scholarly journals Is My Rival's Rival a Friend? Popular Third-Party Perceptions of Territorial Disputes in East Asia

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niv Horesh ◽  
Hyun Jin Kim ◽  
Peter Mauch ◽  
Jonathan Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
South Korea ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Territorial Disputes ◽  
China’S Rise ◽  
South Korean ◽  
China's Rise ◽  
China And Japan ◽  
China Threat

This article examines how China's rise and increasing tensions with Japan are portrayed by South Korean bloggers. The deterioration in relations between China and Japan over the last two years generally projects onto the ways and means by which China's rise is portrayed in South Korea. Since Korea's relations with both its more populous neighbours have been historically fraught, and since it is also implicated in various territorial disputes with both countries, determining Korean sensibilities is an important way of gauging shifts in public opinion across the region. Although the conservative political establishments in both South Korea and Japan might see China as a constant threat, South Korean and Japanese netizens still popularly view each other with suspicion. By contrast, popular perceptions of the China threat in either country can be swayed by escalation of territorial disputes these two US allies still have with one another.

South Korean Attitude towards China: Threat Perception, Economic Interest, and National Identity

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 242-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heon Joo Jung ◽  
Han Wool Jeong
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
South Korea ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Threat Perception ◽  
Territorial Disputes ◽  
Economic Interest ◽  
South Korean ◽  
China Threat

In the context of growing tensions in East Asia over territorial disputes and history issues, one can observe the rise of anti-Chinese sentiments among South Koreans in the early 2010s although many South Koreans had positive views on China a decade earlier. What affects South Korean attitude toward China? Despite China’s significance to South Korea, there have been surprisingly few scholarly works attempting to answer this question. Based on an empirical analysis of survey data, this paper finds that Koreans’ favorable attitude towards China is negatively affected by threat perception of China’s military buildup, opposition to anftawith China, and exclusive national identity but not by whether or not one feels threatened by the American unilateralism and Japan’s remilitarization. This finding suggests that South Koreans’ feeling toward China is primarily affected by bilateral relationship rather than by balancing behaviors in consideration of broader security environments.

Comparing Japanese and South Korean Strategies toward China and the United States

Asian Survey ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 1241-1269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audrye Y. Wong
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Korea ◽  
North Korea ◽  
The United States ◽  
China’S Rise ◽  
Threat Perceptions ◽  
South Korean ◽  
China's Rise

Japan and South Korea have had differing patterns of responding to China’s rise and aligning with the United States. This can be explained by shifting threat perceptions based on interactions between evolving systemic and local threats, from both China and North Korea, as well as their relative degrees of imminence.

scholarly journals JAPANS’S CHINA STRATEGY

2013 ◽  
pp. 39-46
Author(s):  
A. A. Kireeva
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
China’S Rise ◽  
Divergence Of Opinion ◽  
Accurate Definition ◽  
China's Rise ◽  
The 19Th Century

The article deals with the transformation of Japan’s strategy vis-a-vis China. China and Japan are the most powerful states in East Asia in economic, political and military dimensions. They constitute two poles which shape the regional subsystem of international relations. China’s rise presents a considerable challenge for Japan’s foreign policy alongside with immense opportunity for the state’s development, with Japan’s and China’s positions, as well stability in East Asia resting upon Japan’s strategy towards China. Japan’s China strategy in the aftermath of World War II prior to 2010-2011 can be characterized as engagement with elements of containment. Japan has to a significant degree accommodated China’s rise by facilitating the successful implementation of its grand strategy, seen as the restoration of a great power status that China lost in the 19th century opium wars. The beginning of the 21st century saw a reassessment of Japan’s foreign policy and adopting a proactive stance. There is a divergence of opinion as to Japan’s strategy towards China in 2000s: while a number of scholars believe that there was a shift to balancing, others conclude that no such trend existed and “hedging” would be a more accurate definition, as it enables a state to protect from risks with regional coalitions. The early 2010s have seen Japan’s China strategy increasingly transforming into balancing and containment influenced by Japan’s growing perception of China’s maritime activities in the East China Sea as a threat to its security. However, there is growing possibility of adopting a “dual hedging” strategy, as China is first of all regarded as the key economic partner for Japan’s successful development.

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