The Adaptation of Japanese Economic Statecraft: Trade, Aid, and Technology

Abstract

This article examines how Japan has adapted economic statecraft to serve changing strategic aims through case studies of trade arrangements, official development assistance, and dual-use technology. After World War II, Japan continuously adapted these economic tools to pursue shifting non-economic goals related to international reintegration, comprehensive security, human security, and traditional security. More recently, in response to escalating US–China strategic competition, Japan has employed economic statecraft to simultaneously reduce international instability and to counter China in targeted ways as part of a broader hedging approach. First, Japan has attempted to bolster multilateral trade arrangements amid a volatile policy environment, while also using them to both engage and counter China. Second, Japan has used official development assistance to stabilize and build defense capacity in Asian countries facing pressure from China. Third, Japan has increasingly militarized its dual-use technologies to enhance its ability to respond to Chinese activity in outer space.

In Search of Regional Stability in the Age of Hyper-Uncertainty: The US-China Strategic Competition and the Redesign of Regional Order in East Asia

“…The US-China strategic competition turned out to be a decisive factor that prompted Asian countries to pursue economic statecraft (Aggarwal and Reddie 2020). Substantial differences are found in the economic statecraft of Asian countries (Beeson 2018;Govella 2021). In the paper "Changes in Interdependence, US-China Strategic Competition, and the New Dynamics of the East Asian Regional Order, " Seungjoo Lee argues that the difference in position within the regional value chains formed between Asian countries has to do with the divergence of Asian countries' economic statecraft.…”

Changes in Interdependence, US-China Strategic Competition, and the New Dynamics of the East Asian Regional Order

“…However, as East Asian states have different threat perceptions concerning US-China strategic competition, they have sought different strategies for dealing with it. States such as Japan, Australia, and Taiwan have responded aggressively to Chinese economic coercion, despite their high level of dependence on trade with or investment in China (Govella 2021). South Korea and most Southeast Asian states are pursuing a strategy that is designed to gradually alleviate economic vulnerability to Chinese coercion while maintaining traditional security relations with the United States.…”