Wan, Ming

Abstract
The Sino-Japanese dispute over the arrest of the Chinese fishing trawler captain is the most serious bilateral incident since 1952. Japan took an action viewed by Beijing as provocative and China overreacted. Feeling humiliated, Japan has sought allies to check on China. But China is not isolated. When it seeks to recover from its diplomatic setbacks in 2010, Beijing looks elsewhere because it has little trust in the DPJ government. As the world’s second and third largest economies, China and Japan should improve relations. Without improved ties, they will find it even harder to manage emotionally charged disputes next time around. China and Japan are rivals but they are not yet enemies. The Chinese and Japanese governments need to exercise leadership, which includes making compromises when and where they become necessary. Since they have weakened capacity to deal with bilateral disputes, they should avoid them in the first place.
Read more here (purchase required)