Bush's East Asia Game

On Sunday’s Meet the Press, Senator Hillary Clinton accused the Bush Administration of dropping the ball on North Korea. But
this observer detects a deep game
in progress: playing the Japan card against China. Card by card, step
by step, it will go on until the Chinese put the brakes on North Korea. This week’s card is an announcement that
“Japan agrees in principle to defend Taiwan from mainland Chinese invasion.” It was announced
by the foreign ministers and defense ministers of Japan and the United States. What dropped ball was
that, Senator?