While the United States and Japan are working on updating their bilateral defense cooperation guidelines, they should bear in mind their obligation to regional peace and stability.
The two countries plan to finalize the revision, the first since 1997, on April 27. Japanese media have reported that the revision may involve Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands.
It is not the first time we have heard such a message. Last October, when the two countries worked on an interim report on the revision, there was similar news.
There is no solid ground, in either common sense or international law, to involve the East China Sea islands, a part of China's inherent territory, in a bilateral document between the United States and Japan.
Actually, China has the United States to thank for the Diaoyu Islands becoming an issue with Japan.
Japan took the Diaoyu Islands from China during the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. After World War II, the islands were returned to China in accordance with international legal documents such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation.
It was the United States that placed the Diaoyu Islands under its trusteeship and signed the Okinawa Reversion Agreement in 1971 to "return" the Ryukyu Islands and the Diaoyu Islands to Japan, without the consent of China.
Now, despite the U.S. government's claim not to take sides in territorial issues between China and Japan, statements by the country's politicians show otherwise.
U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter, in his visit to Japan earlier this month, said the Diaoyu Islands fall under the scope of the US-Japan security treaty. U.S. President Barack Obama made a similar remark a year ago during his visit to Japan.
The Japan-U.S. alliance, as a bilateral arrangement forged during the Cold War, should not go beyond its bilateral scope or undermine a third party's interests.
More importantly, it should not deny new developments in international relations following the Cold War or go against regional peace and stability.
Defense cooperation between the United States and Japan tends to trouble Japan's Asian neighbors. The 1997 revision expanded the scope of defense cooperation to not just within Japan, but also to matters around the island country. Many suspect the upcoming revision may move even further.
Considering the history of WWII, it is understandable that Asian countries are alert to Japan's defense policy, and the country has made little effort to calm its neighbors down.
Japan has overhauled its defense stance since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in late 2012 by lifting bans on weapons exports, amending laws to lift the ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense, and boosting the defense budget.
If the revised Japan-U.S. defense cooperation guidelines back Japan's extended use of its military force and meddle in other countries' concerns, the already thin trust between Japan and its neighbors will disappear.
Given the U.S.'s rebalancing strategy toward Asia, it should not let the situation spin out of control. It should "rebalance" the old -- maybe outdated -- alliance with its new interests in the Asia-Pacific region.
