Commentary Sun Zi, an ancient Chinese military strategist, says in his “The Art of War.” as quoted from Lionel Giles’ English translation: “The highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces,” stressing on the importance of diplomatic efforts. Japan has very powerful diplomatic relations that are well established to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces, which is one of the two powerful tools Japan has to counteract the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in the face of its growing assertiveness and aggression in the region. I would like to share my view of Japan’s diplomatic strategies to contain the CCP. Japan Has Been Consolidating Japan-US Ties When Trump was President-elect of the United States, Shinzo Abe, former Japanese Prime Minister went to New York to pay a visit, establishing good personal relations and urging Trump to …