APEC: Indications of an Assertive Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Santiago, Chile, on Nov. 21. Japan's relations with China have been strained lately, and Koizumi showed no interest in taking significant steps to change the state of affairs. At the same time, Koizumi turned a cold shoulder to Russia over the fate of four disputed islands — an issue that has prevented a formal peace treaty between Japan and Russia since the end of World War II. Koizumi's diplomatic stonewalling comes as Japan has announced that it intends to re-posture its military to be less defense-oriented — an indication of the changing role Japan intends to take in the region.