The Asia diplomacy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has started showing signs of falling apart. Less than a year after returning to power in December 2012, he visited all 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the apparent aim of containing and isolating China.
His pretext for doing so was to give diplomatic priority to Asia, but China has continued to escalate its provocative acts such as ramming its vessels against Vietnamese ships in the South China Sea and flying its aircraft dangerously close to Japanese Air Self-Defense Force planes over the East China Sea.
Japan and Southeast Asian countries have complained about and criticized such acts, but have been unable to take effective joint action, partly because of irritation among Southeast Asian countries about the slow pace at which Abe's promises are being implemented.