US-China-Japan Trilateral Relations and the East Asian Order

Speakers: Ryo Sahashi, Associate Professor of International Relations, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, The University of Tokyo; Commentator: Gerald Curtis, Burgess Professor Emeritus of Political Science; Moderated by: Takako Hikotani, Gerald L. Curtis Associate Professor of Modern Japanese Politics and Foreign Policy, Department of Political Science, Columbia University

918 International Affairs

To register click here!

The trilateral relationship among China, Japan and the United States has generally been stable, and it explained the regional order in East Asia since the 1970s. The trilateral relationship has been stabilized primarily by the stability of the US-China and US-Japan relations, and secondly by the fact that American preponderance has been maintained and the commitment to Asia is certain, with the remaining two parties formulating strategies on the basis of that balance of power. Although Japan-China relations have been repeatedly confronted and approached politically over time, they have not shaken the trilateral relationship to that extent. Also, in the area of regionalism, the role of the United States has gradually become more important and contributed to the stability of order.

Now, however, the fundamental conditions of the trilateral relationship are changing because of a shift in the balance of power, a loss of confidence on American diplomacy, and the overwhelming importance of the Chinese economy. Relations between the United States and China are described as an era of competition, or as an era of confrontation. How will a change in the relationship between Japan, the United States and China affect the order of Asia? What does good Japan-China relations mean? Is the Japan-U.S. relationship still strong?

Dr. Sahashi specializes on international politics in East Asia. His recent book isIn a Search for Coexistence: the United States and Two Chinas during the Cold War (Tokyo: Keiso, 2015). In English, he recently edited Looking for Leadership: The Dilemma of Political Leadership in Japan(Tokyo and New York: Japan Center for International Exchange, 2015), and wrote on the impact of rising China on Asian order, Japan’s security policy and Japan-Taiwan relations. Now he is writing his next book on US-China competition and leading two group studies on the alliance and order after the end of the Cold War.

Concurrently, he serves as Research Fellow, Japan Center for International Exchange. He frequently contributes to NHK, Nikkei, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Yomiuri Shimbun and other major media outlets.

Dr Sahashi has taught at Kanagawa University as professor until March, 2019 and has been Visiting Associate Professor, Walter H. Shorenstein Asia Pacific Research Center, Stanford University and Shigeru Yoshida Chair, Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México (ITAM). He joined the University of Tokyo with tenure from April, 2019, and concurrently, Associate Professor, Future Vision Research Institute, the University of Tokyo.

He also served as adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Sasakawa Peace Foundation, Tokyo Foundation-German Marshall Fund of the United States Partnership Fellow, and Guest Researcher for First Special Committee Research Office, House of Councilors. He is the member of UK-Japan 21stCentury Committee.

He received his B.A. from International Christian University and his Ph.D. from the Graduate Schools for Law and Politics at the University of Tokyo. He also studied at Department of Political Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.