LONDON — Before visiting Beijing to attend the Seventh Asia-Europe Meeting summit in Beijing in October, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stopped over in Tokyo. It was his second visit to Japan since assuming office in 2004 and underlined the rapidly evolving strategic realities in Asia.
Asia is witnessing an unprecedented shift in the regional balance of power as three major powers — China, India and Japan — try to shape the region in the service of their own interests. The shift in the center of gravity of global politics from the Atlantic to the Pacific will not happen quietly as China and India rise economically, Japan asserts its military profile and the United States shifts its global force posture in favor of the Asia-Pacific.
While the U.S. still remains the predominant power in the Asia-Pacific, the rise of China is reshaping the strategic environment in the region. China, India and Japan have long been viewed as the states with a potential for great power status with inherent capacities to influence international economic, political and military systems, but it is only in the last few years that these projections have come closer to being realized.