between Japan and South Korea, analysts said.

"But Washington has underestimated the structural contradictions between Seoul and Tokyo," Yuan said.

In a recent essay, Brad Glosserman, executive director of the CSIS Pacific Forum, said some recent Japanese actions regarding defense strategy have made China and South Korea nervous.

"While Americans see a gradual movement in Japanese defense policy, Chinese and Koreans see the re-emergence of a militarist Japan," he wrote.

Contact the writers at chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com and zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn