Japan’s Perspective on U.S.-China-Taiwan Relations

Abstract

Japan’s political leadership changed five times in the latter half of the decade. Perhaps this is the right time to evaluate how Japan’s perspective of U.S.-China-Taiwan relations has changed since Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro voluntarily stepped down. This paper uses the Koizumi administration (April 2001-September 2006) as the point of reference to identify change and continuity.¹ How did the successive administrations of Abe Shinzo (September 2006-August 2007), Fukuda Yasuo (September 2007-August 2008), and Aso Taro (September 2008-September 2009) face the rise of China and its challenges? The waning years of the LDP dynasty, after the five and a half years of the Koizumi administration, displayed what Japan could do to adapt to the changing external environment within the framework of the LDP politics. What would the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) leadership be likely to do? The analysis of Japan’s foreign relations during the transitional years prior to the DPJ victory in 2009 provides a solid foundation for further inquiry.