A partnership postponed? Japan–EU cooperation in conflict resolution in East Asia

Asia Europe Journal volume 14, pages435–447(2016)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper explores reasons for the (un)willingness of the European Union (EU) to cooperate with its external partners such as Japan in promoting regional integration and conflict resolution outside of Europe. One of the key arguments made in the paper is that the EU has demonstrated a strong preference for independently promoting regional integration and conflict management. Moreover, it has evidenced little inclination to cooperate with partner countries in attempting to address regional problems. Furthermore, until now, the EU’s concept of a ‘strategic partnership’ may not have functioned sufficiently well to enable it to play any constructive role in conjunction with its partners in East Asia. Such tendencies have been strengthened by the problems currently affecting the Japan–EU relationship such as the EU’s preference of not ‘taking sides’ with respect to complex regional problems, Japan’s ongoing ‘expectation deficit’ towards the EU and the EU’s ever-worsening perception of Japan.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Regioconf is a research project that was aimed at assessing the EU’s external strategy of supporting regional integration and cooperation outside of Europe. It also explored whether and how the EU considered such support for regional integration as a tool for crisis management and conflict transformation. The project’s duration was 2 years from 2013 to 2015, and it was funded by Compagnia di San Paolo, through its programme, ‘Europe and Global Challenges’, in conjunction with Volkswagenstiftung and Riksbankens Jubileumsfondet. For more details about this research project, see http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/en/faculties/economics-and-social-sciences/subjects/ifp/lehrende/ipol/research-projects/regioconf.html. Accessed 20 February 2014.

  2. 2.

    For an example of such an evaluation, see (Norwegian Peace Committee 2012).

  3. 3.

    The EU has a record of cooperating with regional countries and local actors when attempting to contribute to the peace process in East Asia, particularly in cases like Timor-Leste, the Free Ache Movement and the Mindanao peace process in the Philippines. However, the focus of this paper is on how the EU attempts to deal with cases entailing regional tensions, particularly in the location of the East and South China Seas. The author is thankful to Cheng-Chwee Kuik for suggesting that this point be clarified.

  4. 4.

    Because the EU’s overall approach in relation to East Asia has already been covered by a study of the Regioconf research project (Lee and Kim 2014), this paper focuses on the possibilities of EU–Japan cooperation in dealing with regional issues in East Asia.

  5. 5.

    South Korea was included as a strategic partner in 2010.

  6. 6.

    For a more comprehensive evaluation of the 2007 guidelines, see Cameron (2013: 31–2).

  7. 7.

    For a relatively balanced account of the Senkaku dispute, see ‘Who really owns the Senkaku islands?’ The Economist, 3 December 2013. It should be noted that the Japanese government claims that ‘there exists no issue of territorial sovereignty to be resolved’ concerning the Senkaku Islands’, as stated in a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan on 4 April 2014, entitled ‘Situation of the Senkaku Islands’. http://www.mofa.go.jp/a_o/c_m1/senkaku/page1we_000010.html. Accessed 1 August 2015.

  8. 8.

    In February 2016, it was widely reported that China had deployed surface-to-air missiles on Woody/Yongxing Island in the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea. See, for instance, BBC News, ‘China has deployed missiles in South China Sea’ –Taiwan’, 17 February 2016. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-35592988. Accessed 18 February 2016; New York Times, ‘Missiles Deployed on Disputed South China Sea Island, Officials Say’, 17 February 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/18/world/asia/china-missiles-south-china-sea.html. Accessed 18 February 2016.

  9. 9.

    For instance, see ‘EU calls for calm in Japan versus China, Taiwan isle dispute’, EUbusiness, 25 September 2012. http://www.eubusiness.com/news-eu/japan-china-taiwan.iit. Accessed 1 August 2015.

  10. 10.

    It should be noted that to date (the end of February 2016), the EU has still not issued any statement against China’s deployment of missiles in the Paracels.

  11. 11.

    For further details about the Japan–China confrontation at the ASEM Summit in Laos in 2012, see ‘Nicchu Senkaku meguri gekiron ASEM shuno kaigi (Japan and China clash over Senkaku: ASEM Summit)’ Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 7 November 2012.

  12. 12.

    ‘Japan fails to win support on Senkaku issue from Europe’s Big 3’, The Asahi Shinbun (English version), 20 October 2012.

  13. 13.

    It should, however, be noted that being neutral and not taking sides on difficult issues in East Asia is not an exclusive characteristic of EU foreign policy. The USA has also been criticised for not taking a clear side in terms of the territorial disputes between Japan and China (Welch 2015). Also, see ‘Conquering the South China Sea: The U.S. dawdles as China extends its maritime domination’ Wall Street Journal, 25 March 2015. http://www.wsj.com/articles/conquering-the-south-china-sea-1427325614.

  14. 14.

    For instance, see the following articles: Akagawa S. ‘Kaikaku togeta jifu: Doitsu ga sosogu Nihon he no kibishii shisen (Flattering oneself for achieving reforms: Germany shoots a harsh look at Japan)’, Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 27 March 2013; Kumagaya T. ‘Oushu ni ‘Senkaku shoto to Sarajevo’ hikaku-ron: Doitsu ni hiromaru ‘Nihon ha kako to shinken ni mukiawanai kuni’ (Europe compares Senkaku and Sarajevo: Image of ‘Japan as a country that avoids facing its history’ spreads in Germany)’. Nikkei Business Online, 27 January 2014. http://business.nikkeibp.co.jp/welcome/welcome.html?http%3A%2F%2Fbusiness.nikkeibp.co.jp%2Farticle%2Fworld%2F20140123%2F258708%2F. Accessed 2 May 2015; Akagawa S. ‘Merkel doku shusho ga 3 gatsu rainichi kakusarea shigunaru (Merkel visits Japan in March: a hidden signal)’. Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 25 February 2015.

  15. 15.

    It is telling that China, and not Japan, was included in an internal report focusing on six EU strategic partners, written by the EU High Representative, Catharine Ashton (Renard 2012).

  16. 16.

    Conversation with a high-level official at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tokyo, 9 March 2015.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Thomas Diez, Moosung Lee, Koji Kagotani, Cheng-Chwee Kuik and Michito Tsuruoka for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this paper. This work was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science through a Grant-in-Aid for Exploratory Research (Research Project Number 24653038).

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    Atsuko Higashino

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Higashino, A. A partnership postponed? Japan–EU cooperation in conflict resolution in East Asia. Asia Eur J 14, 435–447 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10308-016-0455-0

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Keywords

  • European Union
  • Regional Integration
  • Strategic Partnership
  • Strategic Partner
  • Conflict Transformation