Economics, Politics and Public Policy in East Asia and the Pacific
Author: Amy King, Oxford University
On 21–22 May, Japan hosted the Fourth China-Japan-South Korea Trilateral Summit.
As the first such meeting since the triple (earthquake-tsunami-nuclear) disaster in Japan, it was largely focused on disaster recovery efforts. Read more…
Author: Amy King, Oxford
In its 50th year, the US-Japan Security Treaty has come under scrutiny in Washington and Tokyo.
Calls by former Japanese Prime Minister Hatoyama for a more equal place for Japan within the alliance, and the Hatoyama government’s fumbling over the Futenma base relocation, have caused tension in the bilateral relationship. At the same time, Hatoyama increased the rhetoric about building a more cooperative relationship with China, and is leading the charge for a stronger ‘East Asian Community’, which potentially excludes the United States. Read more…
Author: Amy King, Oxford
Obama’s first visit to Asia as President has attracted widespread criticism. On everything from his decision to bow to the Japanese emperor, to his failure to achieve concessions from China on climate change and human rights, US press coverage in particular has characterised the visit as a failure (although James Fallows has attacked the mainstream US press for ‘manufacturing’ this failure).
Yet on North Korea, the Obama administration has achieved some success. Read more…
Author: Amy King, Oxford University
On August 4, the North Korean regime released two detained American journalists after former US President Bill Clinton’s visit to Pyongyang. Clinton’s surprise visit to North Korea was, at best, bittersweet for Japan. The US has consistently exhorted Japan to use the six-party framework to resolve its abduction issue, so Clinton’s ‘humanitarian’ visit to North Korea appeared hypocritical to Japan. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary, Kawamura Takeo, welcomed the release of the two US journalists and thanked Clinton for pressing North Korea on the Japanese abduction issue. However, the Japanese press was not nearly so magnanimous and was quick to link the Clinton visit to Japan’s ineffectual handling of the North Korean abduction issue. The Japan Times ran with the headline ‘Clinton’s success highlights Japan’s abductees failure’, while Japan Today questioned why Japan did not have its own Clinton to deal with North Korea.