Japans-Leadership-Role-in-East-Asia-Cooperation-an

Japan’sLeadershipRoleinEastAsia:CooperationandCompetitionbetweenJapanandChinaQuanshengZhaoAbstractTheissueofJapan’sregionalroleisasourceofconcernanduncertaintyforitsAsianneighbours.ByfocusingprimarilyonJapan’srelationshipwithChinaaswellastheUnitedStates,thisarticlefirstexaminestheconceptoftransformationalleadership.ItthendiscussesregionalismintheAsianPacificarena,Japan’spossibleleadershiprole,andthechangingdynamicsofpowerdistributionintheregionforthepasttwodecades.ThechallengeforJapanisthatitmustdevelopajointleadershiprolewithChinainordertointegratetheregionashasbeendoneinEuropeandNorthAmerica.Intheeconomicdimension,suchcooperationandintegrationisalreadywell-developed,althoughlimitationsstillremain.Themostdifficultproblemslayinstrategicandpoliticaldimensions.Japan’srelationswithChinacontinuetobeaffectedbytwomajorfactors,namelyhistoricallegacies(warmemories)andtheUnitedStates’roleintheregion(particularlywithregardtotheissueofTaiwan).TheissueofJapan’sregionalroleisasourceofconcernanduncertaintyforitsAsianneighbours.Inearly2003,therewereprotestsinChina,SouthKoreaandotherAsiancountriesafterJapanesePrimeMinisterKoizumivisitedtheYasukuniShrineindowntownTokyo,honouringJapan’swardead(includingClassAcriminalsofWorldWarII).IthighlightedthepervasivesentimentthatJapanhadnotcometotermswithitsimperialpast,whichinturnhasbecomeanobstacletoJapanexercisingleadershipintheregion.Notsurprisingly,theUS,China,RussiaandSouthKoreabecameinvolvedindefusingtheNorthKoreannuclearcrisis,whileJapanhaskeptrelativelyquiet.ThesetypesofincidentsnaturallyprovokequestionsaboutwhatkindofleadershiproleJapanmayplayintheregion.IntermsofregionalcommunitybuildinginEastAsia,thereweretwonoticeableandfascinatingdevelopmentsinthelaterpartof2003.ThefirstwastheAugust2003negotiationsovertheNorthKoreannuclearcrisiswhichwashostedinBeijing,andincludedsixparties:NorthandSouthKorea,China,Japan,Russia,andtheUnitedStates(FarEasternEconomicReview2003).Thesix-partytalkshavecontinued112-QuanshengZhaoin2004,andseemlikelytobeinstitutionalizedfortheyearstocome.ThesecondeventwastheASEAN-plus-threesummitinOctober2003,whichincludedthetenASEAN(AssociationofSoutheastAsianNations)countriestogetherwithChina,Japan,andSouthKorea.Inthismeeting,ChinasignedtheTreatyofAmityandCooperationwithASEAN,bringingtheprospectsforanEastAsiancommunityonestepclosertofruition(McBeth2003).Thelatterdevelopmentindicatedprogresstowardregionalcommunitybuilding,whereastheformerappearedtolaythefoundationsofanewsecurityframework.BothJapanandChinaactivelyparticipatedintheseevents.ThispaperwilldiscussJapan’sregionalleadershipbyfocusingprimarilyonJapan’srelationshipwithChina.ItwillfirstexaminetheconceptoftransformationalleadershipandthendiscussregionalismintheAsianPacificarena,Japanesepossibleleadershiprole,andthechangingdynamicsofpowerdistributionintheregionforthepasttwodecades.ItwillconcludewithsomeremarksaboutthefuturedirectionsofJapan’sregionalrole.1.TheConceptofTransformationalLeadershipAlthoughleadershipinbothdomesticandinternationalsettingsrequiresvisionandstrategy,theseformsofleadershipvarygreatlyintermsoftheirspecificcharacteristics.Forexample,domesticleadershipisoftenmeasuredbytheskillofindividualleaders,whoareattimescapableoftransformingdomesticpolitics.AccordingtoJerryKoehlerandJosephPankowski(1997,16),transformationalleadershipisdefined“asaprocessofinspiringchangeandempoweringfollowerstoachievegreaterheights,toimprovethemselvesandtoimproveorganizationprocesses”.Clearly,theconceptoftransformationalleadershiprequiresthefollowingbasiccharacteristics:hightoleranceforuncertainty,lowtoleranceforcertainty,sustainedenergy,passionforquality,perseverance,positiveselfimage,credibility,andstrongdesiretoinfluenceothers(KoehlerandPankowski1997,63-75).Apparentlythissetofcriteriaisprimarilytargetedattheinternalpoliticalsituationofeachcountry.AnunderstandingofJapan’sregionalleadershiprole,however,hastobecontextualizedintermsofthedynamicsofinternationalrelationsintheregion.Intheinternationalsetting,theenvironmentisquitedifferent.Fromarealistperspective,acountry’sleadershipabilityJapan’sLeadershipRoleinEastAsia-113isrelatedtoitsstrength,asmeasuredbypolitical,economic,military,andtechnologicalpower.Internationalleadershipalsodependsonacountry’sabilitytodevelopitsvision,enhancecoordination,andgaincredibility.Inlightofthisconception,thisarticlewillstartwithananalysisofchangingpowerdistributionintheAsianPacificregionanditsimpactonmajorpowerrelations.TheanalysiswillfocusonregionalleadershipissuesandpayprimaryattentiontoJapanandChina,aswellastheUnitedStates.Atthesametime,thisexaminationwillconsiderotherinfluentialplayersintheregion,includingSoutheastAsia,Korea,andRussia.2.RegionalisminEastAsiaandJapan’sRoleTheAsiaPacificregiondisplaysthetwodifferenttrendsofregionalismandnationalism.Astheprocessofglobalizationcontinues,onecanseerisingregionalintegrationandtheformationofregionaleconomicblocks.Therearethreemajoreconomiczonesintheworld:Europe,NorthAmericaandEastAsia.Thefirsttworegionshaverapidlyprogressedtowardsregionaleco