The Origins of Japan’s Contemporary Diplomatic Strategy in East Asia: 2001–2012

Abstract

Throughout the first decade of the 21st century, Japan’s East Asia policy saw the emergence of several new strategies and initiatives. The two key strategies of this period were the East Asian Community and the Arc of Freedom and Prosperity, which reflected differing approaches towards the role of China in the developing regional order. The goal of this article is to analyse the ideological foundations of these two strategies, as well as the reasons behind their failure. It also examines the question of why Japan’s diplomatic initiatives changed so rapidly during these years. Finally, the article looks at the shifts in Sino-Japanese relations which represent a key variable in the evolution of Japan’s East Asia policy. While Japan’s East Asian policy of this period is well researched in Russian academic literature, the majority of studies examine the policies of specific prime ministers, with Asian diplomacy typically viewed within the framework of foreign policy in general. Meanwhile, a more dynamic analysis of the development of Japan’s regional strategy is lacking, and it is this gap that this article attempts to fill. Based on the analysis of Japanese government documents, as well as a wide range of studies of Japan’s foreign policy by Russian and foreign scholars, from monographs and academic journals to online outlets, it presents the evolution of Japan’s strategy in East Asia as a competition between two foreign policy initiatives, the East Asian Community and the Arc of Freedom and Prosperity. The article also highlights the prime ministers’ personal views and beliefs, which had a significant effect on creating a particular strategy. The article concludes that the two aforementioned strategies were underpinned by different political philosophies, with the East Asian Community aiming to accelerate East Asian integration based on common economic interests and embracing China, while the Arc of Freedom and Prosperity prioritised relations with countries sharing Japan’s democratic values and viewed China as a regional outsider. It was precisely Sino-Japanese ties, however, that were perhaps the biggest reason why neither strategy achieved much success at the time; either Japan considered the bilateral relations too economically beneficial to deliberately alienate China, or they suffered from too much tension which precluded further development of economic relations.