Japan, the United States and Australia last weekend held historic trilateral talks in Sydney to discuss their views of the region and the world. The three countries have a range of shared interests and concerns. Only by working together can they ensure that their strengths and diplomatic tools are used most efficiently to tackle regional and international problems. Fears that this new discussion forum heralds a new attempt to "contain" China are overblown. Containment is not a realistic option, especially since the three countries have made plain their intent to work with China so that it becomes a responsible international citizen.

The talks were occasioned by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's 10-day tour of Asia. The mere fact that she was taking that trip was good news: It (and the trilateral meeting) was originally scheduled for January, but was postponed when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke. Dr. Rice stayed home to ponder the consequences of his illness.

That decision reflected a worrying tendency: a downgrading of attention to the Asia-Pacific by the U.S. Last summer, Dr. Rice skipped her first ASEAN Regional Forum meeting as secretary of state, a gathering that her predecessor Mr. Colin Powell attended every year he was in office. The U.S. only last week named a replacement in Australia for former Ambassador Thomas Schieffer; the office has been vacant since he took up his post in Tokyo last year. Similarly, there was no U.S. ambassador in Manila for 10 months until earlier this month.