But at deeper levels problems remained, and they soon surfaced as China’s leaders began to regain self – confidence in their country’s ability to survive and prosper and as their Japanese counterparts re-emphasized the significance of their alliance with the United States.
The two are incipient rivals within the region and the Chinese were concerned, on the one hand, by the prospect of Japan becoming an active regional partner of the US in security matters, thereby becoming once again an effective regional military power in its own right, while also contributing to the possibility of a US containment of China.
On the other hand, the Chinese also worried about the consequences if the American commitment to remain militarily engaged in the region were to be found to be less enduring than was presently asserted.
In particular they feared that Japan might seek to become a military power once again if the Japanese were to be suddenly bereft of the American military presence.
For their part, the Japanese were concerned as to what China’s military modernization might portend and called in vain for greater transparency on the Chinese side.