Engagement and Hedging: Japan’s Strategy toward China

Foreign policy strategy toward China has always been a priority for the Japanese. In the 1980s, Japan strengthened its engagement with China, offering Official Development Assistance (ODA), and cooperating with the United States and Western Europe to promote the growth of a Chinese market economy that would contrast with the Soviet system. The 1989 massacre of protesters in Tiananmen Square drew international criticism, however, damaging China’s status abroad. Following the Taiwan Strait Crisis between 1995 and 1996, the conceptualization of China as a threat began to gain even more traction in Japan. This paper argues that the perception of China as a threat has led the Japanese to incorporate a “hedging” strategy into its policy of engagement with China. This “hedging” strategy has included strengthening Japan’s alliance with the United States, and building a multilayered security framework that gives China incentives to conform its external behavior to “international standards.” The author further warns that a mixed strategy could be ineffective, and recommends that Japan attract the cooperation of China and the world through long-term investments in institutions and technology, traditional areas of Japanese strength.