Japan Island Troubles With China and Korea ― Prospects and Challenges for Resolution

This book examines the Senkaku/Diaoyu dispute between Japan and China and the Dokdo/Takeshima dispute between Japan and Korea, in order to offer new perspectives on the possible approaches towards amelioration and resolution of these conflicts.

Japan’s Island Troubles with China and Korea addresses the prospects of and challenges to achieving resolutions in the island disputes, rather than focusing solely on the origins and the political roles they play in the domestic politics of the three nations. Furthermore, in taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book transcends existing studies, which focus on the domestic contexts of the disputes, and therefore avoids the pitfalls of nationalistic narratives. Instead, this book fills a theoretical and methodological lacuna in the academic literature, exploring how the islands could become a point of co-operation, rather than contention.

Providing a fresh examination of Japan’s relations with its two closest neighbours, this book will be invaluable to students and scholars of Asian politics and international relations, security studies, and Asia-Pacific studies more generally.

Victor Teo is Assistant Professor in the Department of Japanese Studies at the University of Hong Kong. His research interests include the international relations of Asia-Pacific, with emphasis on Japan’s relations with China and the United States. He is also interested in the illicit political economy of China, as well as North Korea’s international relations and domestic politics.

Haruko Satoh is a Professor in the Osaka School of International Public Policy at Osaka University. Her research interests include Japan–China relations and Japan’s nation-state identity issues in East Asian international politics. She has previously worked at the Japan Institute of International Affairs and Chatham House.