THE CHINA FACTOR IN THE U.S. JANPAN POLICY OF ECONOMIC REHABILITATION Cui Pi （63） In the 1950s, the U.S. Japan policy of economic rehabilitation was an important component of the U.S. strategy of containing China in East Asia. The policy required that Japan break its economic link with China and that Southeast Asia serve as a catatyst in establishing U.S.-Japan economic cooperation. This orientation was set by the Truman Administration and, despite some readjustment during Eisenhower's term of presidency, remained an important principle in America's Asia policy. It bestowed on Japanese foreign policy the features of stressing the importance of cooperation with the United States and non-socialist Southeast Asia.