Hidetaka Yoshimatsu | Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (original) (raw)
Papers by Hidetaka Yoshimatsu
Winning in Asia, Japanese Style, 2002
Page 1. This document is downloaded from DR-NTU, Nanyang Technological University Library, Singap... more Page 1. This document is downloaded from DR-NTU, Nanyang Technological University Library, Singapore. Title Japan's economic diplomacy towards East Asia : fragmented realism and naive liberalism. Author(s) Yoshimatsu, Hidetaka. Citation Date 2007 ...
East Asian Policy, 2012
China regards rare earth elements (REEs) as strategic products and fosters the REE industry with ... more China regards rare earth elements (REEs) as strategic products and fosters the REE industry with neo-mercantilist support. It then restrains exports of REEs as a means of exerting pressure on Japan in maritime security disputes. In response, Japan pursues a soft balancing strategy to strengthen linkages with Vietnam and India, and reconfirms the value of security linkages with Washington. Thus, the economic instrument became a catalyst in stimulating balancing behaviour.
International Area Studies Review
This article examines Japan’s diplomatic efforts to retain regional influences in evolving region... more This article examines Japan’s diplomatic efforts to retain regional influences in evolving regional environments represented by the Chinese ascendancy. It regards identity as a key variable that constitutes the base for Japan’s policy ideas, and examines the formation, application and limitations of specific policy ideas that derived from Japan’s identity in the political and economic domains. The main argument of this article is three-fold. First, the Japanese government formulated specific policy ideas – value-oriented diplomacy and Japan-tailored standards – on the basis of identities as a democratic nation and a mature market economy. Second, the Japanese government incorporated such policy ideas into diplomatic strategies and sought to realize them mainly through the creation of cooperative institutions. Third, domestic political instability and the limited validity of policy ideas constitute serious constraints on arresting further decline in Japan’s influence in Asia.
This article seeks to analyze the development of free trade agreement (FTA) policies adopted by C... more This article seeks to analyze the development of free trade agreement (FTA) policies adopted by China, Japan, and South Korea with particular interests in the trilateral FTA. It seeks to address what the determinant factors that have conditioned the development of the trilateral FTA are. While the three governments began the informal joint study of the trilateral FTA in 2003, they pursued diverse trade strategies that disturbed a shift to formal negotiations. However, China’s strategy to hedge against the US influence in East Asia became a catalyst in shifting from the long-lasting study stage to the launching of negotiations. Moreover, Japan’s strategy to participate in TPP negotiations as a soft balancing against China through closer political linkages with the United States weakened China’s and South Korea’s willingness to engage in the trilateral FTA positively. Thus, the three countries’ commitments to the trilateral FTA were primarily confined by their specific diplomatic objectives responding to the political-economic evolutions in the Asia-Pacific region.
The main objective of this study is to elucidate great power politics in the Mekong region by exp... more The main objective of this study is to elucidate great power politics in the Mekong region by exploring how China and the United States have committed to the development of Mekong countries and what characteristics are found in the commitments. The argument that this study advances is three-fold. First, China’s pragmatic policies and close linkages with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have contributed to raising economic linkages and political leverage in the Mekong region. Second, the US commitments to Mekong development were characterized by advanced-nation-centered and ideal-oriented, which did not necessarily lead to strengthening political and economic linkages between the United States and Mekong countries. Third, while the US Mekong policies have gradually become more practical by paying attention to infrastructure development with strengthened linkages with ASEAN, the United States needs to advance policy harmonization with Japan and search for dialogue with China in pursuing combined objectives of governance and geopolitics.
International Relations of the Asia- …, Jan 1, 2007
Australia and Japan have frequently had difficult relationships with their neighbours. This paper... more Australia and Japan have frequently had difficult relationships with their neighbours. This paper suggests that when seen in their specific historical contexts, the fact that Australia and Japan have become ‘Asia’s odd men out’ is unsurprising. The central argument of this paper is that the consolidation and institutionalisation of regions is in large part a political exercise that reflects, and is informed by, discrete national conversations. Until and unless such national discourses align with wider transnational developments, regional processes are unlikely to prosper. An examination of Japan’s and Australia’s respective attempts to engage with and define their region reveals just how problematic this process can be.
Contemporary Politics, 2012
This article seeks to examine constraints and challenges that the Association of Southeast Asian ... more This article seeks to examine constraints and challenges that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states are confronted with in formulating and implementing their strategies in response to evolving regional environments represented by the rise of China. It argues that China’s southern neighbours have adopted purposeful strategies in order to mitigate potentially negative effects from China’s growing capabilities in East Asia. These strategies led to the expansion of membership in the East Asia Summit (EAS) and positive involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, encouraging America’s substantial commitments to the Asia-Pacific. However, ASEAN has failed to form the unified front on the EAS and TPP because its members have adopted diverse stances on and policies towards the two institutions. Moreover, an identity issue constitutes a crucial impediment to promoting cooperation between ASEAN members and the USA. While Washington has intensified diplomatic linkages with ASEAN, the US identity shown in its adherence to the results-oriented approach still provokes some concerns among the ASEAN members.
Journal of Contemporary China, 2009
This article seeks to explore how stable regional order under the possible community formation ca... more This article seeks to explore how stable regional order under the possible community formation can be created in East Asia in moves towards China’s ascendancy. For this objective, it takes advantage of a framework assuming that the development of an East Asian community would be possible under conditions that the states in the region develop common identity and norms, as well as multilateral institutions that guarantee the long-term interest. Moreover, the society needs to be involved in identity formation and institution-building. This article argues that China has been gradually embedded into formal multilateral institutions and less formal policy networks formed by state and non-state actors, which have been conducive to the creation of a regional community. However, both collective norms at the governmental level and shared cultural consciousness at the public level have not developed enough to have significant influences on directing China firmly to the formation of a regional community.
New Political Economy, 2010
Through an analysis of the formation of free trade agreements (FTAs), this article seeks to exami... more Through an analysis of the formation of free trade agreements (FTAs), this article seeks to examine the factors that caused the gap in Japan and China’s relationship with Southeast Asia to emerge and expand in the new millennium. In order to address this question, the article focuses on China and Japan’s diplomatic styles and domestic political institutions and examines how these two elements influenced negotiations on the formation of FTAs, as well as the evolving perceptions that the Southeast Asian nations have of these two states. The article argues that Japan and China possess different kinds of weaknesses in implementing feasible external policies – a lack of policy decisiveness for Japan and weak policy credibility for China – which have resulted from the operation of domestic political institutions. Given these differences, while China implemented pragmatic diplomacy that helped improve its policy credibility, Japan’s bargaining diplomatic style did not serve to rectify its weak policy decisiveness. Such differences in their diplomatic approach have led to the differing influence of these two states on Southeast Asia.
Asian Perspective, 2010
Although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and Japan commonly recognize ... more Although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and Japan commonly recognize that development of the Mekong region is indispensable for achieving the smooth promotion of regional integration in East Asia, their approaches to this issue have been diverse and redundant. While ASEAN has exhibited interest in Mekong development since the mid-1990s, its members’ commitments have showed significant disparity. The Chinese government has identified close links with the Mekong region as a key to advance political and economic linkages as well as to sustain the development of its underdeveloped southern areas. Japan’s Mekong policy has shifted from developmental to geopolitical, combining formal institutions, financial resources, and normative ideas. Such a strategic orientation aims to balance China’s growing influence by fostering direct political linkages with the Mekong countries. Weak coordination in approach to and interests in Mekong development has had negative impacts on institution building in East Asia. ASEAN’s limitation to coordinate development programs has undermined its credibility as the central body to advance institution building in the region. The different approaches of China and Japan have intensified rivalry on institution building in East Asia, disturbing the evolution of ASEAN+3 institutions in the development field.
Asian Affairs: An American Review, 2012
The main objectives of this article are to examine the evolution of Japan's China policy in a pow... more The main objectives of this article are to examine the evolution of Japan's China policy in a power shift to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and to provide theoretical explanations for the evolution. The DPJ government showed accommodating postures toward China, and such postures derived from the DPJ leaders’ particular preferences and perceptions as well as the party's aspiration for legitimating its power formation against the previous government. At the same time, political and security linkages with Washington constituted the baseline for Japan's evolving diplomatic intercourses with China. Neoclassical realism, which integrates domestic political factors with systemic political configurations, can provide valuable insights for explaining major aspects in the evolution of Japan's China policy.
Asian Politics & Policy, 2012
This article examines Japan’s and South Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) policies in the new mi... more This article examines Japan’s and South Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) policies in the new millennium, seeking to address the question of why significant differences in FTA commitments emerged by 2010 in the two countries. In addressing the question, it highlights, as an independent variable, executive leaders’ policy preferences and concrete actions to realize them. Japanese chief executives had weak preferences for promoting FTAs and thereby did not show decisiveness to set up a new administrative institution and to persuade the people of promoting difficult but necessary FTAs. In contrast, Korean executive leaders had strong preferences for linking the growth of the Korean industry to the external markets through FTA promotion, and they sought to strengthen administrative institutions to propel FTA policy and to make the people accept FTAs as indispensable for sustaining the export-oriented Korean economy.
Asian Survey, 2010
This article analyzes Japan’s motivations in opening negotiations on free trade agreements with A... more This article analyzes Japan’s motivations in opening negotiations on free trade agreements with Australia and Switzerland, highlighting intersections between domestic and international factors. While Australia is a security ally of Japan and a main source of natural resources, Switzerland is a traditional ally in World Trade Organization negotiations and considered a gateway to the European market.
Japanese Journal of Political Science, 2010
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2010
Asian Journal of Political Science, 2010
After the early 1990s, the wave of regionalism covered broader areas in the world, and Northeast ... more After the early 1990s, the wave of regionalism covered broader areas in the world, and Northeast Asia, which had weak regional cohesion largely due to history-oriented animosity, gradually developed initiatives for regional cooperation since the late 1990s. This article seeks to address why and how China, Japan, and South Korea have pursued regional cooperation by relying on the concept of ‘regional governance’. It advances two arguments. First, the governments of China, Japan, and South Korea have identified the avoidance of risk from uncertainty as a major objective of promoting trilateral cooperation in specific functional areas. Second, they have gradually intensified the harmonisation of regulatory frameworks in the cooperative process in collaboration with non-state actors. The article examines the arguments by tracing the evolution of trilateral cooperation in environmental protection and information technology (IT) development.
East Asia: An International Quarterly, 2005
In Northeast Asia, historical legacies, a lack of common identity and great power politics impede... more In Northeast Asia, historical legacies, a lack of common identity and great power politics impeded political cooperation and economic integration. However, China, Japan and South Korea have exhibited a growing interest in political and economic cooperation since the late 1990s. This article examines how the three Northeast Asian countries have developed political and economic cooperation by using the concept of ‘multilayered intergovernmentalism’. It argues that despite political tensions between China and Japan, regional cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea has been promoted by talks and bargains among the heads of state and government who strengthened incentives for closer cooperation. Moreover, multilayered frameworks formed at the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) level, through the Track II mechanisms, and in issue-specific areas have provided valuable input into advancing regional cooperation initiatives. Whereas the APT framework offered incentives and opportunities to exchange views and information for closer trilateral cooperation, the outcomes of the research at the Track II were incorporated into the leaders' cooperative initiatives. The existence of issue-specific frameworks stirred talks and negotiations at the summit level.
Journal of East Asian Studies,, 2007
This article examines Japan’s evolving commitments to technology development and technology diffu... more This article examines Japan’s evolving commitments to technology development and technology diffusion in Asia. It explores Japan’s technology strategies in three areas—Internet protocol, open source software, and horology— focusing on the importance of technology standards. The development and diffusion of technology standards has become one of the core elements in establishing industrial competitiveness. The importance of technology standards encouraged the Japanese government and firms to pursue a regional policy to develop and diffuse new technological ideas and standards in Asia. Japan’s commitments were accepted by its neighbors because they could obtain various benefits from collaboration with Japan, such as technological exchanges, technology transfer, and financial aid.
Winning in Asia, Japanese Style, 2002
Page 1. This document is downloaded from DR-NTU, Nanyang Technological University Library, Singap... more Page 1. This document is downloaded from DR-NTU, Nanyang Technological University Library, Singapore. Title Japan's economic diplomacy towards East Asia : fragmented realism and naive liberalism. Author(s) Yoshimatsu, Hidetaka. Citation Date 2007 ...
East Asian Policy, 2012
China regards rare earth elements (REEs) as strategic products and fosters the REE industry with ... more China regards rare earth elements (REEs) as strategic products and fosters the REE industry with neo-mercantilist support. It then restrains exports of REEs as a means of exerting pressure on Japan in maritime security disputes. In response, Japan pursues a soft balancing strategy to strengthen linkages with Vietnam and India, and reconfirms the value of security linkages with Washington. Thus, the economic instrument became a catalyst in stimulating balancing behaviour.
International Area Studies Review
This article examines Japan’s diplomatic efforts to retain regional influences in evolving region... more This article examines Japan’s diplomatic efforts to retain regional influences in evolving regional environments represented by the Chinese ascendancy. It regards identity as a key variable that constitutes the base for Japan’s policy ideas, and examines the formation, application and limitations of specific policy ideas that derived from Japan’s identity in the political and economic domains. The main argument of this article is three-fold. First, the Japanese government formulated specific policy ideas – value-oriented diplomacy and Japan-tailored standards – on the basis of identities as a democratic nation and a mature market economy. Second, the Japanese government incorporated such policy ideas into diplomatic strategies and sought to realize them mainly through the creation of cooperative institutions. Third, domestic political instability and the limited validity of policy ideas constitute serious constraints on arresting further decline in Japan’s influence in Asia.
This article seeks to analyze the development of free trade agreement (FTA) policies adopted by C... more This article seeks to analyze the development of free trade agreement (FTA) policies adopted by China, Japan, and South Korea with particular interests in the trilateral FTA. It seeks to address what the determinant factors that have conditioned the development of the trilateral FTA are. While the three governments began the informal joint study of the trilateral FTA in 2003, they pursued diverse trade strategies that disturbed a shift to formal negotiations. However, China’s strategy to hedge against the US influence in East Asia became a catalyst in shifting from the long-lasting study stage to the launching of negotiations. Moreover, Japan’s strategy to participate in TPP negotiations as a soft balancing against China through closer political linkages with the United States weakened China’s and South Korea’s willingness to engage in the trilateral FTA positively. Thus, the three countries’ commitments to the trilateral FTA were primarily confined by their specific diplomatic objectives responding to the political-economic evolutions in the Asia-Pacific region.
The main objective of this study is to elucidate great power politics in the Mekong region by exp... more The main objective of this study is to elucidate great power politics in the Mekong region by exploring how China and the United States have committed to the development of Mekong countries and what characteristics are found in the commitments. The argument that this study advances is three-fold. First, China’s pragmatic policies and close linkages with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have contributed to raising economic linkages and political leverage in the Mekong region. Second, the US commitments to Mekong development were characterized by advanced-nation-centered and ideal-oriented, which did not necessarily lead to strengthening political and economic linkages between the United States and Mekong countries. Third, while the US Mekong policies have gradually become more practical by paying attention to infrastructure development with strengthened linkages with ASEAN, the United States needs to advance policy harmonization with Japan and search for dialogue with China in pursuing combined objectives of governance and geopolitics.
International Relations of the Asia- …, Jan 1, 2007
Australia and Japan have frequently had difficult relationships with their neighbours. This paper... more Australia and Japan have frequently had difficult relationships with their neighbours. This paper suggests that when seen in their specific historical contexts, the fact that Australia and Japan have become ‘Asia’s odd men out’ is unsurprising. The central argument of this paper is that the consolidation and institutionalisation of regions is in large part a political exercise that reflects, and is informed by, discrete national conversations. Until and unless such national discourses align with wider transnational developments, regional processes are unlikely to prosper. An examination of Japan’s and Australia’s respective attempts to engage with and define their region reveals just how problematic this process can be.
Contemporary Politics, 2012
This article seeks to examine constraints and challenges that the Association of Southeast Asian ... more This article seeks to examine constraints and challenges that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states are confronted with in formulating and implementing their strategies in response to evolving regional environments represented by the rise of China. It argues that China’s southern neighbours have adopted purposeful strategies in order to mitigate potentially negative effects from China’s growing capabilities in East Asia. These strategies led to the expansion of membership in the East Asia Summit (EAS) and positive involvement in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, encouraging America’s substantial commitments to the Asia-Pacific. However, ASEAN has failed to form the unified front on the EAS and TPP because its members have adopted diverse stances on and policies towards the two institutions. Moreover, an identity issue constitutes a crucial impediment to promoting cooperation between ASEAN members and the USA. While Washington has intensified diplomatic linkages with ASEAN, the US identity shown in its adherence to the results-oriented approach still provokes some concerns among the ASEAN members.
Journal of Contemporary China, 2009
This article seeks to explore how stable regional order under the possible community formation ca... more This article seeks to explore how stable regional order under the possible community formation can be created in East Asia in moves towards China’s ascendancy. For this objective, it takes advantage of a framework assuming that the development of an East Asian community would be possible under conditions that the states in the region develop common identity and norms, as well as multilateral institutions that guarantee the long-term interest. Moreover, the society needs to be involved in identity formation and institution-building. This article argues that China has been gradually embedded into formal multilateral institutions and less formal policy networks formed by state and non-state actors, which have been conducive to the creation of a regional community. However, both collective norms at the governmental level and shared cultural consciousness at the public level have not developed enough to have significant influences on directing China firmly to the formation of a regional community.
New Political Economy, 2010
Through an analysis of the formation of free trade agreements (FTAs), this article seeks to exami... more Through an analysis of the formation of free trade agreements (FTAs), this article seeks to examine the factors that caused the gap in Japan and China’s relationship with Southeast Asia to emerge and expand in the new millennium. In order to address this question, the article focuses on China and Japan’s diplomatic styles and domestic political institutions and examines how these two elements influenced negotiations on the formation of FTAs, as well as the evolving perceptions that the Southeast Asian nations have of these two states. The article argues that Japan and China possess different kinds of weaknesses in implementing feasible external policies – a lack of policy decisiveness for Japan and weak policy credibility for China – which have resulted from the operation of domestic political institutions. Given these differences, while China implemented pragmatic diplomacy that helped improve its policy credibility, Japan’s bargaining diplomatic style did not serve to rectify its weak policy decisiveness. Such differences in their diplomatic approach have led to the differing influence of these two states on Southeast Asia.
Asian Perspective, 2010
Although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and Japan commonly recognize ... more Although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, and Japan commonly recognize that development of the Mekong region is indispensable for achieving the smooth promotion of regional integration in East Asia, their approaches to this issue have been diverse and redundant. While ASEAN has exhibited interest in Mekong development since the mid-1990s, its members’ commitments have showed significant disparity. The Chinese government has identified close links with the Mekong region as a key to advance political and economic linkages as well as to sustain the development of its underdeveloped southern areas. Japan’s Mekong policy has shifted from developmental to geopolitical, combining formal institutions, financial resources, and normative ideas. Such a strategic orientation aims to balance China’s growing influence by fostering direct political linkages with the Mekong countries. Weak coordination in approach to and interests in Mekong development has had negative impacts on institution building in East Asia. ASEAN’s limitation to coordinate development programs has undermined its credibility as the central body to advance institution building in the region. The different approaches of China and Japan have intensified rivalry on institution building in East Asia, disturbing the evolution of ASEAN+3 institutions in the development field.
Asian Affairs: An American Review, 2012
The main objectives of this article are to examine the evolution of Japan's China policy in a pow... more The main objectives of this article are to examine the evolution of Japan's China policy in a power shift to the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and to provide theoretical explanations for the evolution. The DPJ government showed accommodating postures toward China, and such postures derived from the DPJ leaders’ particular preferences and perceptions as well as the party's aspiration for legitimating its power formation against the previous government. At the same time, political and security linkages with Washington constituted the baseline for Japan's evolving diplomatic intercourses with China. Neoclassical realism, which integrates domestic political factors with systemic political configurations, can provide valuable insights for explaining major aspects in the evolution of Japan's China policy.
Asian Politics & Policy, 2012
This article examines Japan’s and South Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) policies in the new mi... more This article examines Japan’s and South Korea’s free trade agreement (FTA) policies in the new millennium, seeking to address the question of why significant differences in FTA commitments emerged by 2010 in the two countries. In addressing the question, it highlights, as an independent variable, executive leaders’ policy preferences and concrete actions to realize them. Japanese chief executives had weak preferences for promoting FTAs and thereby did not show decisiveness to set up a new administrative institution and to persuade the people of promoting difficult but necessary FTAs. In contrast, Korean executive leaders had strong preferences for linking the growth of the Korean industry to the external markets through FTA promotion, and they sought to strengthen administrative institutions to propel FTA policy and to make the people accept FTAs as indispensable for sustaining the export-oriented Korean economy.
Asian Survey, 2010
This article analyzes Japan’s motivations in opening negotiations on free trade agreements with A... more This article analyzes Japan’s motivations in opening negotiations on free trade agreements with Australia and Switzerland, highlighting intersections between domestic and international factors. While Australia is a security ally of Japan and a main source of natural resources, Switzerland is a traditional ally in World Trade Organization negotiations and considered a gateway to the European market.
Japanese Journal of Political Science, 2010
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 2010
Asian Journal of Political Science, 2010
After the early 1990s, the wave of regionalism covered broader areas in the world, and Northeast ... more After the early 1990s, the wave of regionalism covered broader areas in the world, and Northeast Asia, which had weak regional cohesion largely due to history-oriented animosity, gradually developed initiatives for regional cooperation since the late 1990s. This article seeks to address why and how China, Japan, and South Korea have pursued regional cooperation by relying on the concept of ‘regional governance’. It advances two arguments. First, the governments of China, Japan, and South Korea have identified the avoidance of risk from uncertainty as a major objective of promoting trilateral cooperation in specific functional areas. Second, they have gradually intensified the harmonisation of regulatory frameworks in the cooperative process in collaboration with non-state actors. The article examines the arguments by tracing the evolution of trilateral cooperation in environmental protection and information technology (IT) development.
East Asia: An International Quarterly, 2005
In Northeast Asia, historical legacies, a lack of common identity and great power politics impede... more In Northeast Asia, historical legacies, a lack of common identity and great power politics impeded political cooperation and economic integration. However, China, Japan and South Korea have exhibited a growing interest in political and economic cooperation since the late 1990s. This article examines how the three Northeast Asian countries have developed political and economic cooperation by using the concept of ‘multilayered intergovernmentalism’. It argues that despite political tensions between China and Japan, regional cooperation among China, Japan and South Korea has been promoted by talks and bargains among the heads of state and government who strengthened incentives for closer cooperation. Moreover, multilayered frameworks formed at the ASEAN Plus Three (APT) level, through the Track II mechanisms, and in issue-specific areas have provided valuable input into advancing regional cooperation initiatives. Whereas the APT framework offered incentives and opportunities to exchange views and information for closer trilateral cooperation, the outcomes of the research at the Track II were incorporated into the leaders' cooperative initiatives. The existence of issue-specific frameworks stirred talks and negotiations at the summit level.
Journal of East Asian Studies,, 2007
This article examines Japan’s evolving commitments to technology development and technology diffu... more This article examines Japan’s evolving commitments to technology development and technology diffusion in Asia. It explores Japan’s technology strategies in three areas—Internet protocol, open source software, and horology— focusing on the importance of technology standards. The development and diffusion of technology standards has become one of the core elements in establishing industrial competitiveness. The importance of technology standards encouraged the Japanese government and firms to pursue a regional policy to develop and diffuse new technological ideas and standards in Asia. Japan’s commitments were accepted by its neighbors because they could obtain various benefits from collaboration with Japan, such as technological exchanges, technology transfer, and financial aid.
This book explores the causes and implications of the diverse programme of institution-building i... more This book explores the causes and implications of the diverse programme of institution-building in East Asia by highlighting political interactions among China, Japan, South Korea, and ASEAN in pursuit of self-interests, the influence of critical juncture in historical trajectory, the representation of policymakers' preferences for political legitimacy in domestic politics, and the involvement of researchers for regional governance formation.
Examining two processes of initiating and developing multilateral institutions in five policy areas: trade, finance, food security, energy security, and the environment, Yoshimatsu argues that while Japan initiated the formation of regional institutions and made efforts to upgrade them, China exerted decisive power in determining the degree and direction of the upgrading of regional institutions. Contingent crises or events had significant influences upon institution-building in most cases, but the influence of researchers was generally limited due to close linkages with governmental actors and the lack of internal cohesion.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Frameworks for Analysing Institution-Building in East Asia
3. Promoting Trade Liberalisation through Free Trade Agreements
4. Developing Institutions for Regional Financial Stability
5. Food Security Cooperation through Emergency Rice Reserve
6. Energy Security Cooperation under ASEAN+3
7. Environmental Cooperation: The Monitoring of Transboundary Air Pollution
8. Conclusion
Palgrave Macmillan, 2014