The Making of Chapter 4

Northeast Asia comprises of countries such as Japan, China, North Korea, and South Korea. Japanese head of states made a visit to China to discuss issues regarding the two countries in an interest of making both countries benefit from the good relationship shared between them. Bilateral problems between the two countries are the main issue which needed to be addressed for the continued relationship in China and Japan. Coming into agreement over the disputed gas and oil exploration and the issue in Taiwan was never going to be easy (Calder, & Ye, 2010). The United States government tried to intervene by dictating some rules over China but their idea of China could not be embraced. Earlier in the year 2006, China did not act against North Korea for the continued test of nuclear weapons since it maintains a policy of stability between North Korea and China. North Korea on its part has leverage on China and this might seem as a possible reason as to why China was silent about the issue which forces China to stay away from any issue regarding North Korea.

Relationship between China and Japan is mostly viewed as hostile from the outside but when economically, both countries have an interest in each other (Calder, & Ye, 2010). Japan however has been viewed as a threat to the Chinese since lately the country prime minister has been bidding for permanency as a member state in the United Nations Security council. During the year 2005, bilateral trade between the two countries had reached US$227.1 and this happened when china overtook the US market in Japan. China has also expressed interest in solving the major issues facing the East Asia region. China heading the peace talks in regards to the nuclear development in the East Asia. Security concerns is the main point of view that Japan is concerned about since the threat through nuclear weapons is still fresh in their minds. 

Business wise, China is committed to improve its relationship with Japan since the lack of a common ground could see China lose market in Japan (Calder, & Ye, 2010).  According to an agreement on the development of a new understanding of each other in 2006, Japan drafted a blueprint to help create harmony between the two countries. Earlier in 2005, Chinas president had also drafted a proposal to the Japanese prime minister requesting him to forge a friendly relationship with China for continued correlations but this presented another major obstacle to both. Some of the messages in the proposal to Japan, China required Japan to take position for the aggressiveness against China and should be a concrete position. On their part, the Japanese had tried to work out the issue by making several visits to China but with no luck. China seemed like one country that did not want to create harmony between the two. At this point, both leaders had now transferred the communications to be between their ministers and not through the heads of states. Later on, the Chinese government decided to revive the peace talks by explaining to Japan the need for good neighbor relationship. China agreed to abide by the three main political documents between China and Japan (Calder, & Ye, 2010). These agreements were never going to see the light of day as the Japanese prime minister expressed discontented since enclosed were messages regarding his visits to the Yasukuni shrine in China. Most of the messages in the context were actually aiming at the next leader in Japan and not the sitting prime minister.

However, the concerned ministers in both countries came onto a mutual ground which involved a dialogue with drafted points which would heal the political heat between Japan and China.

Security concerns in China now engaged the United States since terrorism was now an international issue in their hands. Chinese military had begun a modernization strategy due to the rapidly growing economy in China. In a conference meeting held in Singapore, the US defense secretary expressed discontent on the ballooning military expenses in China and how transparent was the military (Calder, & Ye, 2010). The US expressed dissatisfaction on the reason China had missiles that had the capability to aim any country in the world and not just within the pacific length. In a report dated February 2006, the US reviewed US-China policy and wanted the Chinese to refrain from its military activity. In the following encounter, the US never mentioned the issues again and instead requested China to join forces and destroy the enemy.

In a series of events, China and the US carried out joint missions in the aim of finding peace. After the peace meetings and doing several missions together, China felt the urge to continue with its military affairs namely the (RMA) which is now worldwide. In its quest to expand the military actions, China sort help from other countries through partnership (Calder, & Ye, 2010). The RMA is an international affair that has seen many countries join its military to get training. According to reports, China military and the defense forces are all very far from the truth. Modernizing the military, continued improvement of its defense forces is a questionable act even though its defense is it is ranked after the US and other major advanced countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reference

Calder, K. E., & Ye, M. (2010). The making of Northeast Asia. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.