.21 Century Japan's Africa Policy Adjustments

The overall political situation of Africa has been stabilizing and the economy has begun to gain recovery since the beginning of the 21st century. Since the 9/11 terrorist attack, especially since the establishment of the African Union in July 2002, the international status of Africa has been constantly rising. Accordingly, big powers and power blocs in the world, such as China, the United States and the European Union, have strengthened their relations with Africa. Under the circumstances, Japan began to review its policies towards Africa. On account of both its strategic realities and its economic interests, it is imperative for Japan to adjust its African policies. Japan's previous policies toward Africa, during the Cold War, mainly focused on economic field, which is considered quite superficial nowadays. After entering the 21st century, Japan started adjusting its African policies ranging from politics, economy to security. Politically, it increased Japan-Africa high-level exchanges, established more embassies in Africa, and got involved in African affairs through international meetings; economically, it improved bilateral economic relations by expanding investment, trade and ODA; in the security area, Japan intensified cooperation with Africa by holding high the banner of"counter-terrorism". However, Japan is still not satisfied with the slowly developing Japan-Africa relations in the last decade. Through an analysis,we can find out problems in Japan-Africa relations. Although Japan's adjustment of its African policies will not have a big negative impact on China-Africa relations, we still need to keep calm and properly handle China-Africa relations.