Abstract

Is Japan’s past China’s future? Since the third century, Japan and China have had political, economic and cultural exchanges and both countries have mutually benefitted from this relationship. Up until the first Sino-Japanese war, both two countries had never engaged in any major conflict with one another. Japan had also provided aid to China after Beijing’s opening up in 1979. Given China’s rise in the 2000s, including overtaking Japan to be the world’s second largest economy, relations between both countries have started to deteriorate. China’s economic preponderance has taken place amidst rising regional tensions and challenges to the rule of law. This seminar will examine the state of Sino-Japan relations and the way forward for bilateral relations, focusing particularly on how both countries can contribute towards the promotion of regional stability.

About the Speaker

Makio Miyagawa has held successive positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Legal Desk Chief, Deputy Director of the US-Japan Trade Division and of the Russian Division, Director within the Economic Affairs Bureau and Asia Oceania Bureau, Deputy DG (Director-General) of Climate Change Negotiations, DG of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, and DG of Middle East and North Africa.

He served in the Japanese embassies in the UK and Malaysia, and in the Japanese Mission in Geneva. Currently, he holds the position of Special Advisor on National Security, National Security Secretariat, within the Cabinet Bureau of Japan. He received a D.Phil. in International Relations from Oxford University, and a BSc in Aeronautical and Spacecraft Engineering from the University of Tokyo.

He has lectured at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies and at the University of Tokyo and has served as Director of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA). He has published numerous books and articles, including “Do Economic Sanctions Work?” He received the distinction of Commandeur de L’Ordre National du Mérite (Commandeur) from the Republic of France.