Japanese Diplomatic System In The Early 21st Century

Entering the 21st century, with the sustained tide of global peace and development and increasing momentum of multi-polarization and globalization, there have been profound changes in international situations. These changes not only provide new opportunities and driving force for the promotion of healthy interactions and cooperation among nations, but also demand all the countries to readjust their development and diplomatic strategy. Japan is no exception. In particular, due to the enduring economic stagnation, prevalence of the China Threat Theory, frequent exposure of scandals in the Foreign Ministry, and plummeting trust of the public on the Foreign Ministry and diplomats, there have been ever-growing accusations from Japanese public opinion against the lack of strategic awareness of domestic diplomatic theories, separated and inconsistent management of diplomatic practices and the lack of effective coordination mechanism. There is an urgent call for Japan to formulate the diplomatic strategy so as to comply with the tide of times, completely reform the Foreign Ministry, and strengthen the dominant role of the Cabinet especially the Prime Minister in coordinating and guiding diplomatic practices.To that end, Japanese government has reshaped the basic framework of diplomatic strategy in the new century which emphasizes national interest, strengthens independent diplomacy, and properly addresses the challenges of surrounding areas. With guidance of the framework, Japanese government frequently put forward a series of reform policies and principles including Plan of Actions on Reforming the Foreign Ministry.Since the beginning of the reform in 2002, the reform of the Foreign Ministry has been consistently deepening and moving forward year after year on the basis of reform at ideological and systematic levels and reform at organizational and institutional levels. The reforms mainly focus on the relations between politician and civil servants, the awareness of diplomats, personnel system, ODA, NGO cooperation mechanism, and public diplomacy etc. With the deepening and widening of the reform, changes also take place regarding diplomatic concepts, decision-making methods, administrative methods as well as diplomatic practices. In particular, new changes in the diplomatic system that emphasize the role of head of state in political communication, stress economic and regional cooperation and highlight the role of public opinion will exert significant impact on the development of China-Japan relations.Reform on diplomatic system in Japan is in response to the volatility of international situation. It has provided general plan for the diplomatic activities and points out direction for the future development. However, so as to meet the demands of the new era, Japanese diplomatic system is still confronted with many new challenges, both bilateral and multilateral, and needs further improvement.