ABSTRACT
Japanese leadership and Asian democratization will be linked because Japan must choose whether to assist democratization in Asia as part of its new international leadership role. Japan has adhered to a strategy often called the "Yoshida doctrine," after Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida who is credited with creating the framework for Japan's postwar foreign policy. Japan has the capacity to influence the process of democratization in the Asian region by using quiet diplomacy; the leveraging of foreign aid, trade, and investment cooperation; technology transfers; the sponsorship of international symposia or declaratory statements; and by using its leadership in building or changing international regimes to better promote human rights. The reduction of foreign aid seldom threatens social stability or national security, and it is hardly a provocation for war. The Beijing regime counted on Japanese aid, loans, and grants to rescue it at a time of economic crisis and embattled legitimacy.
