Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2008. / Thesis Advisor(s): Olsen, Edward A. ; Miller, Alice L. "March 2008." Description based on title screen as viewed on May 15, 2008. Includes bibliographical references (p.63-65). Also available in print.

Zugl. Frankfurt, Main, Univ., Diss.

The East China Sea (ECS) dispute between Japan, the People’s Republic of China, and the Republic of China began in the early 1970s and has continued to escalate. Although the Japanese government claims to handle conflicts in the disputed area as domestic matters, scholarship has focused on the dispute as an international relations or legal issue between states. This project explores the dispute as an issue in domestic Japanese politics by examining the narratives and power dynamics of the major political parties, nationalist and ultraconservative groups, and Okinawan activists vis-à-vis the national government and international actors.

The ascent of China to a global power status has created a new wave of theoretical discourse on what this means for the future of international relations. The general consensus on a unipolar order of international relations is slowly giving way to discourse. The time of polarity shift in the system is associated with a likely conflict between the descending hegemon and the ascending power (Snyder 2002; Mearsheimer 2010). This theoretical background suggest that in the future, we might witness a military conflict between the US and China. On the other side of the spectrum is a more optimistic view of China's rise, which emphasizes the role of economic interdependence and the extreme cost of any aggressive foreign policy that would escalate the conflict potential between China and the US (Ikenberry 2008; Kang 2007; Fravel 2010). This assumption of a future military conflict between the US and China is at the center of this research. In the following pages I will explore the idea of a military conflict between the US and China in an in-depth analysis of the most contested and conflict-prone issues between China and the US: the future of Taiwan and the Senkaku Island dispute.

La presente tesis doctoral se centrará en el estudio de uno de los conflictos territoriales más candentes que existen en la región de Asia-Pacífico y, por ende, en la escena internacional, que enfrenta a Japón contra China y Taiwán por la soberanía de las islas Senkaku/Diaoyu. Sin embargo, se hará mayor hincapié en la postura nipona debido a que para Pekín no deja de ser un conflicto más en la región dentro de un plan que tiene como fin dominar el Mar de China, por las implicaciones geopolíticas que ello conlleva. Los objetivos generales que pretendemos alcanzar se sustentan en analizar la política exterior y de seguridad japonesa ante tal contencioso, como también las consecuencias e implicaciones que puede tener para la misma a la hora de entender el papel que debe desempeñar Japón en la escena internacional. Por ahora, ese papel se limita a ser el de “un gigante económico y un enano político”, situación que le impide poder negociar en pie de igualdad ante el ascenso chino. Por esta razón, su deseo de dotarse de un ejército convencional, que le permita ejercer una “diplomacia activa” en la política internacional. Y, por otro lado, también deseamos analizar la política exterior y seguridad china, donde pretendemos valorar y analizar cómo este conflicto se circunscribe dentro de una estrategia geopolítica de Pekín para controlar su mar circundante y, a la postre, dominar la región de Asia-Pacífico. Ya, en última instancia, valorar si esta disputa territorial puede llevar a un enfrentamiento armado entre ambas potencias asiáticas. En definitiva, nuestro propósito era intentar responder a tres hipótesis: La primera hipótesis que nos propusimos responder, “este conflicto supone un replanteamiento de la política exterior y de seguridad de China y Japón”, nos ha llevado a asumir que, aunque entendemos la gran importancia de las islas Senkaku/Diaoyu, dadas las prebendas que podría aportar y al espíritu nacionalista que las envuelve, creemos que no implican por sí solas una modificación de la política exterior japonesa, máxime cuando al poco de finalizar la Guerra Fría y, sobre todo, durante la administración Koizumi, ya se estaban planteando un nuevo papel en la escena regional e internacional de Japón, antes de que la problemática de las Senkaku/Diaoyu alcanzara las dimensiones actuales, como consecuencia del ascenso chino. Y es que en el caso de la política exterior china, las islas Senkaku/Diaoyu no conllevan ningún remplantamiento de su política exterior, pues ha quedado patente que juegan un papel dentro de una gran estrategia de seguridad ya definida desde el fin de la Guerra Fría en aras de alejar de sus costas a Estados Unidos. Por otra parte, respecto a la segunda hipótesis: “existe contrariedad y malestar chino, actuando en consecuencia, ante las acciones japonesas sobre las islas Senkaku/Diaoyu, y, en menor medida, ante Estados Unidos y su posición con los conflictos marítimos de la región debido a la importancia geopolítica del Mar de China”, ciertamente, hemos podido comprobar que existe un fuerte malestar chino ante las acciones niponas, sobre las Senkaku/Diaoyu, e intromisiones estadounidenses sobre los conflictos territoriales que posee Pekín en el conjunto del Mar de China (de vital importancia para su seguridad). Es algo que se refleja en los contundentes e inmediatos comunicados ante cualquier declaración o política foránea que socave o discuta su soberanía de dichos territorios en disputa. Por último, respecto a la tercera hipótesis: “cabe la posibilidad de un enfrentamiento armado entre China y Japón por el dominio de las islas Senkaku/Diaoyu”, en este punto, a corto plazo resulta impensable debido a que los intereses económicos entre ambos países son enormes y, hoy por hoy, el tema de las Senkaku/Diaoyu es secundario. Tal es así que no se prevé que alcance importancia para desencadenar un conflicto a pesar de la propaganda que se le da en los distintos medios de comunicación como consecuencia del creciente nacionalismo de unos y otros. Eso no quiere decir que no pueda llegar a ser un casus belli como consecuencia de los recelos que se sustentan la una y la otra, pero eso en todo caso sería a medio o largo plazo, puesto que ahora sería desastroso para las dos. Y es que gracias a la actual interdependencia económica, queda aún lejos, pero no por ello, hay que bajar la guardia y no afrontar la problemática en su justa media. / La tesis ha contado durante el curso 2017/2018 con una Ayuda para la Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU-2016), concedida por el Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte de España.

China, Japan and South Korea are three big economies in Northeast Asia that are innegotiations for a trilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). A concluded FTA among them willcreate world’s third largest regional market that consists of of 1.52 billion people and thataccounts for 20% of world’s GDP. However the economic cooperation between the threecountries has constantly been interrupted by political issues that root back in the history of thethree countries. In the history the three countries have developed enemy images of oneanother, which have restrained their interaction over the years and influenced their currentrelationship. This thesis uses the enmification theory to explain how these enemy images andenmity feelings have emerged in the history and what impacts they have on political issuesand the economic cooperation between the three. Examples on political issues that are broughtup in this thesis are the recent intensified territorial disputes over Diaoyu/Senkaku islands andDokdo/Takeshima islands.

This thesis examines the influence of domestic nationalist movements on bilateral relations between China and Japan. I will use Two-level game theory as the primary analytical framework. Two-level theory provides a useful lens for examining policy formation at discrete stages, domestic, international, and domestic again in order to ratify international agreements. I will examine three primary cases through this framework to study the effects of domestic nationalism on bilateral diplomacy between Japan and China. The East China Sea Dispute is the only actual territorial dispute between Japan and China. The Yasukuni Shrine controversy and the textbook controversy are both discrete elements of a larger dispute over war memory and guilt, as well as construction of historical narratives for political purpose. I will seek to show that domestic nationalism has a strong limiting effect on the ways in which China and Japan are able to interact with each other on the global stage, as leaders must retain their legitimacy against a backdrop of unresolved historical issues and domestic contention. / text

This Master's thesis deals with Sino-Japanese relations. Its aim is to answer to what extent the economic relations between China and Japan are affected by their political disputes, and whether political or economic interests are preferred. The first chapter tries to identify the most influential cultural and historical factors for the contemporary Sino-Japanese relations and also deals with the Senkaku Islands territorial dispute. The second chapter describes the development of the political and economic relations between China and Japan since the Second World War up to the present. The third chapter is dedicated to the future perspectives of the Sino-Japanese political and economic relations and to the changing roles of China and Japan in the Asia-Pacific region.

The brutal massacre of Nanking occurred in 1937 by Japanese forces and killed civilians, men women and children. Women were raped and tortured, and Chinese men had to bury each other alive. Considering the Nanking massacre apologies rendered towards the Chinese government and civilians after 1945 from for instance prime ministers of Japan but dissatisfaction has been expressed by the Chinese government and occurred by protests all over China. At the same time as apologies have been rendered towards the Chinese government and civilians, denial of the Nanking massacre has been shown in different scenarios and forms that have made the relationship between the two states, China and Japan increasingly strained and denials of the massacre has been shown in different ways. A qualitative content analysis combined with a case study of the increasingly strained relationship and denials will be the methods for this essay to find reasons, happenings and statements. From the perspective of classical realism, this essay discovers that economic growth, a feeling of seclusion in Japan and threats regarding power and growth in Asia both military and of growth at markets combined with a shifting strategy from the statesman, Xi Jinping could be reasons for Japan to make up denials of the massacre of Nanking and also reasons for the increasingly strained relationship.

MARTINA SUMICHRASTOVA 10.5.18 The Fading Face of the Chinese Dragon? The Dispute Over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands ABSTRACT Keywords: the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, China vs Japan, The face of nation, two level game theory, Chinese Dream The emergence of the global-economic crisis of 2008 helped the People's Republic of China to acquire the status of the world's second-largest economy. Not only did it open the doors for more significant opportunities for China in the sphere of commerce, but it allowed the People's Republic of China to be seen differently in the matters of military, diplomacy as well as on their level of domestic politics. This thesis aims to provide an insight into a smouldering territorial dispute over the Senkaku/ Diaoyu Islands concerning the deeply enrooted concept of the face. The concept of the face is essential mainly for Confucian societies as well as the East- Asian societies. However, slipping of the Chinese Dream, the People's Republic of China seems to be challenged in socio-political terms. Is the face of Chinese Dragon fading away? As it is well known, both sides involved in the conflict, China, and Japan have had a turbulent history of disputes and quarrels. What makes the Chinese Officials to get involved in the territorial dispute, to strengthen the face of Chinese Dragon? The...