China and Japan are the two most important countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Their economic ties are significant not only because they are the second and third largest economies in today's world, but also because their economic relationship has an important impact on regional economic co-operation and international production chains.China's Japan Policy: Adjusting to New Challenges analyzes the significance of Japan in China's foreign policy framework within the broader context of China's world view, its national objectives, and the Chinese leadership's policy adjustments in response to the changing international and domestic circumstances. It looks at China's Japan policy in recent decades since their normalization of relations in 1972. The book also examines the unique characteristics of the China-Japan bilateral relationship, especially the historical legacy, territorial disputes, and the special cultural affinities between the two nations. Readers interested in China and Japan will find this an invaluable reference with detailed insights on international relations and economic developments in the Asia-Pacific region.

Strategic Adjustment and the Rise of China demonstrates how structural and domestic variables influence how East Asian states adjust their strategy in light of the rise of China, including how China manages its own emerging role as a regional great power. The contributors note that the shifting regional balance of power has fueled escalating tensions in East Asia and suggest that adjustment challenges are exacerbated by the politics of policymaking. International and domestic pressures on policymaking are reflected in maritime territorial disputes and in the broader range of regional security issues created by the rise of China.Adjusting to power shifts and managing a new regional order in the face of inevitable domestic pressure, including nationalism, is a challenging process. Both the United States and China have had to adjust to China's expanded capabilities. China has sought an expanded influence in maritime East Asia; the United States has responded by consolidating its alliances and expanding its naval presence in East Asia. The region's smaller countries have also adjusted to the rise of China. They have sought greater cooperation with China, even as they try to sustain cooperation with the United States. As China continues to rise and challenge the regional security order, the contributors consider whether the region is destined to experience increased conflict and confrontation.ContributorsIan Bowers, Norwegian Defence University College and Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies Daniel W. Drezner, Tufts University, Brookings Institution, and Washington Post Taylor M. Fravel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Bjørn Elias Mikalsen Grønning, Norwegian Defence University College and Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies Chung-in Moon, Yonsei University and Chairman, Presidential Committee on Northeast Asia Cooperation Initiative, Republic of Korea James Reilly, University of Sydney Robert S. Ross, Boston College and Harvard University Randall L. Schweller, The Ohio State University ystein Tunsjø, Norwegian Defence University College and the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies Wang Dong, Peking University

This volume examines the Chinese foreign policy framework today and traces its evolution since the post-Mao era. Through the consideration of China's relations with the major powers and its management of various challenges ranging from territorial disputes to energy security, it investigates China's pursuit of major power status and influence in peaceful international scenarios.The author critically analyzes China's foreign policy from Chinese leaders' evolving worldview of the changing international environment. As China emerges as a major power and the second largest economy in the world, anyone interested in international politics and scenarios as well as China's foreign policy needs a basic, insightful reference book like this.

Recent events in Asia-Pacific underline the pivotal importance of the China-Japan-U.S. relationship for the future evolution of the region. In an important follow-up to their path-breaking 1996 assessment, China-Japan-US: Managing the Trilateral Relationship, the three original co-authors review the underlying challenges confronting the development of this "vital triangle." Recent developments —notably, the accidental bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Taiwan's apparent moves toward greater independence, Japanese displeasure at President Clinton's failure to visit Tokyo after his trip to China, Japan's decision to pursue R& D on theater missile defense, and China's heavy-handed use of its historical grievances with Japan —have made management of the trilateral relationship even more challenging. Yet, the basic imperatives for deeper cooperation remain essentially unchanged. Continuing uncertainties on the Korean peninsula, recent nuclear developments in South Asia, political instabilities in Southeast Asia, and a general weakening of regional institutions in the wake of the Asian financial crisis require basic cooperation between China, Japan, and the United States. This volume offers indispensable insights on the evolving complexities of the China-Japan-U.S. relationship.

A rich empirical account of China's foreign economic policy towards Japan after World War Two, drawing on hundreds of recently declassified Chinese sources. Amy King offers an innovative conceptual framework for the role of ideas in shaping foreign policy, and examines how China's Communist leaders conceived of Japan after the war. The book shows how Japan became China's most important economic partner in 1971, despite the recent history of war and the ongoing Cold War divide between the two countries. It explains that China's Communist leaders saw Japan as a symbol of a modern, industrialised nation, and Japanese goods, technology and expertise as crucial in strengthening China's economy and military. For China and Japan, the years between 1949 and 1971 were not simply a moment disrupted by the Cold War, but rather an important moment of non-Western modernisation stemming from the legacy of Japanese empire, industry and war in China.

This book investigates whether a power shift has taken place in the Asia-Pacific region since the end of the Cold War. By systematically examining the development of power dynamics in Asia-Pacific, it challenges the notion that a wealthier and militarily more powerful China is automatically turning the regional tides in its favour. With a special emphasis on Sino-US competition, the book explores the alleged linkage between the regional distribution of relevant material and immaterial capabilities, national power and the much-cited regional power shift. The book presents a novel concept for measuring power in international relations by outlining a composite index on aggregated power (CIAP) that includes 55 variables for 44 regional countries and covers a period of twenty years. Moreover, it develops a middle power theory that outlines the significance of middle powers in times of major power shifts. By addressing political, military and economic cooperation via a structured-focused comparison and by applying a comparative-historical analysis, the book analyses in depth the bilateral relations of six regional middle powers to Washington and Beijing.