October 12,2015 National Commentaries

The South Korean Perspective

"The Challenge for Park's Summit with Obama after Abe's Summit."   As President Park Geun-hye prepares for her meeting with President Barack Obama on October 16, her visit will bring to a close a year of intensive summitry between the US president and his key counterparts in Asia.1 On April 26-May 3, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo had what many regard as one of the most successful US..

Lee Chung Min*
China's military parade , Japan-US alliance , Japanese SDF , National security , North Korea , Sino-ROK Relations
October 12,2015 National Commentaries

The US Perspective

"The Challenge for Park's Summit with Obama after Abe's Summit."   Positive US responses to Abe’s defense and history initiatives leave South Korea’s Japan policy in limbo. The Abe statement in early August and the legislation that the Diet passed in late September (after the Abe cabinet’s approval in early July) have given new impetus to Tokyo’s foreign policy and rel..

Larry A. Niksch
Balancing China , Japan-US alliance , Japanese SDF , National security
October 07,2015 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (October 2015)

The shadow of history hung over Japan in the late summer as Abe’s statement was debated, the seventieth anniversary of the war’s end passed on August 15, and Xi Jinping commemorated the same anniversary on September 3. Various bilateral relations were put in historical context, as was the march to collective self-defense laws that preoccupied the Japanese public through much of September. Ther..

Editorial Staff
Economic Relations , History Wars , National security , North Korea , Post-Cold War , ROK-Sino alliance , Russo-Sino alliance
September 24,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Scenario of China’s Fault

In March 2015, Premier Li Keqiang gave a press conference following the conclusion of the annual National People’s Congress, in which he explained that China’s relationship with Japan had reached an important crossroads. In a year in which the two countries were about to commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the end of WWII, Li presented what appeared to be an ultimatum to the Abe governme..

Amy King
CCP , Economic Relations , National identity , Re-Remember , Regionalism
September 23,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Positive Scenario II: Optimism amidst Doubts for China and Its International Behavior

On the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of the end of WWII, China’s much expected military parade of September 3 was held in Beijing. After all, China, the “forgotten ally” as the British historian Rana Mitter put it, was a key part of the anti-fascist alliance during WWII. It bore a heavy burden in the Asian theater and made a great contribution to the final victory. Severely victimiz..

Ren Xiao*
China-Japan-South Korea summit , National identity , One Belt One Road , Regionalism
September 21,2015 Review Article

Chinese Books on China and Global Governance

He Yafei, Xuanze: Zhongguo yu quanqiu zhili [Choice: China and Global Governance] (Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue chubanshe, 2015) Tao Jian, Lin Hongyu, Zhongguo jueqi yu quanqiu zhili [The Rise of China and Global Governance] (Beijing: Shijie zhishi chubanshe, 2014) Zhou Shuchun, Zhongguo de shijie meng he renlei wenming de zhuanxing [China’s World Dream and Human Civilization in Transition] ..

See-Won Byun
global governance , International relations theory , National identity , The Chinese Dream
September 18,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Scenario of Japan’s Fault

As the fiftieth anniversary of Japan’s defeat in the Asia-Pacific War approached in the summer of 1995, the Japanese Diet debated a resolution, which, it was hoped, would lay the ghosts of the past to rest. The aim was to present a national statement of memory and remorse, broadly supported across the political spectrum and addressing the concerns of the victims of Japan’s imperial expansion, ..

Tessa Morris-Suzuki
Abe Statement , History problem , National identity , Regionalism
September 18,2015 Alternative Scenarios

History Will Continue to Haunt Japan’s Relations with China

In 2015, history has cast a darker shadow on Japan’s relations with China than at any time since normalization of relations in 1972. This was the seventieth anniversary year of war’s end, Sino-Japanese relations were hesitantly emerging from three troubled years, and Xi Jinping and Abe Shinzo were pursuing agendas that showcased their differences over history. Given these factors, should we e..

Editorial Staff
September 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 the brandishing of modern weapons and the disruption and restri..

Takahara Akio*
70th Anniversary , National identity , nationalism
August 27,2015 Alternative Scenarios

Negative Scenario II: This Triangle Will Not Take Shape

The argument in favor of a “Sino-Russian-North Korean” triangle in Northeast Asia rests on the notion that Beijing and Moscow need North Korea for reasons that outweigh their broader political and economic interests and that North Korea has no choice but to go along with the triangular arrangement, because the alternative would be complete isolation, regime meltdown, and, eventually, absorptio..

Sergey Radchenko
Cold War , Iran nuclear deal , Regionalism , Six-Party Talks