Unpacking the Intellectual Basis of China’s Policy toward Japan: Chinese Strategic Thought Spectrum and Strategic Perceptions of Japan since 2000

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although Sino–Japanese relations have been on a recovery course, the deterioration of ties in the first one and a half decades since 2000 should not be forgotten. This article aims to unpack China’s perception formation mechanism toward Japan during these turbulent fifteen years by introducing the perspective of strategic perception. Because China’s strategic perception toward Japan is largely derived from its overall perceptions of the international system, this article focuses on China’s strategic elites to systemically trace the evolution of China’s perception of Japan and its policy implications, and to provide a new perception equilibrium that reduced the US factor in the formation of a mutual Sino–Japanese perception.