The “Duterte phenomenon” must have prompted much reflection in Washington, and so it should in Tokyo. It may serve Japan better to think twice about the merits of its subordinate relationship with the US.

China’s ties with the two US allies continue to evolve, as Beijing develops new consensus with Seoul but finds accommodation with Tokyo more challenging. Domestic politics in the US and Japan may cast a shadow on future progress in China’s bilateral relations with both South Korea and Japan.

Four years after they went into a nose dive, tense relations between China and Japan may finally be headed for a return to some semblance of normalcy.

Not long ago, China, Japan and the ROK finally got their foreign ministers together in Tokyo. The foreign ministers’ meeting naturally had an important mission, and the opportunity it created may, to a considerable extent, reshape the relations among the three countries.

Foreign ministers from China, Japan and South Korea will meet in Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday to exchange views on cooperation and regional and international issues, their foreign ministries said on Monday.

The U.S. push for the Trans-Pacific Partnership undercut the potential for closer China-Japan ties that might have unbalanced trilateral relations. Policy moves in China or Japan will affect ties among all three countries, which must approach their relationships in a balanced manner for regional and global stability and development.

With Japan’s pride and nationalist impulse to play a bigger international role now rising, its domestic debate on national-security and constitutional reform is set to intensify. Although rising powers tend to be revisionist powers, a politically resurgent Japan, strikingly, is seeking to uphold the present Asian political and maritime order.

Tensions are rising in the East China Sea after China deployed an armed, former navy frigate for the first time to challenge Japan’s control of contested islands in what may be an attempt to shift Tokyo’s attention away from disputes in the South China Sea.

The budget approved by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet increases military spending to a record level, reflecting Mr. Abe’s desire to bolster the defense of outlying islands that are at the heart of a territorial dispute with China.

Because of both past history and the extreme potential danger posed by the weapons themselves, people have reason to demand that Japan show an honest and responsible attitude, and to take action to dispel concerns of the international community about its nuclear intentions.