Ongoing tensions between China and the greater international order require different solutions than were used during the Cold War, according to an ambassador from Japan. That means decoupling, the proposed process of wholly detaching from China economically, is unlikely. “China is a different country than the Soviet Union in the Cold War,” said Koji Tomita, the ambassador from Japan to the United States. “China is the second-largest economy in the world, it is deeply integrated into the global economy, and as a great nation, China shares a very important responsibility to address global challenges like climate change.” Tomita made the comments during a Jan. 18 discussion hosted by the Brookings Institution, which covered topics as wide-ranging as economics, COVID-19, and Indo-Pacific security. During the conversation, Tomita focused on Japan and the United States’ shared vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and rules-based international order, as well as the role …