Beyond Stability: New Directions for Sino-Japanese Relations‪.‬

THE FUTURE OF THE SINO-JAPANESE relationship will have broad implications for regional and global security. In the past, Japan's policy toward China has been aimed at building up politically stable relations and expanding economic ties. While these goals will continue to be important in the coming years, new features of Japanese foreign policy are emerging that are likely to influence the nature of the Sino-Japanese relationship. As Japan takes a more active role in regional and global political and security issues, it will redefine its policy goals and priorities in order to meet post-Cold War challenges. Japan-US relations, Japan's role in the Asia Pacific region, and Japan's contribution to the United Nations are already the subjects of such redefinition. Japan's policy toward China is likely to undergo a similar transformation. In the coming years, as Japan pursues more activist political goals in the Asia Pacific region and around the globe, Japan's China policy must emphasize making Sino-Japanese relations productive for these new goals and priorities. To date, Japan and China have concentrated attention on developing politically stable bilateral relations and on expanding economic ties. Building up stable relations with China, a victim of Japanese aggression in the past and a potential threat to Japanese security in the future, has been an important aim of Japan's post-World War II foreign policy. Japan has also sought the expansion of bilateral trade and economic relations, and in recent years, China has provided valuable sites for investment to Japanese businesses. For China, the normalization and improvement of relations with Japan after World War II had at least two strategic advantages. First, it strengthened China's position vis-a-vis the Soviet Union. Second, it helped attain Japanese financial and technological support for the development of China's economy.