History, Nationalism and Face in Sino-Japanese Relations

Abstract

While Sino-Japanese relations are quite stable presently, it was as recent as 2004-2005 that the two nations slid into the worst bilateral quagmire in decades. When in 2007 Japan was China's third largest trading partner and China surpassed the US to become Japan's largest trading partner, what is eating these two otherwise very pragmatic traders? History, nationalism and face, enabled by recent changes in the strategic environment, are the factors that have been most salient in bringing about the plunge in Sino-Japanese relations in 2004-05 and though Sino-Japanese relations have been much better since, these factors hang like a storm front over Sino-Japanese relations today.

Connections matter: Institutionalization of LDP's relations with the CCP

“…Realists and neorealists put emphasis on the sudden rise of China as a factor that changed the balance of power in East Asia, pushing both countries towards more confrontational postures (Auslin, 2016;Hughes, 2016;Lande, 2018). Constructivists interpret the causes of Sino-Japanese crises from the perspective of ideational factors, such as nationalism (Moore, 2010), culture (Uemura, 2015), and mutual identities (Gustafsson, 2016). By contrast, the representatives of the neoliberal school of IR theory point to economic interdependence as a determinant alleviating frictions between Tokyo and Beijing (Sutter, 2002, pp.…”

Making It Personal? A Comparative Study of Institutional Constraints on Foreign Policy in Russia and China

“…Most of the Chinese MIDs are related to competing maritime territorial claims with neighbouring states. A better explanation for variation in these cases could be offered by surges of nationalism in China 85 and China's attempts at balancing against United States' influence in the region. 86 As for Russia, there is some variation, mainly in the personalist dimension, but there does not seem to be any particularly strong relationship between change in personalism and initiation of MIDs.…”

The Clash of Power and Nationalism: The Sino-Japan Territorial Dispute

“…Yet, nationalism is a constantly evolving and renovating phenomenon, characterized by ‘conflation, multivocality, indeterminateness, confusion, and mysticism’ (McVeigh, 2004, p. 6). It is challenging to fully grasp the workings of nationalism in addition to comprehending its role in Sino-Japan relations because nationalism could be quite ‘malleable and vulnerable to manipulation and/or guidance by leaders and media, as well as driven to some extent by events’ and even by the public (Moore, 2010, p. 298). Moreover, further analysis is needed to evaluate the linkage between power shift and nationalism, in particular how and in what ways the changing power relations between China and Japan have affected each other’s nationalism and created a regional order in which Sino-Japan tensions, rather than rapprochement and cooperation, are more likely to dominate their bilateral ties.…”

“…At the end of the twentieth century, Japan has started losing its supremacy in the realm of economics without yet having acquired political goodwill and diplomatic strength sufficient enough to dissipate its neighbours’ lingering antipathy towards the country, embedded in the memories of its imperial expansion and atrocities in the past. 3 Internally, a combination of Japan’s own political and economic malaise has conflicted with its basic sense of superiority as the ‘lead goose’ in the course of the Asian economic miracle and ‘the only Asian power able to beat the Westerners at their own game in the past’ (Moore, 2010, pp. 300–301).…”