Japan’s Political Response to the Rise of China – Takahara Akio

1. Japan’s Political Response to the Rise of China – Takahara Akio A Summary by Tangguh ASEAN and the Regional Dynamic of Northeast Asia International Relations Studies, Faculty of Social and Political Studies University of Indonesia

2. Executive Summary • Japan has supported China’s reform and opening policies since they were first adapted, but the Tiananmen incident changed China’s image in Japanese eyes • Japanese-Chinese relations deteriorated in the mid-1990s due to Taiwan matter and reconfirmation of Japan-US alliance • In the latter half of the 1990s cooperation among East Asian nations, including Japan-China relations, strengthened due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997 • China then took positive steps in multilateral regional frameworks and shifted to new approach to bilateral relations with Japan • Japan had been advocating relations with China in the regional context, yet many Japanese are annoyed that China, not Japan, is leading regional efforts in integration

3. Executive Summary • China’s shift on regionalism and on its approach toward its neighbors was accompanied by a new concept of security that, unlike the old concept based on military alliances and the solution of conflict by military means, was based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation • China applies conciliatory policies toward its neighbors and pursuit of regional integration • Japan is still undecided on security arrangements in the region, while increasingly believing that Japan should promote the formulation of a multilateral security framework in East Asia • Japan and China’s bilateral and regional policies have become quite similar. However, major difference exists in the desired pace of change

4. Preface • China’s rise has been significant not only because of its size, but also because its rise has coincided with the end of the cold war and the advent of globalization • It also coincides Japan being in flux on many fronts in the 1990s • End of LDP domination and beginning of continuous political change • Burst of “bubble” economy and flounder of economy • Collapse of Soviet Union (question to the raison d’être of Japan-US alliance) • Japan-China relations declined • Transfer of factories to China, hollowing out of industry in Japan • Taiwan’s effort to gain international recognition • 50th anniversary of the end of the World War II • Chinese nuclear testing in 1996 • Reconfirmation of the Japan-US alliance in 1996 • Rise in nationalism in both countries: Chinese were gaining self-confidence and Japanese were losing theirs

5. Preface • China changed its policy towards its neighbors and started deepening ties with them, including Japan • China taking up the challenge of free trade and promoting East Asian regionalism poses a challenge to Japan as the leading economy in East Asia • China’s rise and its deepening involvement in regional economic frameworks urge neighbors to consider East Asian security arrangement • China’s self “new security concept” includes fostering mutual trust and benefit, equality and cooperation between nations, and peacefully solving conflict through dialogue

6. Japan’s Policy toward China Before China’s Rise • Japan has supported China’s reform and opening policies since they were first adapted • Providing official development assistance (ODA), technical assistance and policy advice • Supporting China’s admission to international organizations such as GATT and WTO • Cancelling economic sanctions adopted in the wake of the Tiananmen incident • Four motivations of Japan assisting China’s reform and opening • Successful reform and opening in China were regarded as important to regional peace, stability and prosperity • Japan considered that pragmatic forces within China’s socialist government could be strengthened if the new economic policies brought tangible benefits to the Chinese people • Japan understood the potential of China as a central player in the regional and global economy • Japan realized that an effective way to change China’s domestic system and behavior was to co-opt China into the global system

7. China’s Gradual Rise, and Frictions with Japan in the Mid-1990s • The Tiananmen incident changed China’s image in Japanese eyes • China protested the reported idea of the Olympic Commission of Asia to invite Taiwan’s President Lee to the Asian Olympic Games to be held in Hiroshima in October 1994 • 1972 Japan-China Joint Communiqué and Article 8 of the Postdam Declaration oblige Japan to return Taiwan to China • That Taiwan was now a democracy, combined with historical and cultural affinity between Japan and Taiwan, rose sympathy among Japanese public for Taiwan’s situation • China’s third generation announced a conciliatory eight-point proposal in February 1995; however, Lee rebuffed this initiative and realized a visit to the US

8. China’s Gradual Rise, and Frictions with Japan in the Mid-1990s • China perceived the reconfirmation of Japan-US security alliance as closely related to the Taiwan matter • The alliance needed new meaning after the cold war: cancelling the alliance would change the status quo in the region • Both Japan’s and US’s interest was in furthering cooperation with China • The 1996 Japan-US Joint Declaration on Security was signed only a month after China launched missiles off the coast of Taiwan and the US sent two aircraft carriers there • Japan was increasingly concerned about China’s future • China’s nuclear test and missile test: enhanced the image of a militaristic China in Japanese minds • China’s anti-Japanese, patriotic propaganda commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II • China’s economic growth (in contrast to Japan’s economic fall) • China’s surge of nationalistic sentiment

9. Japan’s Response to China’s New Role in the Region • In the latter half of the 1990s cooperation among East Asian nations, including Japan-China relations, strengthened due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997 • China’s diplomacy includes regional approaches; nevertheless, China has attached greatest importance to bilateral relationships • China prefers bilateral approaches since it has the advantage over most states in the region • China also doesn’t want the leadership in multilateral frameworks to be assumed by power stronger than itself • China then took positive steps in multilateral regional frameworks • China understood that globalization was a new trend in world history and regarded it as a historic opportunity • China was alarmed of the Asian financial crisis because of its problem with nonperforming loans, and perceived the crisis as contributing to a strengthened East Asian identity as they realized their fates were interdependent • China managed to hold the crisis at bay, not devaluating the yuan, boosted its confidence, including in regional multilateral frameworks

10. Japan’s Response to China’s New Role in the Region • China advanced its thinking about its dilemma of needing a peaceful international environment to pursue economic development, while not raising a sense of a “China threat” among its neighbors • That ways include promoting regionalism, contributing to the regional economy by further opening China’s own economy, and providing more opportunities for others to benefit from its growth • China proposed a free trade agreement with ASEAN in 2000 • China shifted to new approach to bilateral relations with Japan: joining hands with Japan is essential if China wishes for effective regional cooperation • Jiang’s visit to Tokyo in 1998 saw a Sino-Japanese agreement on “Strengthening Cooperation toward the Twenty-first Century” • China first concluded bilateral negotiations with Japan for its entry to the WTO

11. Japan’s Response to China’s New Role in the Region • China was now seeing relations with Japan in the regional context, precisely what Japan had been advocating • Yet many Japanese are annoyed that China, not Japan, is leading regional efforts in integration • A major reason for Japan falling behind lies in the structure of its domestic politics: There is a lobby that protects farmers’ interests by arguing against liberalized trade in agricultural products • Another reason is that Japan is still uncertain about its future relationship with China, stemming from concerns about the security environment in East Asia

12. Japan’s Response to China’s New Security Concept • China’s shift on regionalism and on its approach toward its neighbors was accompanied by a new concept of security that, unlike the old concept based on military alliances and the solution of conflict by military means, was based on mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation • The Asian financial crisis added other dimensions to the concept namely comprehensive security and economic security • This new concept provided the basis for Shanghai Cooperation Organization with Central Asian neighbors, the ARF and ASEAN + 3 • One factor pushing this new concept was China’s fear of being isolated in the region • Japan and the US had adjusted and reinforced their alliance • China’s military build-up met with protests from its neighbors • Another factor was relations with the US • China didn’t want confrontation with the US, knowing the huge gap • NATO’s new strategic concept of protecting humanitarian values in out-of-area operations, combined with China’s “human rights violations” in Tibet and Xinjiang, destroyed China adjusting the unstable nature of relations with the US

13. Japan’s Response to China’s New Security Concept • China anticipated pressure from the US by conciliatory policies toward its neighbors and pursuit of regional integration • The strong view was that regional cooperation should be extended to security matters • Japan is still undecided on security arrangements in the region • Facing enigmatic North Korea, worrying about stronger China • Reconfirming alliance with the US while taking to become a “normal” country assuming a more active role in its own defense • Japan and China agreed that exchanges between security personnel should be promoted to increase confidence and transparency • Japanese increasingly believe that Japan should promote the formulation of a multilateral security framework in East Asia

14. Conclusion • Since China changed posture on regional cooperation, Japan and China’s bilateral and regional policies have become quite similar • Both promote regional integration and establishing an East Asian Community • Both agree about adopting a multilateral approach to the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula • Both agree about preventing historical issues from negatively influencing other aspects of bilateral relations • However, major difference exists in the desired pace of change • When the focus of regional cooperation is free trade, interests in Japan’s protected sectors constitute block in policy process, while in China farmers’ interests are hardly represented • Mounting public ill feeling toward China has hampered the Japanese government in taking bold steps • Japan lacks of strategic vision about the region’s future order since many Japanese policymakers seem to believe that their task is to come up with policies acceptable to the US