Japan's political relations with East Asia

1. Week 7 Seminar
Japan’s Political Relations with
East Asia

2. This week’s key terms and concepts
• ASEAN
• ASEAN + 3 (APT)
• ARF
• dōbun dōshu
• seikei-bunri
• Watashiyaku
• Seirei keinetsu

3. Unit 7 seminar questions:
Q1. What is the role of structure, agency and norms in explaining
Japan’s political relationship with East Asia?
Q2. Why has Japan developed the bilateral political relationship with
East Asia over the years? Has it been more successful in some parts
of East Asia than others? If so, why? If not, why not?
Q3. How has Japan instrumentalised its political relationship with
East Asia in different periods? What changes have occurred? What
accounts for these changes?
Q4. What examples can you give of Japan’s proactive policy vis a vis
East Asia? What about reactive policy? What accounts for the
difference?

4. • Q1. What is the role of structure, agency and norms in
explaining Japan’s political relationship with East Asia?
• Q2. Why has Japan developed the bilateral political
relationship with East Asia over the years? Has it been
more successful in some parts of East Asia than others? If
so, why? If not, why not?
1. Overview of structural barriers
• Colonialism
• National division
• Bipolarization
• Fragmentation of the regional political economy
2. Discuss Q1 and Q2 in groups and feedback

5. Legacy of Colonialism
• Colonized Taiwan in 1895
• Formally colonized Korea in 1910
• Manchuria invasion in 1930s
• Large parts of SE Asia during the war occupied or annexed:
 Palau, Northern Mariana Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands
 Kwantung Leased Territory
 Manchuria
 Timor
 Thailand
 Myanmar
 Vietnam
 Cambodia
 Laos
 Malaya
 Philippines
 Andaman and Nicobar Islands
 Singapore
 Brunei
 Borneo
 Guam
 And more

6. • Animousity and mistrust at popular and elite level
• Japanese elites apologized for war crimes but this is
offset somewhat by Diet members challenging those
apologies and official visits to Yasukuni shrine
• “Political fallout” in 2005 when both Korea and China
opposed Japan’s bid to become a member of the
UNSC
• Difference in overcoming legacy of colonialism in East
Asia vs South East Asia
Legacy of Colonialism

7. National Division
• Attempt to establish the Greater East Asia
Coprosperity Sphere contributed to the demise of
Western Imperialism in East Asia
• Defeat in the war meant that Japan was stripped
of its colonies, much of which is had taken from
Western imperial powers
• Particularly in the 1940s/1950s, national regimes
(both communist and anti-communist) were able
to establish themselves

8. • China: The defeat of Japan meant the resumption
of the civil war, which saw the decampment of
the KMT (National Party) and Republic of China
(ROC) governments to Taiwan
- Normalization of relations in the 1970s
• Korea: Japan’s defeat was followed by a hasty agreement
between US and the USSR to divide the Korean Peninsula
at the 38th parallel, and then the outbreak of the Korean
War (1950-1953)
- Normalization of relations with South Korea in 1965
- No diplomatic relations with North Korea
National Division

9. Cold War Bipolarity
• Superpower Cold War tensions generated in
Europe were eventually transmitted to East
Asia
- “hot war” on the Korean peninsula
- Communist movements in different parts of the
region e.g. Indo-China

10. Fragmentation of the East Asian
regional political economy
• Bipolar order in East Asia meant highly-divergent development
trajectories for states
• Communist blocs displayed dichotomous political economies
- ‘Orthodox’ Marxist-Leninism of post-revolution USSR clashed with anti-
revisionist, revolutionary and highly nationalist communism of Mao’s China
• Capitalist blocs were also different in terms of political economy:
They encouraged diverse economic and political systems at various
stages of the Cold War
- Northeast Asia: Japan was encouraged to develop into an advanced democracy
and market economy as a bastion of capitalism, while South Korea and Taiwan
were essentially authoritarian regimes
• Political relations between Japan and East Asia were largely limited
to capitalist East Asia, with the authoritarian regimes

11. • Q1. What is the role of structure, agency and
norms in explaining Japan’s political
relationship with East Asia?
• Q2. Why has Japan developed the bilateral
political relationship with East Asia over the
years? Has it been more successful in some
parts of East Asia than others? If so, why? If
not, why not?

12. • Q3. How has Japan instrumentalised its
political relationship with East Asia in different
periods? What changes have occurred? What
accounts for these changes?
Discuss in groups – pick out a few examples of
specific instances/changes

13. In summary…
• Structure: The bipolar structure of the Cold War defined
Japan’s pre-1990 relations. The US-Japan Security Alliance
continues to act as an impediment to deepened relations
with China, Korea and the ASEAN states
• Agency: Efforts by pro-China faction within the LDP and the
Socialists at establishing relations with China; Post-Cold
War: DPJ under Hatoyama attempts recalibration of foreign
policy. Unsuccessful. LDP’s Abe reasserts strong stance on
territorial issues and close US ties
• Norms: Asianist and Developmental norms have been at
the heart of Japan’s post-war attempts to re-connect with
East Asia, but are consistently trumped by bilateralism with
the United States.

14. For next week…
• Q4. What examples can you give of Japan’s
proactive policy vis a vis East Asia? What
about reactive policy? What accounts for the
difference?
Come prepared with at least one example for
the above question, we’ll open with these next
week.