The United States has been active in the Asia-Pacific region in
recent years. It has claimed that the Diaoyu Islands fall within
the scope of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty, and has taken
advantage of the territorial disputes between China and certain
member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) to step up involvement in the South China Sea issue. In
addition, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has frequently
visited China’s neighboring countries. These diplomatic moves
are clearly directed at China. However, the United States must
be aware that such diplomatic moves driven by linear thinking
tend to create more losses than gains. First of all, the
containment of China is likely to destroy the legal foundation
of the existing power system in East Asia, which will cause
endless problems. In order to contain China and to a lesser
extent Russia as well as act as a so-called offshore balancer,
certain U.S. politicians have been deliberately supporting
Japan, and even pulled the chestnu