The Rise of China and Japan-South Korea Relations: Potentials vs. Obstacles

UC Berkeley's Institute for East Asian Studies presents a talk by Yoshihide Soeya of Keio University on realities associated with the rise of China and its effect on Japan and South Korea.

The spectacular rise of China gives rise to two divergent trends of the time. For one thing, the rise of China is the result of China pursuing open door and reform policies within the liberal international order where Japan, as well as South Korea in more recent years, has had an important role to play. At the same time, however, "the China-centric nationalism" seems to be on the rise as well, explicit in its assertion of territorial claims dating back into "ancient times" of Chinese domination, implying a paradigm clash with the liberal international order. How should Japan and South Korea cope with these apparently contradictory realities associated with the rise of China?

Yoshihide Soeya is a Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Law and the Director of the Institute of East Asian Studies at Keio University. He is the author of Nihon no "midoru pawa" gaiko (Chikuma Shinsho, 2005), and most recently co-edited Japan as a 'Normal Country'?: A Country in Search of its Place in the World (University of Toronto Press, 2011). He received his PhD from the University of Michigan.