Like Japan Leaders to Focus on Asian Ties.

The article reports on the plans of the center-left Democratic Party of Japan which is expected to trounce the ruling Liberal Democratic Party in the lower-house parliamentary elections in 2009. The party has disclosed its intention to seek greater independence from the U.S. and establish more trade agreements with its neighbors, particularly China. According to party leader Yukio Hatoyama, they are moving away from a unipolar world led by the U.S.