The more the merrier? Sino-Japanese security relations in the context of complex interstate rivalry in the Asia-Pacific region

Abstract

This paper analyses the evolution of Sino-Japanese rivalry in the security sphere concentrating on the Chinese perspective, and placing it within the wider context of complex interstate rivalry between China, Japan and the United States. From a theoretical viewpoint, this research contributes to the literature on interstate rivalry from multiparty perspective, which has been overlooked in existing research. China–Japan–US complex interstate rivalry includes elements of positional, spatial and ideological rivalry simultaneously. When rivalries mix two or more rivalry types, they become more difficult to resolve. The two broad trends of China’s military build-up and deepening US–Japan alliance evolve in tandem intensifying rivalry dynamics and increasing positional elements of rivalry. There are many indications on various levels that for China, controlling Japan’s international ambitions has become less important and more attention is paid to ways in which Japan helps the United States in reaching its objectives in Asia through their alliance agreement. The cases analysed to display complex interstate rivalry include the Taiwan question, territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas, and the North Korean nuclear issue.

Keywords:

• China
• Japan
• complex interstate rivalry
• Asia-Pacific security
• the United States

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Kai Schulze and Verena Blechinger-Talcott for organizing workshops in which the authors could work on this special issue, as well as Einstein Foundation for funding the workshops. Many thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their professional and detailed comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Elina Sinkkonen is the Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs. She received her doctorate from University of Oxford, Department of Politics and International Relations in 2014. Her research interests include Chinese nationalism, public opinion issues in China, authoritarian regimes, regional security issues in East Asia as well as the domestic-foreign policy nexus in IR theory.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Kone Foundation.