CNN, July 4, 1998

TOKYO (CNN) -- Chummier ties between Beijing and Washington needn't worry Tokyo, U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright assured the Japanese on Saturday.

After feeling slighted by U.S. President Bill Clinton's trip to China, and feeling threatened by talk of a strategic partnership between the United States and China, the Japanese seemed relieved by Albright's reassurance.

"The alliance between our two nations is the embodiment of our unshakable friendship. It is the cornerstone of our strategic policy in Asia," she announced at a Tokyo news conference following meetings with the nation's top leaders.

"We highly appreciate her visit as it contributes to the maintenance of a close exchange of views and the coordination of policy between our two countries," said Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi, standing beside her.

Clinton, who on Friday completed his nine-day tour of China, did not visit Japan, South Korea or any other Asian nation while he was abroad. He bowed to China's insistence for an exclusive visit.

For much of the last four decades, Japan has been uncomfortable with anything that might suggest it could lose its place as the United States' major ally in Asia. Albright spent 15 hours in Japan, before completing her journey home from Hong Kong on Saturday.

During that time, she held a 30 minute meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto -- twice the time originally allotted by the campaigning candidate. Hashimoto and his Liberal Democratic Party are on a tight schedule, with parliamentary elections a week away.

Albright briefed Hashimoto on Clinton's trip, stressing it was not at the sacrifice of Japan, according to Japanese officials.

Hashimoto in return declared Clinton's trip "very successful," and said he was impressed by the televised joint press conference of Clinton and Chinese President Jiang Zemin.

"Both (Hashimoto and Obuchi) agreed that the improvement in U.S.-Chinese relations is very much in Japan's interest as well," Albright said at the press conference. "In fact, it is a win-win-win outcome for the people of the United States, Japan and China. For relations between, and among, our three nations are not a zero-sum game."

Albright said she praised Hashimoto for measures taken within the last week to get Japan's economy moving again. On Thursday, Japan announced its plan to help prop up its banking sector, saddled with an estimated $546 billion in troubled loans. The government says sound borrowers can be kept afloat if public "bridge banks" take over failed institutions.

Hashimoto gave Albright an English translation of the plan at the start of their meeting. The document is for Clinton, to assure him that Japan, considered the cornerstone of Asia's economy, is addressing its economic woes. Japan is in the midst of its worst recession since World War II.

Albright and Hashimoto also discussed the Japanese leader's state visit to Washington, scheduled for later this month. Obuchi told reporters Japan was glad to get the Washington invite, and noted that it had been 11 years since a Japanese Prime Minister made a state visit to the United States.