Sounds good, but we'll believe it when we see it

The Democratic Party of Japan, which is likely to take power after this year’s elections, will seek an alliance with the U.S. that is less subordinate than that of the last 50 years, a senior DPJ lawmaker said. “We want to move away from U.S. dependency to a more equal alliance,” party Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday. Bloomberg.

Nice talk. Nice words. Does that include moving away from dependence on the US as Japan's primary export market too? Does it mean moving away from the backdoor dependence on the US market by selling industrial equipment to third countries that make products destined for the US? Does it mean moving away from depending on the US as a guarantor of Japan's security? Equal alliance? Japan will provide equal access to its markets as it has to US markets? Equality in a security treaty? How, with Article 9?

The world awaits on pins and needles for what will likely be a huge letdown. Some will be more skeptical.