by Xinhua Writer Chen Shilei
BEIJING, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Japan-U.S. alliance, which Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aspires to strengthen through his visit to Pearl Harbor, could backfire if it puts regional stability at risk.
Abe's upcoming visit to the port, on which the Japanese army launched a sneak attack 75 years ago that immediately led the United States to World War II, is mostly interpreted as a symbol of reconciliation between the former foes in the war.
Some also associated the visit with U.S. President Barack Obama's May trip to Hiroshima, one of the two Japanese cities that saw U.S. atomic bomb attacks in 1945.
The visits were seen as "milestones" in the Japan-U.S. alliance that has lasted several decades in the postwar era and been boosted under the right-leaning Abe government and the Obama administration advocating U.S. "pivot to Asia."
For Tokyo, enhancing the Japan-U.S. alliance can help it realize its ambitions to become a globally political and military power; for Washington, the alliance serves as a tool to interfere in Asian affairs and counter a rising China.
Therefore, when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump suggested in the presidential campaign that Japan should arm itself instead of counting on the United States for protection, Abe was really concerned that the two countries' alliance could be challenged.
Out of such concerns, Abe has spared no effort to express Tokyo's fidelity to Washington and eagerness to maintain the alliance.
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