Uncomfortable bedfellows

The US and Japan will haggle over who gets what as they each look to use their security alliance to their own ends

Since the United States began to promote the rebalancing of its military and diplomatic assets toward the Asia-Pacific region, each trip to Asia by high-level officials from the White House and the Pentagon has been closely scrutinized by world's media. The state visit to Japan by US President Barack Obama from Wednesday to Friday is no exception, and it is already under the microscope.

This is because the realization of the core objective of Washington's Asia-Pacific rebalancing strategy - to maintain the US' leadership in the Asia-Pacific region - to a large extent depends on how to better control and use its allies in the region. Japan is the US' most important ally in Asia, and to make good use of Japan is the direct goal of Obama's upcoming trip.