US should back Japan but not at any price

When Shinzo Abe begins his week-long tour of the US on Monday, Washington will treat him as a friend. As well as being welcomed by President Barack Obama at a state dinner, Japan's prime minister will address a joint session of Congress. In spite of reservations in Washington about Mr Abe's nationalist tendencies, for the most part the US applauds him as the most coherent leader Japan has had in a generation. Not only has he launched Abenomics, a plan to revive the economy that still hangs tantalisingly in the balance. He is also putting his country on the path to a more robust defence policy, something Washington has been urging on a reluctant Tokyo for decades.

This show of goodwill is the right approach. For all his flaws, Mr Abe is on balance a good thing for a country that has drifted too long under a succession of fleeting, nondescript leaders. Yet Washington should not back him under all circumstances. That is especially true when it comes to relations with China. Above all, Washington must not give the impression that it wants to use Japan as a tool of containment. If it looks as though the US and Japan are ganging up on China, Beijing is likely to conclude that there is no peaceful path to its legitimate ambitions. The debacle over the China-led Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank - boycotted by both Washington and Tokyo - is a case in point.

During Mr Abe's visit, the joint attitudes of Japan and the US towards China will be tested in three broad arenas. The first is history. In his speech to Congress, Mr Abe will reflect on Japan's actions in the second world war, which ended 70 years ago. Mr Abe is among those on the Japanese right who think the country has apologised enough. He has hinted that he wants to drop language used in previous apologies referring to "colonial rule", "aggression" and "remorse". Any manifestation of "Abenesia" would be a big mistake. Of course it is galling for Japan to be lectured by China, which has whitewashed much of its modern history, on the importance of historical accuracy. But as the aggressor in the second world war, Japan does not have the luxury to decide when the apologies end. If Mr Abe is to persuade the world that Japan can be trusted as a "normal" nation, he should bite his lip and repeat the old formula.

Second, and related, is defence. Mr Abe wants to reinterpret Japan's pacifist constitution to give Tokyo more leeway to participate in international affairs. The Pentagon wholly supports this. So do some of Japan's neighbours that are worried about growing Chinese military power. This week, the US and Japan will issue new guidelines for defence co-operation designed to bring contingency planning up to date. There is no harm in this so long as it does not look like an anti-Chinese pact.

There is ample room for China to be involved in regional military efforts, for example in emergency planning for natural disasters.

Finally, there is trade. The Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade agreement that does not include China, received a fillip when a Senate panel approved a bill that would give Mr Obama the "fast-track" negotiating authority he needs. Again, TPP is fine so far is it goes. Yet it must be made clear that this is a trade agreement, not a geopolitical one in disguise. Beijing should be encouraged to join as soon as feasible. That would integrate China more closely into a rules-based system of the sort that Washington is continually advocating.

During Mr Abe's visit, the subtext should be that both the US and Japan want to draw China into the international community - not shut it out.

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