Important context for East Asian Community and Japan-China relations

Comments on Yoshihide Soeya “An East Asian Community and Japan-China relations”, 17/05/2010, http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2010/05/17/an-east-asian-community-and-japan-china-relations/comment-page-1/#comment-118099

It is encouraging to note the author also acknowledged that "of course, there are still modern elements in Japanese society and politics, which particularly tend to surface in an emotional vicious cycle over historical and territorial issues between Japan and China."

However, an important context that the author didn't say is the military alliance between Japan and the United States that is the most significant modern element (to borrow a word from the author) in Japanese society and politics.

Yes, it is true that Japan does not have the same military spending as a share of the GDP as China does. No one denies that fact.

Isn't that modern element part of the equation and the key to that situation?

How much military spending in the US? How many times is that of China's?

Has Japan ever seriously criticised the US for its military spending or its modern elements of diplomacy and international politics?

Has Japan ever seriously thought about to terminate the military alliance and remove the US military bases from its territory? That is to say, has Japan ever really stay away with those modern elements from Japanese society and politics?

One is left to wonder what relevance the author's arguments are if the most important issues or elements are omitted from the discussion.

A more direct question is why a piece of academic analysis has left those important elements out in the first place?

Was it due to negligence or deliberation?