Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao announced on Thursday, November 5, the rescheduled dates for President Jiang Zemin's visits to Russia and Japan, which were previously postponed due to the flooding in China. Jiang will visit Russia from November 22-25 and then Japan from November 25-30. Zhu said the Russia visit will be informal and help to further the strategic partnership between Russia and China, while the Japan trip will involve asking Japan for an apology for its actions in World War Two and issuing a warning to Japan to stay away from Taiwan. The focus of the two meetings reflects China's concern over Japan's recent moves to expand its influence and power in Asia. While most countries are watching Japan's moves from an economic perspective, China has seen the geopolitical significance and is concerned that Japan's moves will inevitably lead Tokyo to attempt to regain its strategic status as a military power in the region, something China cannot allow.

Jiang's visit to Moscow will be the sixth for the Chinese president, and the first informal one. In his announcement, Zhu Bangzao emphasized the friendly nature of the visit. He said the talks would help the two countries further develop their strategic partnership and cover "international matters of common concern." In addition to meeting with Yeltsin, Jiang will meet with his "old friend" Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov. The seemingly excessive attention paid by Zhu in his announcement to the friendship between Russia and China is intentional. It is a message to Japan that China has Russia as an ally and, more importantly, as a strategic partner in Asia. Any expansionist plans Japan may have will be countered by both countries.

Zhu's description of the agenda for the Japan meeting is radically different than his announcement of the Moscow meeting in both substance and tone. China has outlined two demands — an official apology by Japan for its actions in World War Two and a firm commitment by Japan to stay away from political or military ties with Taiwan. Neither of these issues is particularly new. China has yet to receive an apology from Japan for Japan's wartime atrocities, in contrast to the recent apology given by Japan to Korea. Moreover, China always brings up the issue of Taiwan, and its demand that countries understand that to deal with China, one must remember three simple rules: no Taiwanese independence, no recognition of two Chinas, and no Taiwanese membership as a sovereign nation in international organizations. Japan has, since 1972, recognized Beijing as the official China.

Yet the context and tone in which China is reiterating these demands is extremely interesting. Having effectively rejected the U.S. plan for Asia's economic recovery, Japan has begun to put forward an alternative model that would result in Japan becoming the economic lynchpin of the region. With economic leadership, China understands, comes political responsibility, and with political responsibility inevitably comes military assertiveness. Yet for the most part, the debate in Asia has been focused on the economic. China wants to make sure that the strategic context is remembered.

Hence, when Japan moves aggressively forward toward regional economic leadership, China recalls the last time Japan tried that and demands an apology for World War Two. China is also concerned that the framework for military expansion is already under construction. Beijing has protested the revised U.S.-Japan defense guidelines, which expand the scope of Japanese military activity, bringing Taiwan within its range. Japan is also involved in discussions with the U.S. about developing a theater missile defense system that could include Taiwan, something totally unacceptable to Beijing.

China has already embraced Russian partnership overtures, and is using the Moscow visit to build on this alliance and warn Japan that it will face a formidable bloc should it resume military adventurism. At the same time, China is using the Japan visit to remind Asia and the world that Japan must be watched closely, and controlled. In the past, China has been content to let the U.S. keep Japan in line, but in China's eyes, the U.S. has neglected this role recently. At APEC, China will lay out its counter-policy to Japanese financial reforms. In Moscow China will emphasize its friendship and strategic cooperation with Russia, and in Japan it will complete its message. China and Japan are set for a showdown, and if the U.S. cannot keep Japan in line, then China, and its good friend Russia, will.