Commentary: The China-Japan challenge
(International Herald Tribune)
Updated: 2005-12-06 15:39

It is not easy these days to picture the United States in the role of relationship therapist, patiently repairing the dangerous rift that has been growing between China and Japan. But that is exactly what those two major Asian powers need. Few things could be more vital for global peace and prosperity than resolving the conflicts between Tokyo and Beijing.

Some of those conflicts are emotional; others are rooted in traditional competition over resources and regional influence. Whether it is their quarrels over clashing historical narratives or their disputes about natural gas deposits in the East China Sea, however, China and Japan confront no conflicts so irreconcilable that they must inevitably lead to strategic confrontation.

To reduce the mounting tension in their relations, both countries need sage leadership and a little help from the United States, the indispensable purchaser of their goods and the debtor whose currency their central banks support.

Washington should begin the reconciliation process by making clear the U.S. interest in removing the causes of antagonism between the two peoples. To do this, the Bush administration will have to overcome Chinese suspicions that the United States intends to encourage Japan to discard Article 9 of its Constitution, barring the use of its military for anything other than self-defense. Beijing suspects the United States of seeking to involve Japan in a military build-up for the purpose of containing China.

Simultaneously, China sees rightist politicians in Japan rising to prominence on a wave of patriotic assertiveness. Their influence is evident in the rewriting of Japanese textbooks to deny imperial Japan's atrocities in China. The visits of Japan's prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, to the Yasukuni Shrine, where major Japanese war criminals are buried.