The new three-way alliance reflects a new U.S. orientation toward its partners as it seeks to raise barriers to China. Giving a $50 billion cold shoulder to France over nuclear submarine technology is just one example.

In a field where competition for science and technology, rule-making and dominance are natural, China and the United States have both conflicting a complementary interest. There is a lot of room for cooperation.

The U.S. president’s hands are tied by Democrats’ slim majority in Congress, and Republican are piling on the pressure ahead of elections. So it will be tough for the U.S. to change its policy course anytime soon, so long as those in policymaking circles stick to their views.

Maintaining the old zero-sum mentality against China, the United States starts with its own interests in mind, rather than the needs of the island nations. Its diplomatic and military focus will not contribute to development and will ultimately fail.

For a decade, the focus of the United States has shown a high degree of continuity, starting with George W. Bush and followed by Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden. But America is now paying greater attention to detail and adding new features to its geostrategic approach.

The United States has been unsuccessful in its attempts to rally Southeast Asia against China. In recent months, it has mounted a transparent effort to curry favor in the region. But nobody wants to choose between major trading powers. They’d rather keep their options open.

The U.S. has seemingly pulled out all the stops to advance its agenda in Southeast Asia, hoping to entice countries away from China. Yet, as members of China’s neighborhood, ASEAN members will find it hard to create distance between themselves and China, literally and figuratively.

They won’t resolve the significant issue of how China and the U.S. should go forward. But at least the talks established a strategic consensus on managing competition. More talks are likely — even amid quarrels.

Counting on the United States to contain China has come at a heavy price. Worse, Australia’s strategic value as a middle power will be eroded dramatically if it continues to bash China in an era of uncertainty in which one can hear faint echoes of the drums of war.

Japan seems developed and orderly, but that’s only its outward appearance. In truth, it is a vassal of the United States, which has adopted chaos as standard diplomatic theory. Now Japan wants to discharge radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear accident into the sea. Who will say no?