Japan is moving in a new direction under its new prime minister, and that direction is toward the East. During the United Nations summit in New York on September 21, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and proposed they work together to form an East Asian community (eac). While Hatoyama’s proposal is not new, that Hatoyama’s first meeting was with Hu during a global summit demonstrates the increased zeal Japan possesses to foster stronger ties with Asia.

Until recently, relations between Japan and China had long been chilled as a result of Japan’s occupation of China during World War ii and China’s support for nuclear North Korea. Prime Minister Hatoyama, however, wants to get over the past.

He has pledged to not visit the Yasukuni Shrine, where World War ii criminals are buried, and told Hu he would honor a 1995 statement in which Japan apologized for its World War ii invasion of China. These symbolic gestures have already smoothed the way for greater political cooperation between the two nations.

“I told (Hu) that I would like to form an East Asian community by overcoming differences,” Hatoyama told reporters.

While Hu stopped short of agreeing to the proposal, he did express support for the idea. He also expressed his desire for warmer relations, saying, “I hope and am convinced China-Japan ties will develop more actively, and enter a new phase.”

Earlier in the week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu commented on the idea of the eac,telling reporters, “China is committed to working with East Asian countries including Japan to further deepen cooperation in the region and striving for the goal of an East Asian community.”

Since 1967, with the creation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (asean), Asian nations have been working toward greater cooperation. Japan and China are not members of asean but were added, along with South Korea, to the forum in 1997 with the asean Plus Three initiative.

In 1999, asean Plus Three was institutionalized and since then has taken the lead in bringing the Asian community of nations together. It was this group that took the lead in organizing the East Asia Summit meetings, which also included India, Australia and New Zealand.

The East Asia Summit’s first meeting in 2005 was also attended by Russia, which requested full membership. asean has a freeze on accepting new members into the community, but Russia still plays a key role in the area. Russia was even included in one of the proposed lists of members for the future eac.

Hatoyama’s agenda during the UN summit also demonstrated the important part Russia plays in Asia. He met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on September 23. They agreed to work together to solve territorial disputes over the Kuril Islands which have prevented the two nations even from signing a peace agreement ending World War ii.

The dispute has prevented relations from warming, but Hatoyama looks ready to end it. During the meeting, Medvedev told Hatoyama, “You know Russia very well, and this should help strengthen our relations.”

Hatoyama responded by saying, “I am thankful for that. There is a territorial issue. We would want to finally solve it and sign a peace treaty. We need to do this within our generation.”

Japan’s overtures to Russia and China, the dominant powers in East Asia, are not just empty rhetoric. Japan’s unique situation as an island nation with virtually no natural resources to sustain its advanced economy is pushing it to develop closer economic and political ties within Asia.

The pursuit of economic security is largely what propelled Japan to create its East Asian empire under the guise of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere during World War ii. It was created as propaganda to hide its rapacious exploiting of East Asian nations, but its message of “Asia ruled by Asians” was popular and it became the first East Asian community.

For now, the U.S. has solved Japan’s resource dependence nightmare, ensuring the free passage of trade in East Asia. The U.S. Navy keeps the strategic sea gates, such as the Malacca Strait, open from the Middle East to East Asia, allowing Japan to receive its much-needed oil. By virtue of keeping the peace in the area, the U.S. Navy in this respect is doing what Japan tried to do in World War ii, guaranteeing open access for Japan’s economy. The U.S. even supported Japan’s economic success, starting from the Korean War, to create a counterweight to Communist China. It was a win-win relationship for the two.

But this is changing. China has replaced the U.S. as Japan’s biggest economic partner. Japan’s second-biggest export destination is China, not far behind the U.S., and China is the greatest source of Japan’s imports. China’s military power is also advancing steadily, which is another reason for Japan to be on friendly terms with its giant neighbor.

On the other hand, the U.S. has proven itself to be a shaky ally. The U.S. allowed North Korea to acquire nuclear weapons in Japan’s backyard, a grave danger for Japan, and now it looks like Washington will only become less dependable. President Barack Obama’s announcement to abandon its Eastern European allies and scrap the plans for the ballistic missile defense program demonstrates that.

Combine this with the financial meltdown in the U.S. and the inflationary policies of the U.S. government, which are damaging the value of the $724 billion owed to Japan, and there are serious reasons for Japan to start looking to the East for its security.

As Yu told reporters in response to questions on the East Asian community, “Strengthening regional cooperation is the trend of the times.”

This is a trend that the Trumpet has forecasted for over a decade.

The Trumpet has predicted for years that an Asian community will form—one that will include Russia, China and Japan. Japan’s new prime minister looks set to help usher in a new phase of Asian relations that will produce not only an economic alliance but a military one as well.

The Trumpet can be sure of this based on biblical prophecies that talk about the “kings of the east.” For more information, read our free booklet Russia and China in Prophecy.