September 04,2018 Open Forum

Can China Seduce Japan? 14 Reasons for Its Overtures in 2018

As Sino-US relations have deteriorated in 2018, Beijing has looked elsewhere in Asia for closer ties: to the Korean Peninsula, where Kim Jong-un was desperate to improve relations in order to pursue diplomacy with Donald Trump with his “back covered” and Moon Jae-in was awaiting pressure from Trump after enticing him into diplomacy with Kim that was bound to break down; to Russia,..

Gilbert Rozman
BRI , Confucius Institutes , South China Sea , trade war , US-Japan alliance
August 29,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Diplomacy II

Reviewing the most recent developments in security and military cooperation as well as diplomacy over the Korean Peninsula and the rise of China, this second view of the prospects for Sino-Japanese relations finds hope in what has been transpiring. The year 2018 shows signs of being a turning point in the relationship, leading to a win-win outcome for the region. Japan-China Security Coope..

Tanaka Hitoshi*
HA/DR , Japan-China Maritime and Aerial Communication Mechanism , Singapore Summit , US-Japan alliance
August 29,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Security II

Sino-Japan relations, as reported in the mass media over the last several weeks, seem to have positive prospects, accelerated by the fortieth anniversary of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship, signed on August 12, 1978 and put into effect on October 23, 1978. It was reported by Japanese media early in August that the Xi Jinping administration was contemplating a political document..

Yamaguchi Noboru*
“nine-dot line” , BRI , China Dream , FONOPs , South China Sea
August 29,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Diplomacy I

Future Prospects for Japan-China Cooperation This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Over these four decades, Japan-China relations have gone through a number of ups and downs as history and territorial issues have at times hindered political relations while economic interdependence has deepened. Recently, Japan-China relations appear to be on ..

Tanaka Hitoshi*
East China Sea , Japan-China-South Korea trilateral summit , Senkaku Islands , TPP-11 , US-DPRK summit , US-Japan alliance
August 29,2018 Alternative Scenarios

Security I

The most recent development in Sino-Japanese relations, particularly in the security arena, suggests that bilateral relations have already hit bottom and begun to improve gradually. On June 8 of this year, a ten-year overdue agreement between the armed forces of the two countries, ''Maritime and Aerial Communication Mechanism between the Japan-China Defense Authorities,'' came into forc..

Yamaguchi Noboru*
"Belt and Road" Initiative , East China Sea , HA/DR , PKO , Senkaku Islands , Yasukuni Shrine
August 28,2018 Open Forum

Washington Insights, Vol. 6, No. 4

The pace of change amid the perplexity of the Trump administration is proving overwhelming to many in DC, as elsewhere. Alarm about how badly it is handling North Korea—widening the divide in how to deal with that country—and the shock of an ominously looming trade war with China are but two of the pressing issues in daily news coverage. Yet, stepping back from this frenzy leaves some con..

Editorial Staff
BRI , Eurasian Economic Community , free and open Indo-Pacific , Greater Eurasia , Quad
August 23,2018 National Commentaries

An American (Non-Trumpian) Perspective on Asian Integration

With the long-standing failure of multilateral negotiations in the World Trade Organization and the recent US retreat to economic nationalism and “America First,” Asian trade and investment liberalization and regional integration are increasingly where the action is for global economic advances. This reality is illustrated by three moving targets: the completion and expansion of t..

Claude Barfield
CPTPP , FTAs , Indo-Pacific strategy , RCEP
August 21,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: China (April 2018)

China’s foreign relations are under extraordinary flux. Sino-US relations are viewed as more perilous than at any time since 1989 with some even going further back to 1979 or 1972. The often-troubled Sino-Japanese relationship has suddenly appeared to stabilize, as long-sought summits by Japan are presumed to be on track. The Sino-North Korean relationship abruptly normalized, leading t..

Gilbert Rozman
Act East Policy , BRI , Indo-Pacific strategy , inter-Korean summit , Quad , South China Sea , THAAD
August 07,2018 Open Forum

Unwilling Bystander: Japan Befuddled Strategically in 2018

Compared to “shocks” in 1971-72 and 1987-89, when US policy shifted abruptly toward first China and then the Soviet Union, the shock of 2018 from the US shift toward North Korea is proving even more unsettling. It is seen as leaving Japan at greater risk, more seriously putting the alliance in jeopardy, and raising more profound alarm about the geopolitical logic behind the move. ..

Gilbert Rozman
CJK summit , CVID , maximum pressure , Moon-Kim summit , Trump-Kim summit , US-ROK military exercises
August 07,2018 Country Reports

Country Report: Japan (August 2018)

As Donald Trump wreaked havoc in international relations, confusing friend with foe, Japan was not at all immune. Unlike European allies, it was left essentially to fend for itself—with no clear partner. Japanese media registered concern, then alarm, and finally a degree of resignation. The late spring and early summer of 2018—when Trump left Abe and others aghast at the G7, made extravag..

Editorial Staff
BRI , CJK summit , comfort women , Senkaku Islands , TPP-11 , trade war , Trump-Kim summit