Effective Multilateralism and Sino-Japanese Reconciliation

Abstract

In an age of globalization, where states have become increasingly interconnected, the demand for multilateralism has never been higher. The growing density of inter-state relations has brought the transnational nature of various political challenges — be they economic, environmental or societal — into sharper focus, and this has, in turn, enhanced the belief that cooperative responses are required to tackle them. East Asia, with its high level of intra-regional trade and interdependence¹ and a common interest in regional stability, should be no exception to this. Indeed, at a glance, it would appear that multilateralism has become entrenched in the region. There are now a myriad of multilateral institutions in East Asia, ranging from the Chiang Mai Initiative to the ASEAN+3 Summits, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC), the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) and the Shangri-La Dialogue. Furthermore, states that were traditionally suspicious of multilateral cooperation have become enthusiastic participants of these institutions. With regards to the People’s Republic of China (PRC), David Shambaugh² argues that ‘China’s perception of [multilateral] organizations [has] evolved from suspicion, to uncertainty, to supportiveness’. Chinese scholars concur, claiming that Beijing’s conventional fears of its loss of sovereignty to multilateral institutions have diminished.³ Others state that the PRC has increasingly come to share the view with their East Asian counterparts that economic and traditional security are intertwined, and that cooperative relations with their neighbours are important to protect China’s interests in these two areas.⁴ Based on these observations, some of the more optimistic Chinese observers even claim that ‘international relations of mutual benefit and the “indivisibility” of interests have begun to develop in Sino-East Asian relations under the framework of multilateralism’.⁵