Japan's Diplomatic Strategies Toward China After The Cold War

The Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between China and Japan was in 1972. From then on, Japan constantly adjusted its foreign policies toward China according to the changes of national situation and the alternation of Japan's national politics. Since the Normalization, Sino-Japanese relations had been making tortuous progress. Furthermore, because the World was in a transitional period which was turbulent and full of changes after the Cold War, every country adjusted its national strategies to keep up with the times.After the end of the Cold War, there appeared varieties of study groups, which were either official or civilian, to put forward many reports of policies dealing with Japan's future strategies. For example, in the late 1990s, "the Task Force on the 21st Century Japanese Foreign Affairs", which was established by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, advanced a report about the diplomatic policies. On January 18~th, 2000, the ex-Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's consultant agency - "the Prime Minister's Commission on Japan's Goals in the 21st Century" brought forth a report named "Individual Empowerment and Better Governance in the New Millennium" On November 28th, 2002, the Prime Minister Junichio Koizumi's consultant agency - "the Task Force on Foreign Relations" submitted a research report named "Basic Strategies for Japan's Foreign Policy in the 21st Century: New Era, New Vision, New Diplomacy" to the Prime Minister to make specific suggestions on the guide line and the implementary programs of the diplomatic strategies. The basic outline of Japan's Diplomatic Strategies in the new century was clearly illustrated here. It was stated that three main trends of Japan's Diplomatic Strategies were to stress the "national interests", to reinforce the "diplomatic independence" and to manipulate the "new regional situation". The report made it clear that Japan wanted to strengthen the comprehensive national power, to enhance Japan's international status, to reassert Japan's influence over the whole world, especially over the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). After the end of the Cold War, the significant features of Japan's Diplomatic Strategies toward China were that Japan wanted not only to reinforce the cooperation with China, but to restrict China'scomprehensive power as well, and that Sino-Japanese relations were closely related to the general situation of maintaining stability and development both in Asia and in the whole world. Coming to the 21st century, the Sino-Japanese relationship becomes extremely delicate. Maintaining a friendly relationship between China and Japan is a diplomatic issue of great importance both to Japan and to China.Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China after the Cold War are analyzed in the body part of this thesis by four chapters.The first chapter is about the introduction of Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China.The second chapter is about the evolvement of Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China. The evolvement of Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China after the Normalization of Diplomatic Relations between China and Japan is divided into two stages: the first stage is from the Normalization to 1990s, and the second is from 1990s to the present. In spite of the political discord happened between Japan and China, the Sino-Japanese relationship gains progress continuously, and is developing at full speed. Especially, during the second stage, the Sino-Japanese relationship, after many twists and turns, has been obtaining fast development, despite the complicated situations in home and abroad.The third chapter is about Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China after the Cold War. In particular, the main changes happened in Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China and the factors affecting the strategies are stated here. The diplomatic independence, dual character and its integration, being the characteristics of Japanese diplomacy after the Cold War are affecting Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China, namely the increase in Japan's diplomatic independence, the prominence in its dual character and the salience of Japan's diplomatic integration toward China. In the meantime, Japan's diplomatic strategies toward China are also influenced by some containing factors from Japan itself, the United States and China.The prospect of the Sino-Japanese relationship is introduced in the forth chapter. In this new century, the Sino-Japanese relationship is facing both the opportunities and conflicts. There are three possibilities in the prospect of the Sino-Japanese relationship: the first possibility is that the economic development and the political discord are continuing; the second is that the economic relationship will be reinforced and the political trust in reciprocal security will be increased; the third is that the economic relationship will be damaged and the political trust in reciprocal security will be at stake. Although there are many difficulties in the development of the Sino-Japanese relationship, the people in these two countries, with their sincere efforts and whole-hearteddevotion, are expecting the stable development in Sino-Japanese relationship.