Research On Japan's Continental Strategic Orientation And Its East Asian Cooperation Behavior

This paper focuses on Japan's continental strategic orientation and its impact on Japan's East Asia cooperation behavior.The author believes that the continental strategic orientation has influenced Japan's east Asia cooperation behavior for a long time,and the strategic path of leading East Asia determines that Japan seeks to lead the East Asia cooperation process after 1997.On the basis of sorting out the existing three types of research on strategic orientation,this paper proposes the definition of strategic orientation,establishes the research framework of strategic orientation,and analyzes Japan's behavior of East Asia cooperation.From the perspective of geopolitics,Japan's strategic orientation has three dimensions,namely,the closed and isolated island strategic orientation,the toward inland continental strategic orientation,and the maritime strategic orientation of confronting against land.The strategic orientation of the mainland determines that Japan's strategic direction points to the east Asian continent.In this strategic direction,the strategic goal of leading east Asia and the strategic path to the mainland determine the nature of Japan's strategic decision-making and strategic behavior.Secondly,the mainland's strategic orientation has long influenced Japan's strategic behavior.Ancient Japan regarded east Asia as a strategic space for survival and strength,learned advanced culture to improve itself,and even made military expansion on the east Asian continent to seize wealth and expand its territory.In modern times,Japan carried out military expansion to the east Asian continent,occupied Korea,invaded China,and then extended to southeast Asia,and tried to go deep into the Asian hinterland,trying to establish the "greater east Asia co-prosperity circle",and turning Asia into its own strategic support to compete for hegemony with the west in the world.In the 1980 s and 1990 s,Japan attempted to expand again in the east Asian periphery,and constructed a "flying geese model" in east Asia to dominate the development of east Asia by means of foreign investment and industrial division of labor.This strategic orientation of dominating the east Asian continent led Japan to try to transform its leading role in the east Asian economy into an identity of institutional leadership after the financial crisis in 1997,so as to consolidate and enhance its dominant position and gain more power in world politics by relying on the development of leading the east Asian continent.At the level of strategic decision-making within the Japanese government,the strategic orientation of the political elites also plays an important role.The bureaucracy that underpins the prime minister's strategic decisions is not monolithic.Within the bureaucracy there are supporters who support different strategic orientations.Their strategic orientation will be reflected in the strategic text presented to top leaders.When a strategic text is selected by the leaders,the plan is implemented and transformed into the strategic action.With China's rising role and status in East Asia cooperation,Japan is not only finding it increasingly difficult to limit China's leading role,but also depending on China in some aspects.Political elites began to seek a "pan-East Asia" cooperation framework to compete with China and dominate the East Asia cooperation process.However,China's inexorable rise and the constraints of the United States,the continental strategic orientation gradually walks into the dilemma.Japan shrinks strategic pursuit,turns to the maritime strategy orientation,returned from the continent,using the support from US's AsiaPacific "rebalance" strategy,breaks East Asia with "value diplomacy",draw Australia,India and South Korea,and provide military support to countries that has sea territorial disputes with China,shape "Indo-Pacific strategy" framework,constructing a cooperative system led by Japan,so that Japan can rival with China in the East Asia continent.Japan is constructing a new strategic leadership role,tries to compete with China.However,the maritime strategic orientation also faces many challenges.Japan is not only subject to the suppression of the strategic interests of the United States,but also cannot be separated from the economic interests of China.Japan has to adjust its strategy and coordinate with China to "return" to the East Asia continent.Japan seems to need to make a strategic choice again.From the perspective of reality,the Marine strategic orientation has become the dominant factor of Japan's strategic decision-making,but the continental strategic orientation cannot be excluded,and even decides that Japan should adopt a strategy based on east Asian the continent,land and sea balance strategy.