Abe’s Japan and Xi’s China: from Cold Peace to Hot War?
Sino-Japanese relations have deteriorated since Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping came to power.
Rivalries are being stirred as Beijing flexes its economic, diplomatic and military muscle. The rise in China’s regional forces is leading Japan to rethink its strategy, underlining the need for a counterweight to Beijing and the need for dissuasion from the potential use of force. Sino-Japanese relations are likely to remain strained for the foreseeable future.
Article published in Politique étrangère, Vol. 79, No. 3, Fall 2014