Breaking the Mould: Japan's Subtle Shift from Exclusive Bilateralism to Modest Minilateralism (Report‪)‬

The strengthening of the US-Japan alliance under the KoizumiAbe governments has prompted a neorealist argument that Japan is aligning even more closely with the United States in order to balance China. (1) In practice, Japan's strategy for dealing with Chinese power is more complex than simply bandwagoning with the United States, which has been the foundation of its security policy for more than five decades. (2) The shift in Japanese strategy became evident under the Abe administration. Key differences can be discerned in the responses of the governments of Prime Ministers Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe to China's rise. Although Prime Minister Abe sought to go even further than Prime Minister Koizumi in strengthening security ties with the United States, (3) the Koizumi administration gave sole priority to the United States, while the Abe administration adopted a dual-track approach, combining enhanced bilateralism with enhanced regionalism. A stronger US-Japan alliance was complemented by the buildup of much broader and deeper security ties with other countries in the Asia Pacific, with the aim of constructing a containment coalition against the growth of Chinese power. (4)