As the United States works harder than ever to strengthen relations with China, there are signs its alliances with Japan and Taiwan are weakening. A conspicuous sign of change in Japan-U.S. ties came early Oct. 12 when President George W. Bush telephoned Prime Minister Taro Aso to inform the latter of the decision to remove North Korea from Washington's list of terrorism-supporting nations.
Officials of Japan's Foreign Ministry had suspected that Washington would take this action despite Tokyo's repeated pleas not to appear conciliatory toward North Korea before the fate of Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang in the 1970s and '80s was resolved. The phone call came only half an hour before the State Department announced its decision.
Other signs indicate that Washington is more interested in promoting ties with Beijing than in maintaining existing military alliances with Japan or Taiwan. For one thing, Washington has refused to provide Japan's Air Self-Defense Force with the next-generation F-22 Raptor fighter. For another, the U.S. has declined Taiwan's request for attack helicopters and diesel-powered submarines.