What is it about?
How has Japan reacted against China's rising power? Balance-of-power theorists would predict that Japan would balance against China to prevent it from becoming too powerful. Kenneth Waltz, for example, anticipated that Japan would develop a nuclear deterrent capability and upgrade its military strengths. In this paper, we present a counter-argument against this narrative, contending instead that Japan has been rather conducive in accommodating China's rise. Specifically, Japan has helped China implement its grand strategy, while respecting China's core interests.
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Why is it important?
This paper questions the realist-dominated analyses of East Asian politics. Realism's core assumptions permeate much of the writing on Japan's foreign security policy. Take, for example, the tendency to describe Japan's actions as hedging, as Tokyo seeks to "hedge" with the United States against security threats and with other countries against economic threats. But this doesn't tell us much - which country, when presented with options, does not hedge?
Perspectives
The paper offers a more precise look at Japan's responses to China's rise. In particular, the paper examines not only "high politics" of security but also incorporates Japan's correspondence with China in economic issues. Our results show that Japan has, to a large extent, helped China become more powerful. This should be of interest to those who study how states" actions work to increase or decrease each other's relative strengths.
Professor Linus Hagström
Swedish Defence University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Rethinking Japan's China Policy: Japan as an Accommodator in the Rise of China, 1978–2011, Journal of East Asian Studies, May 2012, Cambridge University Press,
DOI: 10.1017/s1598240800007840.
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