Persistence and Change in Japan-China Relationship

Abstract

There is are arguments that claim Japans receptive postwar policies toward China began to change since 1994 and are more challenging and defiant. This paper is to figure out the reality and to estimate the future course of the relationship. There were no considerable changes in Sino-Japanese relations in terms of economic activities and cooperation and we notice more of persistence than of change. Japans confrontational and hostile attitude is limited to the issues of national security and it is motivated by the pursuit of expanding its political role following the U.S. demands. These two inconsistent orientations will continue into the future since they are based on changes in domestic Japanese politics. Reluctant realism cannot explain the coexistence of these two orientations because it assumes a unitary decision-maker or unitary decision-making group applying realist views either willingly or reluctantly to different agendas. While commercial liberalist orientation dominates economic relations, reluctant realist orientation represents in the security relations. This phenomenon is a better term to explain Selective realism.