Conclusions: Prospects Beyond Biden

Post-Tiananmen Square China deepened economic ties to Tokyo. As the USA enforced primacy, Japan struggled with its Plaza AccordPlaza Accord pledges, while China labored to accrete ‘comprehensive national power.’ With Japan enduring its ‘lost decades,’ USG’s 1999 assessments identified China as the primate’s emerging ‘constant competitor.’ In 2007, China-rooted US-Japanese anxiety precipitated the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue,’ initiating naval collaboration against ‘revisionist challenges.’ Beijing’s maritime-territorial disputes with Japan and other neighbors saw Washington expand strategic-partnerships around China, intensifying FONOPsFreedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP). Sino-Japanese tensions rocking the region paralleled Obama’sObama, Barak China-focused ‘Asian Pivot.’ The Quad’s revival solidified triadic polarization. After Donald TrumpTrump, Donald proclaimed ‘great-power competitionGreat-power competition’ with China, BidenBiden, Joseph boosted Japan’s military role, mounted muscular displays, waged a tariff-war and technology-contest, globalizing anti-China campaigns. With the US-Japan alliance targeting China, bipolarity threatened anew.