This is another way of saying that Japan will assist Uncle Sam not just with logistics, but with warships, in the event of any clash over the South China Sea. Sentiment in Asia towards Japan with respect to WWII will shift over time. France and England have had a long history of fighting each other, with the bitterest battles fought during the Hundred Years War, during which anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 of the French population was killed and the
chevauchee was used as a tactic to bring French troops to battle, culminating in the Napoleonic Wars, during which Britain thwarted French dreams of imperial gloire. If French sentiment towards England could shift to the point that British and French forces fought side-by-side during the Crimean War, less than 40 years after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, there is little doubt that that Asians will choose alliance with Japan over a collective future as freshly-minted Chinese provinces.
I don’t think that’s an accurate assessment. Asian hatred towards Japan runs deep. I lived in South Korea at a time when SK nearly declared war on Japan over Dokdo islands. SK protestors were chopping off their fingers and mailing their appendages to the Tokyo government. Some Koreans set themselves on fire in a call for war against Japan. Koreans would cheer these folks on while they burned to death.