Upcoming Events
March 2-3, 2013:
JFI will co-sponsor an academic workshop co-organized by Kimie Hara & Ken Coates, “East Asia-Arctic Relations: Boundary, Security and International Politics – Part I” in Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. It will be followed by a policy workshop as Part II of the event in Waterloo on March 5.
March 5, 2013:
Keith W. Hipel (Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo & Renison University College) will launch a new project, Implementation Research and Education Systems Center (IRESC) for Reducing Disaster Risk. The opening event will take place at Kumamoto Castle Hotel and the keynote address by Keith Hipel is titled “Tackling Climate Change: A System of Systems Engineering Perspective.” The project will be joined by four local universities (Kumamoto University, Kumamoto Prefectural University, Kumamoto Gakuen University, & Kumamoto Health Science University)
March 11, 2013:
K.C. Belair Centre at Renison University College and JFI will host a presentation by Sachie Saijo (Program Manager for Peace Winds Japan Tohoku Program and "Hope For Youth" program participant, Renison University College) titled “Two Years Later: Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan.”
March 13, 2013:
K.C. Belair Centre at Renison University College and JFI will host a presentation by James Manicom (CIGI Research Fellow) titled “Cooperation and Conflict in the Asian Century: China's Relations with Southeast and East Asia.”
March 20, 2013:
K.C. Belair Centre at Renison University College and JFI will host a presentation by Kimie Hara titled “Continuing Legacies of the San Francisco System: Past, Present, and Future."
March 27, 2013:
K.C. Belair Centre at Renison University College and JFI will host a presentation by David Welch titled “How Dangerous are East Asia's Territorial Disputes?”
May 27-28, 2013:
David Welch and Seung Hyok Lee will participate in the second conference of Suntory Foundation’s project “Reexamining Japan in Global Context” in Tokyo, headed by Professor Masayuki Tadokoro of Keio University.
Recent Events
January 23, 2013:
University of British Columbia’s Julian Dierkes (Director, UBC Centre for Japanese Studies) hosted a roundtable discussion titled “The December 16, 2012 Japanese Election, the New Abe Cabinet, and What It All May Mean for Japan, East Asia, and the World in 2013.” The event was co-sponsored by UBC’s Centre for Japanese Studies, Institute of Asian Research, Department of Political Science, Liu Institute for Global Issues, and Vancouver Mokuyokai Society. It was attended by more than 100 people in the audience.
December 20, 2012:
David Welch and Seung Hyok Lee made a presentation titled “Island Disputes and the ‘Democratization’ of East Asian National Security Decision - Making” at the 30th Smart Talk Forum hosted by East Asia Institute (MacArthur Asia Security Initiative Core Institution), Seoul, Republic of Korea.
December 17, 2012:
David Welch and Seung Hyok Lee participated in the first conference of Suntory Foundation’s new project “Reexamining Japan in Global Context” at the International House of Japan. Professor Vaclav Smil of University of Manitoba in Winnipeg and Mr. Tanaka Nobuo at the Institute of Energy Economics Japan presented their keynote speeches on Japan’s energy future.
December 8, 2012:
Kimie Hara participated as a panelist in a roundtable" Political, Symbolic, Psychological, Strategic and Economic Perspectives on Dokdo/Takeshima” at the International Conference on Perspectives on the Sovereignty Issue over Dokdo/Takeshima, University of Wisconsin, USA.
December 4, 2012:
Kimie Hara gave a presentation in Contemporary Asia Seminar Series “60 Years Later: The SanFrancisco Peace Treaty and the Regional Conflicts in East Asia" at The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University, USA.
November 13-16, 2012:
Kimie Hara participated in Border Regions in Transition (BRIT) – XII“Arctic Thaw and the Cold War Frontiers in East Asia” at Fukuoka, Japan & Busan, Republic of Korea.
Publications
January 8, 2013:
Gregory Chin of York University and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) published an article, “Currency Internationalization in Asia, ” from East Asia Forum.
Chinese version of the article is also published from the Global Studies Institute (Hong Kong).
Paperback editions now available:
Kimie Hara, Cold War Frontiers in the Asia-Pacific: Divided Territories in the San Francisco System, Routledge, 2007, 2012.
Kimie Hara, Northern Territories, Asia-Pacific Regional Conflicts and the Åland Experience: Untying the Kurillian Knot, Routledge, 2009, 2013.
Japan Watch
The New York Times, “Work with China, don’t contain it” by Joseph S. Nye Jr. (January 25, 2013)
Along with the issue of the alliance with the United State, the “China factor” is one of the most important foreign policy priorities for Japan. However, as demonstrated by the recent island dispute, Japan’s relations with China have reached one of the lowest points in the entire bilateral his tory. Although there is some speculation and some hope that the new Abe government will seek to breakthe deadlock, his popular image abroad as an anti-China conservative with hawkish views on historical disputes with Japan’s neighbours—not to mention anti-Japanese riots in several parts of China last year—makes it difficult to be optimistic. Although Abe’s priority is on economic recovery at this point, it is little wonder that many in Japan have been arguing for strengthening relations with the United States to balance China, especially in preparation for a possible contingency on the East China Sea.So far, the United States has been urging the two parties to reach a peaceful resolution without taking sides; however, rising tensions in the region have led some American analysts to urge a policy to “contain” China.
In his article, Professor Nye argues that although a “containment” policy would reassure Japan, it would be imprudent, as it would guarantee animosity. As it is, many Chinese officials believe such a policy is already in place. Nye argues that containment may have been appropriate during the Cold War vis-à-vis the Soviet Union, but it is not appropriate for dealing with China today. During the Clinton and Bush administrations, the United States has pursued an “integrate but hedge” strategy in which America embraced deepening economic ties with China and supported its integration into the world economy as a responsible stakeholder, while concurrently strengthening its relations with traditional regional allies and new partners, such as India. The Obama administration’s current “pivot” toward Asia, likewise, contains both elements of cooperation and competition with China.
Asia’s regional balance of power must always be in a toolkit of American policymakers, especially when many Asian countries, growing weary of being dominated by China’s “hard” power and its increasing assertiveness to reclaim its traditional status and prestige in the region, welcome the American presence. However, Nye asserts, balancing must be accompanied by cooperation so as to avoid giving an impression of containment, or making China “feel encircled or endangered.”The United States can help China in various ways—for example, by helping it join ongoing negotiations over the Trans-Pacific Partnership if it meets certain standards. The two countries can also work together in areas such as ensuring free passage of ships delivering Middle Eastern energy to Asia. Moreover, Nye argues, the United States should encourage China and Japan to do the same for common interests, especially undersea resources.
Nye is urging the United States to play a productive role to promote Sino-Japanese cooperation. This is a welcome call.
Less confrontational relations are in everyone’s interest in the long run. Although many citizens in both countries will concur, it cannot be overlooked that one of the biggest obstacles to a “functionalist” approach is mutual domestic suspicion and ill-will. In such a context, it will take great leadership and courage on the part of both Tokyo and Beijing to break the deadlock and set Sino-Japanese relations on a more positive path. Leaders in both capitals can be sure of one thing: this will not be popular at home in the short run.
