Cheney in Asia

Vice President Dick Cheney’s weeklong trip to Asia has been overshadowed by the three Japanese taken hostage in Fallujah, west of Baghdad. The stated goal of the hostage-takers is to intimidate Japan into pulling its 1,100 troops out of Iraq. To his credit, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has remained strong, first in ruling out a pullout and then by reiterating his government’s total support for President Bush’s efforts in Iraq and in the larger war on terror. Mr. Cheney’s visit to Asia acknowledges the important backing by some of America’s most important allies.

The vice president’s visit with Mr. Koizumi is especially necessary to reassure the prime minister that he has done the right thing in sending Japanese troops into war for the first time since 1945. Since Japan’s economic miracle began in the 1960s, its economic prominence in the world has been partnered to the postwar pacifist constitution that forbids military action that is not strictly defensive. With the emergence of a hegemonic China and a hair-trigger North Korea in the region, Japanese leaders are inching into a posture of renewed military engagement more suitable to the world’s second-largest economy. In the long run, this remilitarized Japan is essential to check Beijing and maintain a balance of power in Asia.

Mr. Cheney arrives today in Communist China, which joined France, Germany and Russia in protesting Washington’s war plans. They have been relatively quiet since, but every action their government takes is conducted under the auspices that China is the next check to U.S. power.

After meetings in the People’s Republic, the vice president wraps up his tour with a stop in South Korea. White House relations with Seoul have been icy since Roh Moo-hyun was elected president after an anti-American campaign in 2002. Mr. Roh’s political troubles at home — he was impeached by the National Assembly a month ago — have softened his will to take on Washington. Many of South Korea’s senior diplomats openly disagreed with the government’s growing distance from America. There are 3,600 South Korea troops deployed to Iraq, second in number behind Britain. The mission exposes the victory of Seoul’s pro-American establishment over a loud but small group of opponents.

One looming crisis that ties Washington to Mr. Cheney’s Asian hosts is North Korea. Solving the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program is seen as a test run of a future Northeast Asian security framework that would be split between U.S. allies (Japan and South Korea) and China’s fellow travelers (Russia and North Korea). The vice president’s tour is solidifying alliances with friends in Asia who now are more dependable than some of our historical partners in Europe.