Post-Cold War Sino-Japanese relations and Japan’s China policy

This chapter argues that, under the first and second Abe Shinzo administrations, Japan confidently balanced China to negotiate the terms of Japan's engagement with China. By the time of the first Abe Shinzo administration in 2006, the Japanese government had begun to act on deep-seated anxieties over China's geopolitical and economic re-emergence. The chapter provides an overview of the evolution of post-Cold War Sino-Japanese relations with a focus on strategic thinking, or lack thereof. It focuses on to Abe's strategic realism towards China. The second Abe administration enshrined the logic of strategic realism in Japan's first-ever National Security Strategy and this has continued to permeate Japan's interactions with China due to the longevity of the Abe leadership. The chapter also argues that a China focus fueled the Japanese government's desire to advance a proper strategy to confront China's rise.