I had lunch with my Japanese foreign policy insider.
Four key points: The State Department; Japan the U.S. and China; Korea; and domestic Japan.
* Looking at the Obama government from abroad, it looks like the State Department bureaucracy was angry from the first days of 2009 when Obama insulted Britain, France, Columbia, our allies in Latin America, Poland and others. The revenge from the State Dept. insiders was to send Hillary into the mouth of the lion in India where she was openly insulted. Then sending Obama into massive insults in China and finally, the ultimate insult of meeting with low level Indian and China staffers who explained to Obama, in Copenhagen, that he was a total loser.
* I was right a year and a half ago when I reported that the week long visit of the Chinese premier to Japan signaled a realignment of power in Asia. Japan and China have become strong allies and the ties will get stronger every year. China and Japan just announced they have agreed on a common description of their history... a vital source of mutual support in Asia. That alliance grows in strength daily.
Japan is now telling its former patron, the U.S. to remove most of the U.S. military bases (80 specific sites) starting in Okinawa.
* South Korea is now left out in the cold. It has little power to offer China. It looks forward to the disaster of dealing with the future collapse of North Korea and the subsequent nuke problem.
* Japan has gotten rid of its 55 year rule by the LDP, is totally disenchanted with the corrupt and inept political system. The people don't know what to do. The DSP is in disarray and hasn't the power to make change if it knew what change to make. Much like America.