However, Sino-American relations did not exist in isolation. In April 1996 President Clinton visited Japan, where he signed with Prim Minister Hashimoto a Joint Declaration on Security – ‘Alliance for the 21st Century’ – that called for a review of the 1978 guidelines about Japan’s contribution to security in the Asia-Pacific. This had been a long time coming, as a result of the dissatisfaction on both sides about Japan’s role in the 1991 Gulf War. The idea was to enable Japanese forces to contribute more effectively in support of US forces in the event of their being engaged in conflict in the region, especially in the case of Korea. Apparently, no thought had been given to the Taiwan issue in the course of the protracted negotiations. But Chinese military actions over Taiwan had alarmed the Japanese public and eased passage of the agreement through the Diet. The Chinese reacted with hostility, claiming that the agreement was aimed at a containment of China and that it threatened China’s sovereignty over Taiwan. Once again it demonstrated the difficulty in pursuing an integrated international strategic policy in the post-Cold War period. In particular, the problem was aggravated by a failure to think in terms of managing the triangular relations with Tokyo and Beijing.