Greater China and Japan

Book excerpt: Contemporary relations between Greater China and Japan have been conditioned both by differing responses to the impact of Western colonialism during the mid-nineteenth century and the legacy of the Cold War. There are mutual suspicions: the Chinese fear of a Japanese military revival and the Japanese concern over increasing Chinese economic competition and territorial ambitions. Robert Taylor recognises the mistrust in Sino-Japanese relations, but also sees shared advantages in this traditionally adversarial relationship. The Chinese are currently modelling their economic strategy on Japan's developmental experience, even though China's policies and institutions have distinctive features and differing agendas. The study also examines the growing momentum towards sub-regional integration; rivalry between Greater China and Japan is giving way to competition between regional economic blocks and corporate entities. Greater China and Japan explores the ambiguous relationship between the two countries and states that its development is crucial to the future of the region in the twenty-first century.