Progress And Prospect Analysis On Regional Cooperation Of China, Japan, And South Korea

Regional cooperation between China, Japan, and ROK has entered into the15thyear in2014. During the last15years, the cooperation and interaction between thesecountries has become closer and more frequent. It seems that cooperation has turnedinto the connection and foundation of the interaction of the three countries, no matter onthe basis of institutional level or on the practical level. This essay attempt to analyze theregional cooperation between China, Japan, and ROK by using the liberalism theory,trying to explore the nature of China-Japan-ROK’s regional cooperation from a newangle.After the Cold War, regionalism has become well-known all around the world.Mainly means sovereign states forming cooperation on the basis of regional range,regionalism has proven to be a significant cooperative phenomenon in the20th century,especially after World War II. As a member of Asian countries, China, Japan, and ROKbecomes newly developing regional cooperative organizations, facing many problemsthat needs to be solved. To strengthen the cooperation and make it normalized andinstitutionalized is a crucial problem needs to be taken into consideration. Theestablishment of China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Area has deepened the dependencybetween each other, directing their cooperation to a more institutionalized direction.Thus, to influence the cooperation in political and security area by making full use ofcooperation in economic and trade area remains the topmost priority at the moment.The first part starts with the concept of cooperation, pointing out that cooperation between nations is a highly political issue, which requires different countries makeproper adjustment and change from the existing behaviour pattern. Cooperation onlyhappens when actors believe their policy is under practical or potential conflicts, ratherthan under harmonious circumstance. Thus, the essay put forward three conditions thatneeds to be fulfilled in the process of cooperation under the frame of Neoliberalismtheory. By using game theory, this essay holds the idea that common interests are thebasis of cooperation between nations. Besides, since the repeated game will change therepay structure in overall, thereby impel actors to take reasonable actions out ofconsidering the future benefit expectation, therefore, frequently interaction is animportant condition for cooperation between nations. According to Neo-liberalinstitutionalism, international institution possess the functions such as summarizingbehavior expectation from governments, providing with the channel of informationcommunicating, improving the quality and reducing the asymmetry of information,lowering the cost, endowing legitimacy for action and policy, changing actors’ interestpreference, coordinating and adjusting policy and action from different governments,and reducing the influence of indeterminacy. As a result, specific institutional restraint isan important external condition for cooperation between nations.The second part will focus on the history and evolution of China-Japan-SouthKorea’s cooperation, investigating the current situation of cooperation, and thenanalyzeand summarize the characteristics of cooperation between China, Japan, and SouthKorea. The essay holds the idea that though complementarity exists between China,Japan, and South Korea, they have made less progress in the past and it has beendifficult for them to form an institutionalized cooperation. The three countries havemade great progress in the area of economy, non-traditional security that are notinvolved with politics; however, cooperation progress in the high political area such aspolitics and security has proved to be slow and less-effective. One of the most obvious characteristics in cooperation between China, Japan, and ROK is that the degree ofinstitutionalization is considerably low, which is also the main factor that restraint theircooperation.The third part intends to forecast the prospect for cooperation by analyzing thedriving force and resistant force of China-Japan-South Korea’s cooperation. The essayconsiders that the three countries have different opinions, stands, and conflicts ofinterests on historical issues, territorial sovereignty disputes, and regional hot spotissues, and their relationship is easily affected by Japan and South Korea’s relationshipwith the U. S.. The high economic interdependency existing in the relationship betweenChina, Japan, and South Korea and issues in traditional and non-traditional area thatneed to be solved together, are the long-term driving forces for their cooperation.What’s more, the geographical location, and the frequency of interaction are the lastingdriving forces for their cooperation. All these driving forces will not be changedsubstantively in the foreseeable period. Therefore, there will be a promising prospect forthe cooperation of China, Japan, and South Korea.