03170nam a22002657a 4500 39758 39758 9789383445783 eng- 327.52051 KUM-S Kumar, Sudeep author Shinzo Abe and Japan-China security relations : irritants & legacies / Dr. Sudeep Kumar New Delhi : Indian Council of World Affairs, 2023. 46p. Includes bibliographical references The paper examines Japan-China security relations during the second administration of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from 2012. This was also the year when Chinese President Xi Jinping came into power. For the Abe-Xi Era (2012-20), no comprehensive assessment is available regarding the evolving Chinese grand strategy and Japan's strategic responses within the larger policy framework of Trump's East Asia policy. The rise of these two strong Asian political leaders of world's second and third largest economies initiated a series of backchannel efforts to normalise their contemporary bilateral relations. As a result, at the 2014 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Beijing, their 'quiet diplomacy' facilitated the brief meeting of both leaders. On Xi's official invitation, Abe visited Beijing again in 2018 in pursuit of a major breakthrough in bilateral relations. This period saw Abe proactively involved in diplomatic manoeuvrings to safeguard major bilateral and regional issues such as the 'bilateral history problem', 'core contentious issues', 'rise of China', and 'nuclear-capable North Korean missile program' and so on. On the other hand, China's rising economic and military power emboldened Xi to decide the future direction of bilateral relations vis-à-vis Japan and the United States. This period was also to see American President Donald Trump (2017-2021) and his transactional policies further complicating the multilayered Japan-China security relationship. The strategic competition between China and the United States led to a paradigm shift where Japan, as the defence ally of the United States, was adapting to the evolving Chinese grand strategy in the multi-polar Indo-Pacific. Japan wanted to remain a 'tier-1' power and planned hike in the defence budget, rapid military modernisation, and increasing joint military training in the region. It seems that Japan's strategic response to the rise of China during this period faced a crucial question, i.e. whether to kowtow to Xi's building a community of common destiny. In this backdrop, this paper analyses the continuity and changes in Abe's security policy towards Xi-led China and possible implications for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. English. National security Government policy Japan Foreign relations China China—Foreign relations Japan Japan—Politics and government 21st century China—Politics and government 21st century Security, International East Asia Geopolitics East Asia Indo-Pacific Region—Strategic aspects ddc BK 0 0 0 0 NASSDOC NASSDOC 2024-03-28 Gratis 0.00 NA 0 327.52051 KUM-S 54728 2025-08-06 00:00:00 0.00 2024-03-28 BK