ABSTRACT
Aussenpolitik theories place causal power squarely on the shoulders of system-level variables, namely changes in the balance of power, economic, military and political, the logic of economic interdependence and international institutions and norms. The primary subject of all major neoclassical realist works is the impact of relative power on foreign policy. It treats both domestic and system-level factors as independent variables, updating and systematising insights from classical realism. Chinese images of Japan, both past and present, are constitutive of China's foreign policy identity. Japan's foreign policy is evolving to respond to changing external and internal environments, and the parameters underpinning both Japan's foreign policy and national identity are shifting. Since the 1990s, public criticisms of the Japanese Foreign Ministry in particular for being subservient to China and other players in the region have become more frequent.
