Koichiro Asakai (1906-1995), a Japanese diplomat who served as ambassador to the United States from 1957 to 1963, had a foreboding that was dubbed “Asakai’s nightmare.”

He dreaded being summoned by the U.S. secretary of state out of the blue and being told the shocking news: “Tomorrow, at long last, we are going to recognize the government of the Chinese Communist Party.”

At the time, Japan’s worst conceivable diplomatic scenario was to be kept in the dark while Washington proceeded with a major shift in its China policy and sought a rapid rapprochement with Beijing.

And that........

© The Asahi Shimbun