"Observations on Lack of Transparency in China’s Nuclear Arms Expansion"

Born in 1972, Mr. Kobayashi graduated from the School of Law and Politics at Kwansei Gakuin University. He then joined Kahoku Shimpo, and after working in the editorial department’s economic section, he left the company in 2007. He received a master’s degree in international relations from Sciences Po Strasbourg in 2013, and a master’s degree in public policy from Sciences Po Rennes in 2014. He enrolled in the doctoral course at Mines ParisTech in 2015, earning his Ph.D. in 2019 with his thesis, “The Relationship between Politics and Science in the Crisis Response to the Accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.” He has held his current position since July 2019. His recent publications include “Contributions by Nuclear Technology and Next-Generation Nuclear Reactors to Nonproliferation,” in the April issue of Komei, and “Russia’s Ukraine Invasion and the Protection of Nuclear Plants during War — a First-Time Challenge,” (IINA).

He received his DPhil in 1988 from Sussex University, and later spent several years as Visiting Scholar at the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong, the Japanese Embassy in Beijing, Harvard University, Peking University, and at the Mercator Institute for China Studies. Before joining the University of Tokyo, he taught at J. F. Oberlin University and Rikkyo University. He served as President of the Japan Association for Asian Studies, and as the Secretary General of the New Japan-China Friendship 21st Century Committee. He currently serves as Senior Adjunct Fellow of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, Distinguished Research Fellow of the Japan Forum on International Relations and Director of JICA Ogata Sadako Research Institute for Peace and Development. His publications include The Politics of Wage Policy in Post-Revolutionary China, (Macmillan, 1992), and Japan-China Relations in the Modern Era, (co-authored, Routledge, 2017).

Graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1985 and completed his Master’s program (area studies) at the University of Tsukuba in 1998. Joined the Maritime Self‐Defense Forces in 1985 and became a helicopter pilot. Stationed in China between 2003 and 2006 as a naval attaché. Became chief of the intelligence section, MSDF Maritime Staff Office, Ministry of Defense, in 2006 and commanding officer of the 21st Flight Squadron, MSDF, in 2009. Worked at IHS Jane’s from 2011 as an analyst and business development manager and joined The Tokyo Foundation for Policy Research in 2013, and became the Director of Policy Research in 2016 before assuming his present position in June 2017. His works include Chugoku no gunji senryaku (China’s Military Strategy), Toyo Keizai Inc., co-author of Magari kado ni tatsu chugoku (China at a Turning Point), NTT Publishing, Beichu shin reisen no makuake (After Sharp Power), Toyo Keizai Inc., and Yoku wakaru gendai chugoku seiji (Contemporary Chinese Politics), Minervashobo, Taiwan yuji no shinario: Nihon no anzenhosho wo kenshosuru (Scenarios for a Taiwan Contingency: Appraising Japan’s Security), Minervashobo.