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Reasons for Optimism? China, Japan and Unilateral Naval Restraint in the East China Sea

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Abstract

Little has been discussed about the unilateral restraint exercised by China and Japan over the East China Sea dispute. While the resort to gunboat diplomacy remains a widely used form of political expression, Collin Koh Swee Lean argues in this chapter that such recourse can still be calibrated by Beijing and Tokyo to ensure that ongoing tensions do not escalate and spin out of control. This chapter also highlights the incremental series of official and semi-official bilateral exchanges that have potentially played a role in facilitating Sino-Japanese rapprochement since late 2014. Given persistent Sino-Japanese differences, Koh argues that with negotiated confidence and security-building measures (CSBMs), such as the proposed crisis management mechanism, not forthcoming, this unilateral restraint looks set to continue as the way forward.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, Singapore

    Collin Koh

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  1. Collin Koh
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  1. S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore

    Alan Chong

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Koh, C. (2018). Reasons for Optimism? China, Japan and Unilateral Naval Restraint in the East China Sea. In: Chong, A. (eds) International Security in the Asia-Pacific. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60762-7_11

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