Abstract
This paper will take a closer look at where Japanese foreign policy made three remarkably orientational changes at the historical crossroads of the Meiji restoration in 1868, American occupation in 1945–1952, and in the post-cold war era of the 1990s. During the post-cold war era, there arose prolonged policy debates where political elites in Japan reached a consensus of its foreign policy’s new direction, namely a “middle way” mainstream policy. But this “middle way” can be defined as “tilted,” meaning that under different circumstances, different ruling elites would exhibit different tendencies. The policy consensus on this is reflected in some heated internal debates, which have had a profound impact on Japan’s relations with China and the USA.
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Notes
This question was asked by this author. Details related to Abe’s luncheon speech can be found at: Shinzo Abe, “Miles to go: My vision for Japan’s future,” available online at http://www.brookings.edu/events/2005/0502japan.aspx.
For an explanation on this school’s main theoretical writings, see Kenneth Waltz, 2001 Theory of International Politics (Readings MA: Addison-Wesley, 1979). For a good example concerning its use in foreign policy study, see John Mearsheimer, The Tragedy of Great Power Politics (New York: W.W. Norton).
For examples of efforts made in this direction see John G. Ikenberry and Michael Mastanduno (eds), International Relations Theory and the Asia–Pacific (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003); and Stephen Haggard, “The Balance of Power, Globalization, and Democracy: International Relations Theory in Northeast Asia,” Journal of East Asian Studies, 4 (2004): 1–38.
For additional sources on Japanese politics see: Pyle, Kenneth. Japan Rising. (New York: Present affairs, 2007); Samuel, Richard. 3.11 Disaster And The Change In Japan. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013); Samuels, Richard. "Securing Japan: The Current Discourse." The Society for Japanese Studies (2007): 125–152; Iriye, Akira. China and Japan in the Global Setting. (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1992); Hagström, Linus. Japan's China Policy. (New York: Routledge, 2005); Lam, Peng Er, ed. Japan's Relations With China Facing a Rising Power. (London: Routledge, 2006); Green, Michael. Arming Japan Defense Production, Alliance Politics, and the Postwar Search for Autonomy. (New York, Columbia University Press, 1995); Curtis, Gerald. The Japanese Way of Polictics (New York, Columbia University Press, 1988); Masuda, Wataru. Japan and China Mutual Representations in the Modern Era (New York, St. Martin's Press, 2000).
For additional sources on Japan–China relations, see: Chae-jin Lee, Japan Faces China: Political and Economic Relations in the Postwar Era (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976); Chae-jin Lee, China and Japan: New Economic Diplomacy (Stanford: Hoover Institution Press, 1984); Sadako N. Ogata, Normalization with China: A Comparative Study of U.S. and Japanese Processes (Berkeley: University of California Institute of East, 1990); Morton I. Abramowitz, Yoichi Funabashi and Jisi Wang, China-Japan-U.S. Relations: Meeting New Challenges (Tokyo: Japan Center for International Exchange, 2002); Marie Soderberg, Chinese-Japanese Relations in the Twenty-First Century (London and New York: Routledge, 2007); Caroline Rose, Sino-Japanese Relations (London and New York: Routledge, 2009); Jing Sun, Japan and China as Charm Rivals: Soft Power in Regional Diplomacy (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2013); Akira Iriye, The Chinese and the Japanese: Essays in Political and Cultural Interactions (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014); Ming Wan, Sino-Japanese Relations: Interaction, Logic, and Transformation (Stanford: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2006); Greg Austin and Stuart Harris, Japan and Greater China: Political Economy and Military Power in the Asian Century (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2001); Richard C. Bush, the Perils of Proximity: China-Japan Security Relations (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2010); Xuanli Liao, Chinese Foreign Policy Think Tanks: and China’s Policy Towards Japan (Beijing: The Chinese University Press, 2006); James Reilly, Strong Society, Smart State: The Rise of Public Opinion in China’s Japan Policy (New York: Columbia University Press, 2011).
For additional sources on the impacts of history, see: Fogel, Joshua A. The Nanjing Massacre in History and Historiography. (University of California Press, 2002); He, Yinan. The Search for Reconciliation: Sino-Japanese and German-Polish Relations since World War II. (Cambridge University Press, 2015); Higashinakano, Osamichi, and Higashinakano Shudo. The Nanking Massacre, Fact versus Fiction: a Historians Quest for the Truth. (Sekai Shuppan, 2006); Howe, Christopher. China and Japan: History, Trends and Prospects. (Clarendon, 1996); Jansen, Marius B. Japan and China: from War to Peace 1894–1972. (Rand McNally Publishing Company, 1975); King, Amy. China-Japan Relations after World War II: Empire, Industry and War, 1949–1971. (Cambridge University Press, 2017); Saya, Makito. The Sino-Japanese War and the Birth of Japanese Nationalism. (Translated by David Noble, International House of Japan, 2011); Williams, Peter, and David Wallace. Unit 731: Japans Secret Biological Warfare in World War II. (Free Press, 1989); Liu, Jie, et al. Toward a History beyond Borders Contentious Issues in Sino-Japanese Relations. Edited by Daqing Yang, (Harvard Univ. Press, 2012); Yoshida, Takashi. The Making of the "Rape of Nanking": History and Memory in Japan, China, and the United States. (Oxford University Press, 2009); Yuan, Ming, et al. The Golden Age of the U.S.-China-Japan Triangle: 1972–1989. (Harvard University. Asia Center, 2002).
For information regarding the Japanese invasion of China, especially the Nanjing Massacre, see Joshua Fogel (ed.), The Nanjing Massacre in History and Historiography (Berkeley CA: University of California Press, 2000), and also Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II (New York: Basic, 1997).
Nevertheless, Japan’s National Defense Force is still ranked among the top in the world.
Such conflicts in Japanese mentality can be found at Dai Ji Tao, Riben lun (On Japan). (Beijing: Jiuzhou Chubanshe, 2005).
For an excellent interpretation of Japanese political culture see Ruth Benedict, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword: Patterns of Japanese Culture (New York: New American Library, 1946). Chinese scholars writing in this area include Li Zhaozhong, Ambiguous Japanese (Beijing: Jincheng Chubanshe, 2005).
On September 25, 2012, Taiwan's fishing boats entered waters around Diaoyu Islands. When the boats reached within 16–18 nautical miles of the islands, over 20 Japan Coast Guard ships started following them. When the Taiwanese got as close as 3 nautical miles to the islands, the Japanese Coast Guard started shooting water cannon at them. Taiwan's patrol vessels, which were led by ship "De Xing," shot back with water cannons. The patrol vessels then stood facing Japan Coast Guard along with the fishing boats.
On September 8, 2012, Japan Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko suggested negotiating about fishery resumed. On October 5, through Interchange Association Japan (IAJ), Foreign Minister Genba Koichiro indicated that Japan was willing to change the intensifying Japan–Taiwan relationship regarding Diaoyu Islands, and resumed fishery negotiation as soon as possible.
According to the agreement that was reached in this treaty, Japan indicated that the area South of 27 degrees north, the so-called Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone, as condominium sea. Taiwan's fishing boats will be allowed to fish there. Taiwanese fishermen were able to fish in a sea territory that was twice as big as Taiwan itself, and this added 4530 km2 to Taiwan's fishing area. If mainland China still recognized the temporary sea territory according to the current China–Japan fishery agreement, fishermen from mainland China will in fact be excluded from Diaoyu Islands waters. Japan used the treaty to gain the right for fishing and the ¨condominium¨ with Taiwan, and softened Taiwan's position on the Diaoyu Islands issue. Japan tried to change the key of the dispute and concentrated all their efforts to confront mainland China. This fact caused the breakdown of the current China–Japan fishery agreement and it was a departure of the one-China principle. Refer to Liu Yongjiang, ¨China–Japan Fishery Agreement's Impact on Diaoyu Islands Dispute,¨ Study on Japanese Foreign Policies and China-Japan Relations, ed. Zhao Quansheng (Taipei: Wu-Nan Book Inc., 2015), 297-306.
Media Coverage of Criticism to Japan, referring to “Yasukuni Visit Denounced by Chairman of U. S. House Committee on International Relations,” accessed December 28, 2015, http: 1/news. wenxuecity.corn/BBSView.php? SubiD_news&MsglD_96139&c_lang = big5.
For example, The US New York Times published editorials on Japanese Foreign Minister Aso Taro erroneous statements about historical issues refer to: Editorial, "Japan's Offensive Foreign Minister," The New York Times (February 13,2006).
China and Japan has conducted many surveys about public opinion regarding China–Japan relations. For example, for a survey result during the governance of Koizumi refer to: "Chinese Respondents Rational toward Sino-Japan Relations," China Today 54, no.11 (November 2005): 8. Japanese survey result refers to: Forum of Foreign Affairs, no. 196 (2004): 58–61.
For reflections on strategic considerations between China and Japan then, please refer to: Enmin Li, The Political Interaction behind Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China, (Tokyo: Ochanomizu Shobo, 2005). Other relevant policy debate toward Japan in China at the time of the, please refer to Peter Cries, "China's 'New Thinking' on Japan," The China Quarterly, (December 2005): 831–50.
The author put forward some views on China’s foreign policy toward Japan on the conference held in March 2005, Beijing, China. For reports at the time of the debate, please refer to" US-Japan joint deal with China—Returned Scholars On Sino-US-Japanese relations,” Global Times, March 25, 2005.
Comparative analysis on China and Japan diplomacy regarding soft power, referring to Linus Hagstrom, "The Sino-Japanese Battle for Soft Power: Pitfalls and Promises," Global Affairs 1, no. 2 (2015): 129–37.
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This paper focuses on Japan’s foreign policy in an attempt to sort out the mainstream ways of thought and develop a new concept—the “tilted middle way”—approach and then apply it to the analyses of Sino-Japanese relations.
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Zhao, Q. The Shift of Japanese Foreign Policy: A Tilted Middle Way. East Asian Community Rev 1, 89–105 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1057/s42215-018-0004-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s42215-018-0004-6