Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia
Japan’s threat perceptions toward China have hardened over the post-Cold War period. This led Tokyo to rely more on overt balancing strategies compared with engagement and hedging strategies. While hard balancing measures are widely discussed in the literature, little or no attention is paid to soft...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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2022
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| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155758 |
| _version_ | 1811693499905474560 |
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| author | Singh, Bhubhindar |
| author2 | S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies |
| author_facet | S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Singh, Bhubhindar |
| author_sort | Singh, Bhubhindar |
| collection | NTU |
| description | Japan’s threat perceptions toward China have hardened over the post-Cold War period. This led Tokyo to rely more on overt balancing strategies compared with engagement and hedging strategies. While hard balancing measures are widely discussed in the literature, little or no attention is paid to soft balancing. Though concerned about China’s strategic rise, Japan’s strategic options are limited by the entrenched normative constraints within the security policymaking structure. These conditions make soft balancing a critical and viable strategy for Japan. The prominence of soft balancing is illustrated by analyzing Japan’s response to China’s widening influence in Southeast Asia, primarily focusing on two areas–East Asian multilateralism and the South China Sea territorial disputes. Empirically, this paper offers a more nuanced analysis of Japan’s response to China’s strategic rise; and theoretically, explains the way Japan’s case strengthens the conceptual utility of soft balancing through the incorporation of a normative perspective. |
| first_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:52:40Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | ntu-10356/155758 |
| institution | Nanyang Technological University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-10-01T06:52:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ntu-10356/1557582023-03-05T17:24:02Z Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia Singh, Bhubhindar S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Social sciences::Political science Japan Balancing Japan’s threat perceptions toward China have hardened over the post-Cold War period. This led Tokyo to rely more on overt balancing strategies compared with engagement and hedging strategies. While hard balancing measures are widely discussed in the literature, little or no attention is paid to soft balancing. Though concerned about China’s strategic rise, Japan’s strategic options are limited by the entrenched normative constraints within the security policymaking structure. These conditions make soft balancing a critical and viable strategy for Japan. The prominence of soft balancing is illustrated by analyzing Japan’s response to China’s widening influence in Southeast Asia, primarily focusing on two areas–East Asian multilateralism and the South China Sea territorial disputes. Empirically, this paper offers a more nuanced analysis of Japan’s response to China’s strategic rise; and theoretically, explains the way Japan’s case strengthens the conceptual utility of soft balancing through the incorporation of a normative perspective. Submitted/Accepted version 2022-03-18T06:58:02Z 2022-03-18T06:58:02Z 2022 Journal Article Singh, B. (2022). Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia. Asian Security, 18(1), 1-19. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14799855.2021.1942849 1479-9855 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155758 10.1080/14799855.2021.1942849 2-s2.0-85110734001 1 18 1 19 en Asian Security This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Asian Security on 19 Jul 2021, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/14799855.2021.1942849. application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Social sciences::Political science Japan Balancing Singh, Bhubhindar Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia |
| title | Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia |
| title_full | Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia |
| title_fullStr | Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia |
| title_full_unstemmed | Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia |
| title_short | Japan’s responses to China’s rise : soft balancing in Southeast Asia |
| title_sort | japan s responses to china s rise soft balancing in southeast asia |
| topic | Social sciences::Political science Japan Balancing |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10356/155758 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT singhbhubhindar japansresponsestochinasrisesoftbalancinginsoutheastasia |