Nov 08,2018 National Commentaries

A View from Japan

While the United States and China have fallen into a phase of confrontation, Abe Shinzo made the first official visit to China by a Japanese prime minister in seven years. Rows of Japanese national flags displayed in Tiananmen Square symbolized the rapprochement between Japan and China. Although Abe only stayed in Beijing for a little […]

Takahara Akio*

BRI , free and open Indo-Pacific , Peace and Friendship Treaty , Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands , Tiananmen Square , TPP

Sep 10,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II: Problems Are Structural

On September 3, Beijing’s sky was “parade blue.” It was a rare day when the US embassy index indicated that the air quality was “good.” Following the “APEC blue” last November, the Chinese government once again displayed its power to achieve what seems hardly possible. Yes, the parade was a display of power, indeed, with […]

Takahara Akio*

70th Anniversary , National identity , nationalism

Aug 04,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario I: No Escape from Troubled Seesaw in Japan-China Relations

Japan’s relations with China for about two years from September 2012 were the worst they had been since normalization in 1972. In late 2014 and over the first months of 2015, the impression spread that relations had turned a corner. Some saw signs of a return to the seesaw in relations observed for about two […]

Takahara Akio*

EEZ , National security , Senkaku Islands