Lee, Manhee

Abstract
This paper explores whether Japan’s economic security directions have been shaped independently or dependently in its relations with the U.S. since the cold war by posing the Yoshida Doctrine as an analytical framework. At the end of the cold war, Japan, who faced an alliance dilemma because of the U.S.’s declining power, chose to depart from the Yoshida Doctrine and pursue its own independent path. This decision, however, increased Japan’s sensitivity, vulnerability, and dependence on China. The Senkaku Islands dispute forced Japan to realize the countless costs in opportunities embedded in a growing asymmetrical interdependence on China. This paper calls it “Japan’s China Dilemma.” Japan began to understand the value of the TPP agreement as a guarantee of its economic security and an instrument to rebuild its relations with the U.S. Abe’s determination, announced on March 12, 2013, indicated that Japan intended to adopt a dependent road, that is, the return to the Yoshida Doctrine as a way to achieve its economic security. However, this change in policy directions could cause a vicious cycle of action-reaction in Japan-Sino relations, as seen in China’s bid to redesign the ADIZ and Japan’s reinterpretation of its right to collective self-defense. This spiral will pressure Japan to be more dependent on the U.S.-led TPP, which serves to consolidate the bilateral network as TYPE I.
PDF