Several years ago, then Chinese Premier Li Peng predicted during talks with his Australian counterpart that Japan would perish in 20 years. As far as I know, no Japanese politicians or diplomats have protested the insulting statement. Sadly, there seems to be some truth to the statement. To most Americans, Japan must be a minor presence, regardless of its economic power. After the war, Japan has never asserted itself as a nation.
Assertion requires decision-making, which is lacking in Japan.
This implies that Japan has no strategies of its own. Blind agreement with a certain ally's policies is no strategy. We cannot accept preachings of foreign politicians, rather than Japanese politicians, about Japan's national interest. Japan has made countless unreasonable policy decisions and it is hard to believe that Japanese politicians made them on their own judgment. Japanese loans to China have totaled about 3 trillion yen.