In the last installment of a three-part series, executives at the Asia Pacific Initiative ¡ª Chairman Yoichi Funabashi, Research Director Yuichi Hosoya and Ken Jimbo, executive director for the Japan-U.S. Military Statesmen Forum ¡ª discuss how the international order involving the U.S. and China has evolved over the years, and the policies that Japan should adopt.

KJ: The two years between 2018 and when Shinzo Abe resigned as prime minister last year were the golden age of Japan¡¯s diplomacy.

As the strategic competition between the U.S. and China intensified under the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, Tokyo strengthened the U.S.-Japan alliance and, at the same time, markedly improved its relationship with China.