Japan’s Arduous Rejuvenation as a Global Power DEMOCRATIC RESILIENCE AND THE US-CHINA CHALLENGE Victor Teo Japan’s Arduous Rejuvenation as a Global Power Victor Teo Japan’s Arduous Rejuvenation as a Global Power Democratic Resilience and the US-China Challenge Victor Teo The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam, Hong Kong SAR, People’s Republic of China ISBN 978-981-13-6189-0 ISBN 978-981-13-6190-6 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6190-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2019931024 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019. This book is an open access publication. 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The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-­01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore For Mum, Sungwon and Jason PREFACE Japan’s Arduous Rejuvenation as a Global Power assesses the profound impact that Japan’s aspirations to become a great power have had for Japanese security and democracy. Rather than viewing the process of normalization and rejuvenation as two decades of remilitarization in the face of a rapidly changing strategic environment and domestic political circumstances, this volume contextualizes Japan’s contemporary international relations against the longer grain of Japanese historical inter- actions. It demonstrates that policies and statecraft in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s era are a continuation of a long, unbroken and arduous effort by successive generations of leaders to preserve Japanese autonomy, enhance security and advance Japanese national interests. Arguing against the notion that Japan cannot work with China as long as the US-Japan alliance is in place, the book suggests that Tokyo could forge constructive relations with Beijing by engaging China in joint projects inside and outside of the Asia-Pacific, in issue areas such as infrastructure develop- ment or the provision of international public goods. An improvement in Japan-China relations would enhance rather than detract from Japan-US relations, as Washington is likely to become more sensitive to Japanese needs and interests. Tokyo will find that its new-found independence in the US-Japan alliance would not only accord it more political respect and strategic latitude, but also allow it to ameliorate the excesses of US foreign policy adventurism, paving the way for Japan to become a truly great “normal” power in time to come. Pokfulam, Hong Kong Victor Teo vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book was inspired by the numerous student seminars the author has led at the University of Hong Kong’s Department of Japanese Studies on the International Relations of the Asia-Pacific over the last decade. The lively discussions and interactions with the students stimulated much of the author’s thinking and ideas on the subject matter. A great debt is owed to the School of Modern Languages and Cultures and the Faculty of Arts at the University of Hong Kong for support given to the author for this project. The author is also tremendously grateful to the following organi- zations for their kind support in the provision of fellowships and/or research grants that enabled the author to undertake extended leave to research for the various chapters in this publication: Hong Kong Research Council General Research Fund (Project HKU 753310H) for funding multiple research visits to Japan and a research fellowship at the University of Oxford; The Japan Foundation Short Term Fellowship Scheme for sup- porting a research stint at the University of Kyoto; the Harvard-Yenching Institute for fellowship as HYI Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Law School; the Academy of Korean Studies (AKS-2016-LAB-2250005) for funding a research associateship at the Harvard Program on US-Japan Relations at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and at Harvard Law School. A special note of acknowledgment must also go to the Doris Zimmern HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellowship for funding a stint at the University of Cambridge’s Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS). The author is also tremendously grateful to the University of Hong Kong Small Project Fund for funding the OA component of this project. ix x Acknowledgments The author is also particularly grateful to the referees, scholars and colleagues who have read and commented on various chapters of the book. Special thanks must be conveyed to all the esteemed learned scholars in the US, the UK, Japan, China and Singapore for all the intellectual exchange, camaraderie, advice and encouragement. The author owes a great intellec- tual and professional debt to Professors Ezra Vogel, Susan Pharr, Michael Yahuda, Arne Westad, Heonik Kwon, Ian Nish, Khong Yuen-Foong, Antony Best and Lam Peng-Er for all the advice and mentorship over the years. Special thanks must also be given to learned colleagues and friends who have taken the time to speak to or engage the author on one occasion or more on Japanese foreign policy: Professors Thomas Berger, Sheila Smith, Andrew Oros, Yoshihide Soeya, Rosemary Foot, Caroline Rose, Akihiko Tanaka, Akio Takahara, Hitomi Koyama, Haruko Satoh, Yoneyuki Sugita, General Koichi Isobe and Shinju Fujihira among others. The author is grateful to Miss Man-Wai Lam, Miss Natalie Dabkowski, Miss Bea T.S. Leung, Ms Sudha Soundarrajan, Mr Tikoji Rao Mega Rao, Ms Linda Haylock, Ms Connie Li and Mr Brian Halm for their editorial assistance. The book was written over the course of many months while the author was at Cambridge (Massachusetts), Singapore and Hong Kong. Special thanks must be given to the following colleagues and friends for making the author’s life in Cambridge so much more interesting and enjoyable: Susan Scott, Lindsay Strogatz, Francesca Coppola, James Flaherty, Li Ruohong, Edward Baker, Kendal Kelly, Jenni Ting, Nina Coomes, Melissa Smith and Mike Zaisser. The author is extremely grateful to the editors and staff at Palgrave Macmillan, particularly Miss Sara Crowley-Vigneau for her confi- dence in the author and for making this book possible. Last but not least, the author is grateful to his loving family for their support, without which his academic career would not have gone so far. Needless to say, the author is solely responsible for all errors in this book. CONTENTS 1 The Rejuvenation of Japan 1 The Problem of Understanding Japan’s Rejuvenation 1 Understanding Japan’s Foreign Policy: A Conceptual Survey 7 Contradictory Tendencies, Democratic Resilience and Japan’s Difficult Rejuvenation 12 The Idea of Normalization and Rejuvenation 16 Beyond Zero-Sum Games and Binary Choices: Transcending the US-China Divide 23 Chapter Overview and Synopsis 27 References 33 2 Japan’s Rejuvenation: Origins, Debates and Concepts 41 Japan’s Political and Philosophical Traditions: Equality, Hierarchy and Exceptionalism 42 The China Dilemma 42 Japan’s Exceptionalism 46 The San Francisco System and the Making of an “Abnormal” Japan 50 Mainstream Conservatism in Japanese Politics During the Cold War 53 The Rise of Neo-Conservatism: From Normalization to the Rejuvenation of Japan 59 The Contours of the Debate on Japan’s Rejuvenation 63 xi xii Contents The Central Pillars of Rejuvenation 66 Theme One: Constitutional Revisionism 66 Theme Two: The Nature and Tone of the US-Japan Alliance 69 Theme Three: Pacifism, the Use of Force and Global Engagement 76 The Erosion of Pacifism: Can Democracy and Historical Revisionism Co-Exist? 85 Neo-Conservatism and the Paradoxes of Japanese Democracy 90 References 98 3 Japan’s Rejuvenation and the US-China Divide 107 Japan’s Asia Strategy and the US-China Challenge 108 Cautioning America’s Unilateralism 115 Is the “Anti-China” Position Necessarily Conducive to Japanese Interests? 122 The Contestation in Southeast Asia: Winning Hearts and Minds 124 References 130 4 Peacekeepers But Not Quite Peacebuilders: Japan’s Evolving Role in