Research On Sino-US-Japan Trilateral Relations

The study on bilateral and trilateral relations among China, the U.S. and Japan has alwaysbeen a significant part in the study of international relations and has become a hot issue in recentstudies of both big powers and specific regions. With the continuous change of international andregional systems in East Asia, the U.S. returns to Asia, China rises abruptly and peacefully, thetrend of Japan to stride forward to a normal country gets more and more obvious, thusSino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations becomes more closely, the trilateral interactive relationshipgets more complex and the impact of the trilateral relations enhance constantly. The huge impactof Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations on regional politics and safety not only depends on thestructural changes in their respective strength and status, but also on the form and process of theconstruction of the trilateral mechanism. Due to the structural changes in the power and strengthof the three nations and the trends toward institutionalization of the trilateral relations has beenclosely linked with changes in regional structures and mechanisms, its impact is more direct andfar-reaching.China, the U.S. and Japan are all global major powers with broad interests and playextensive roles in the world. In East Asia and Northeast Asia, should Sino-U.S.-Japan relationsform or develop to trilateral relations like in the Cold War or to triangular relations in the newperiod? Should the relations continue to maintain the unsymmetrical trilateral relationship, or toform a regular triangular one? Does the relation of the three nations hinder the development ofregional integration, or become the foundation and guarantee during the construction of regionalcommunity? All the questions mentioned above are the key issues being paid close attention to byboth governments and academia in recent years. Therefore, this research is based on the erabackground and essential attribute of the development of Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations, thepower structures and operational mechanisms of the trilateral relations have been analyzed, thepossibilities and limitations of the three nations to coordinate and to make reasonable dialogueshave been discussed, thus the complexity change of the interdependent trilateral relations and thecomplex impact on the regional system of the three nations have been revealed, therefore usefulattempts in thinking about the future changes in the pattern of East Asia and regional strategy havebeen provided.This article is divided into five parts, on the basis of definition of the Sino-U.S.-Japantrilateral relations, focuses on the analysis of the structure and operating mechanism ofSino-U.S.-Japan trilateral, finally discuss the future prospects and impact of China-US trilateralrelations. Specifically, the first chapter includes a general overview of the present study andstructural design of Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations. The significance in theory and practice ofresearch of Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations has been pointed out, and then the logic andthoughts of the research have been summarized. Chapter Two is the presentation of the concept oftrilateral relations and their background after the Cold War. Mainly focuses on the definition oftrilateral relations (including the triangular relations). In this part, literature research method ismainly used, own understanding of the definition of trilateral relations on basis of enumerate hasbeen put forward, based on the analysis of the concept of triangular and trilateral relationspresented by both Chinese and foreign scholars. Chapter Three is the overall structure ofSino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations. A detailed analysis of the power structures of the three nationsin many fields including Politics, economy, military and culture has been carried out, and the overall structural changes and changes in the structure of the various fields of the power of China，U.S. and Japan have been pointed out and the influence of the changes of the nation’s power onthe relationship among the three nations has been emphasized. Chapter Four describes theoperational mechanisms of Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations, mainly focuses on theinvestigation of operational mechanisms and the analysis of the impacts of the unsymmetricalstructure of the three nations on the Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations, the main impacts of theform of trilateral relations on both regional issues and issues that outside the region have also beendiscussed thus the basic form of the three nations which is very complicated are highlighted.Chapter Five is the future prospects of Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations. Mainly focuses on theanalysis of the prospects of the relations and how to construct the Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateralrelations standing on the perspective of China. The possibilities and limitations of the threenations to coordinate and to make reasonable dialogues and the impact of the three nations on theregional system have been pointed out, and emphasize the importance for China to constructSino-U.S.-Japan trilateral coordination mechanism objectively and realistically thoughmulti-objective perspectives considering both national and regional interests. Chapter Six is theconclusion. The overall trends and impact of Sino-U.S.-Japan trilateral relations are summarizedin this part.