The US-Japan Alliance Factor In Japan's China Policy

China-Japan relationship is one of the most important bilateral relations in the world and its change and development are deeply influenced by the US-Japan alliance.When the US-Japan alliance is close,Japan's policy towards China will be strictly restricted by the framework of the US-Japan alliance,and it is difficult for Japan to develop a friendly relationship with China without the consent of the US.On the contrary,when the US-Japan alliance is relatively loose,Japan's autonomy will increase correspondingly,and China-Japan relations will often achieve breakthrough progress at this time.In the early days of the Cold War,though Japan always harbors a desire to develop relations with China,it cannot get rid of the constraints of its alliance,unless the United States shares the same desire.In the second half of the Cold War,the conflict between the United States and Japan intensified,and the alliance faced a crisis.At this time,China-Japan relations developed rapidly.After entering the 21 st century,under the active promotion of the United States,the US-Japan alliance has been continuously upgraded,and therefore,Japan has gained higher alliance status and military power.However,it leads to more responsibilities simultaneously,and Japan's autonomy has declined rather than increased.While raising tensions by “China Threat”,the US has been vocal in its support for Japan and has exert responsibility for the alliance's security in East Asia on Japan.In order to avoid falling into the dilemma of being “abandoned”,Japan had no choice but to show a tough attitude towards China in line with the United States,which resulted in two large-scale Sino-Japanese relations deteriorations in the21 st century.