LOS ANGELES -- In two recent decisions involving the two major powers of East Asia, the United States revealed that it is still ungenerous about sharing power, even with a close ally like Japan, and that it is still so paranoid about China that it is willing to risk antagonizing it by acting as if it bore an infectious disease.
Tokyo's quarrel with the U.S. concerns the issue of a possible permanent seat for Japan on the United Nations Security Council. This has been a key goal of Japanese diplomacy in recent years. The nation has been second only to the U.S. as the biggest dues-payer to the U.N., it has diligently courted members of the large U.N. General Assembly as well as the elite U.N. Security Council for their backing, and responded hugely when last year's tsunami tore through Southeast Asia.
In theory, its ally the U.S. supports Japan -- but not much. Here's why. Washington has taken the view that expanding the council dramatically would reduce its efficiency. But Japan can't get in by itself, so Japan has put together a package deal that would add six nations, including itself. Japan and others argue that expanding the council -- as part of a number of other overdue reforms -- will improve the council's efficiency because it would broaden the council's representation.