Sino-Japanese Relations: Interaction, Logic, and Transformation (review)

This is a very thorough and comprehensive study of the political, security, economic, and sociocultural aspects of Sino-Japanese relations. Chapters 2 and 3 give a factual overview of the two countries’ interactions in these areas; they are followed by three chapters dealing with the strategic calculations, perception, and identities of the players on both sides. A separate chapter weighs the impact of the United States on Sino-Japanese relations and tries to verify whether there is a triangular strategic dynamic between the three powers. Another chapter analyzes the global systemic impact and, finally, the author presents four case studies of major events in the bilateral relationship. In addition to 345 pages of text, there are a further 100 pages with sources and footnotes. The study is theoretically and methodologically eclectic since Wan considers this approach better to analyze the motivations and trends in the relationship.

In the case of such a wide-ranging monograph, a review can pick up only a few issues. One such issue is Wan’s discussion about where each country situates the other in its own strategic vision. In the context of discussing the phenomenon of China and Japan pursuing similar but competing objectives, Wan states that both countries are heading toward becoming “normal countries.” According to his interpretation of Chinese perceptions, Japan is, however, seen as a block to China’s great-power aspirations because of Tokyo’s own great-power aspirations and closer links with the United States. Japan views China in the same way, that is, as a block to its great-power aspirations and increasingly as a security challenge, to which Tokyo has responded by hedging and strengthening its alliance with the United States. Interestingly, Wan points out strategic goals the two countries “should have or could have adopted for the bilateral relationship” (p. 124) (e.g., multilateral cooperation could have helped to advance their respective aspirations, or their common interest in combating terrorism and piracy), but they failed to do so because of Chinese people’s deep-rooted mistrust of Japan and the perception of a threat from a rising Japan. This is an important point, but it is strange that Wan seems to ignore the fact that China is also deeply suspicious of the U.S. interests behind Japan’s greater world-power aspirations.

Moreover, the author tries to illustrate his point about China’s distrust by referring to Beijing’s growing hostility to Tokyo’s quest for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council, contrasting this with the U.S. government generally encouraging Japan to play a bigger international role. While generally this is correct, the Security Council example at least is badly chosen because the United States—for its own reasons and unrelated to China’s motivation—has actively sabotaged Japan’s Security Council ambitions by making conditions unacceptable to a majority of member states (i.e., supports only Japan’s entry into the Security Council) while rhetorically pretending to support it.

The issue of emotions, particularly in relation to the history issue, is taken up many times in the book, and the author is to be congratulated for confronting it squarely and methodologically. Wan argues that emotions have become a serious obstacle to an improvement of relations and to keeping the relationship on a more even keel. Better and objective information is generally considered an important means of improving a bilateral relationship, but Wan disabuses the reader of this positive dictum. Instead, he shows that the more the Japanese know about the real China, the more negative the Japanese views become, whereas in China, more information tends to create a better image of Japan. This, however, is counteracted by the strongly negative perception held by the public, a perception encouraged by the media and the party’s need for legitimacy. Other factors enhancing the negative role of emotions are the disappearance of traditional go-betweens and the emergence of new players, including chat rooms on the Internet. In addition...