Can apology serve as a security policy? Responsible scholarship and breaking the chains of negative history in Sino-Japanese relations

Abstract

Abstract This article takes a critical look at conventional studies of Sino-Japanese relations and East Asian security. While realizing that memories of Japanese aggression are a key causal factor of mutual suspicions and security dilemmas between China and Japan, mainstream studies do not offer us concrete solutions to this problem because their solutions are either military-centric, or have an excessive focus on Chinese nationalism and China's “patriotic education” as a key causal factor of Sino-Japanese tensions. Such works ignore the fact that Japanese atonement for its historical wrongs is necessary to prevent mutual suspicions and security dilemmas emerging between China and Japan. The article argues that an apology by Japan for its past aggression could be suggested as a new, albeit non-military, security policy that could contribute to the overall stability of Sino-Japanese relations and Northeast Asia. The article puts forward some suggestions of what an apology may look like under this policy, a...