When Foreign Minister Penny Wong travels to Japan, China and South Korea this week, she will move through a region where relationships point in different directions at the same time.On the surface, the alignment is familiar. China is Australia's largest trading partner but also its most complex strategic challenge. Japan is a close security partner. South Korea sits between them, tied to both Washington and Beijing in different ways. But that surface hides a more intricate reality. The ties between China, Japan and South Korea are not linear. They are layered, shaped by history, domestic politics and shifting strategic incentives.Understanding those…