The ongoing confrontation between the U.S. and China continues to redefine the modern global order, requiring Japan to take the state of U.S.-China relations into consideration in its foreign policy. Japan, as a U.S. ally, must pursue its own foreign policy agenda with a keen understanding of China’s actions and its current state of affairs. As demonstrated through theories of international relations, China’s political leaders appear to be playing strategic games both on domestic and international levels at the same time.

Since many factors are at work behind China’s approach to foreign policy and its external posture as perceived by Japan, attempting to glean China’s intentions based solely on these observations can lead to misconceptions. Therefore, it is necessary to piece together a range of views of China’s actions to grasp the whole picture.
 

This project strives to assess various aspects of China’s foreign policy strategy in the context of the ongoing U.S.-China confrontation, and uses the findings to act as a foundation for Japan’s security policies. To this end, this project collects fixed-point observations across a range of fields to assemble a broader picture of China’s overall approach and inform the public in Japanese society.

Bonji Ohara