Although the cornerstone of Japan's foreign policy is its alliance with the United States, the newly formed cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to "encircle" China by consolidating ties with neighboring countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida began a visit to the Philippines on Wednesday, part of a tour that will also take him to Singapore, Brunei and Australia. The trip is aimed at strengthening Japan's ties with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

In mid-January Abe will visit Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, his first foreign destinations, after "scheduling difficulties" put the brakes on his proposed trip to the US. The three countries are the largest receivers of Japan's official development assistance in Southeast Asia.

At the start of January, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso visited Myanmar, with Japan hoping to stop China gaining the upper hand in promoting economic development projects in the country in the years ahead.

Clearly one of Abe's central strategies is to boost Japan's leverage with China by strengthening security and energy cooperation with countries in Southeast Asia. He also believes strengthening ties with Russia and other Asian nations, based on the strength of the Japan-US alliance, will help rebuild Japan's relations with China.

On Dec 28, two days after the inauguration of his cabinet, Abe consulted with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and other world leaders over the phone. One of his advisers disclosed that these telephone conversations were intended to "tighten the noose" around China.

It is not difficult to see that Abe is seeking to renew the "arc of freedom and prosperity" around China that he mapped out during his first term as prime minister from 2006 to 2007.

But the attempts by Abe and his cabinet to encircle China will only intensify the friction between China and Japan, and make the possibility of the two countries' mending their frayed relations even more remote.

After his Liberal Democratic Party's win in the lower house election on Dec 16, Abe said the bilateral relationship is extremely important and he would like to make efforts to return it to the "initial point of mutually beneficial strategic relations".

It's time he made the effort to take some steps in that direction.

(China Daily 01/10/2013 page8)