Japan's Environmental Cooperation with China During the Last Two Decades

Up until now, Japan's environmental cooperation with China has principally been in response to requests by the Chinese government, with Japan making major contributions in the areas of environmental policy, human resource development, and environmental management systems, and the construction of physical infrastructure. Unlike some other Western donors, Japan is heavily engaged in resolving various environmental problems throughout the whole of China, and these contributions will continue to play a powerful role in improving China's environment for many years to come. Moreover, Japan has also made a major contribution to the raising of environmental awareness among the general public throughout China, and has been instrumental in empowering Chinese environmental citizen's groups. Specifically, Japan has been providing the Chinese government with yen loans and technical cooperation, and has supplied it with many new concepts and mechanisms in the areas of environmental policy, management systems and physical infrastructure, as well. Japan has also provided a foundation for the development of China's environmental industry by means of technology transfer and human resources development. By supplying grant aid to different parts of China, Japan has played a pioneering role in the field of environmental protection in China, enabling the expansion of training and educational facilities and programs to which the Chinese government failed, due to putting a premium on a high economic growth, to allocate sufficient budget despite its awareness of the gravity of the problems that it faces. NGO environmental cooperation programs that use Japanese government grassroots and NGO grant aid and assistance of the Japan Fund for Global Environment have been highly significant factors in the resolution at the regional level of the serious environmental problems that have arisen throughout China. The role that these have played in intensifying exchanges and friendly relations at the grassroots level between Japan and the Chinese people has been highly commendable. In particular, environmental cooperation programs with China through the ten-year-old Sino-Japan Friendship Centre for Environmental Protection (SJC) have not been confined solely to solving China's environmental problems, and have accordingly helped to build a foundation for environmental cooperation with China's various neighbors and thus helped to enhance China's standing internationally.     

Another ＂Complementarity＂ in Sino-Australian Security Cooperation

This paper examines how China has played a "responsible" role in international humanitarian post-disaster assistance by taking the example of China’s assistance to post-tsunami Aceh,and explores policy implications with regard to future Sino-Australian security cooperation.China and Australia took inconsistent approaches to assistance in Aceh,which derived from their different understandings of international "responsibility".However,the inconsistencies do not necessarily hamper cooperation between the two.Rather,it is because of these inconsistent approaches that the two countries’ cooperation can develop into comprehensive and multifaceted assistance.The key to successful cooperation between the two countries,this paper argues,is the notion of "complementarity".In policy documents on bilateral relations,Chinese and Australian policymakers emphasize the "economic complementarity" between the two,but this "complementarity" is also useful when the two explore the way in which they will cooperate on security issues.One example of this complementary approach with regard to assistance for Aceh is the Australian effort to promote stability in both tsunami and non-tsunami affected areas,and Chinese economic investment in Aceh,in keeping with the Acehnese local expectations of long-term economic development and more employment opportunities,which are the foundation stones of stability.While these efforts are not consistent,they are highly complementary to each other,and have great potential to encourage peace and stability in Aceh.     

Why Do We Need ‘Myth-Busting’ in the Study of Sino–African Relations?

The literature on Sino–African relations has debated whether or not China's growing presence is a threat to Western or African interests, and has come to the conclusion that China's behavior is not uniquely immoral. Many countries, including Western liberal democracies, similarly give aid to local autocrats to secure natural resources. Why, then, has so much effort been made to come to this perhaps unsurprising conclusion? We argue that the literature on Chinese foreign policy remains heavily influenced by Western states' policy interests, resulting in an impoverished debate that is primarily concerned with the idea of a China threat. In order to recover the diversity in our research on Chinese foreign policy, we argue for the need to go beyond the confines of Western strategic interests.     

Asymmetrical rivalry between China and Japan in Africa: to what extent has Sino-Japan rivalry become a global phenomenon?

Abstract

To what extent is China–Japan rivalry a global phenomenon, and what is the nature of the rivalry they engage in outside their own region? Literature on Sino-Japanese rivalry abounds, but it pays scant attention to the relevance of the rivalry outside East Asia. This article argues that Sino-Japanese rivalry has indeed become a global phenomenon, that various forms of the rivalry are evident in Africa, and that they are mostly of an asymmetrical nature. Quantitatively, China’s contribution to Africa is far greater than that of Japan, with the exception of foreign direct investment (FDI). Qualitatively, though, Japan has a stronger sense of the rivalry than China has, revealing a psychological aspect to the asymmetry as well. Contextually, the types of activity that Chinese and Japanese actors carry out in Africa are not necessarily the same, which makes the rivalry all the more asymmetrical. The rivalry has become more apparent recently, not only because of the rise of China but also because of a change in the meaning of ‘Africa’ – from a region of ‘poverty’ and ‘hunger’ to a region of ‘economic opportunities’. That said, Africa – to a greater or lesser degree in each of its countries – still suffers from conflict and instability. As a result, the ability of Japan and China to exert power and influence throughout Africa is somewhat restricted.     

Globalization in the 21st Century: Blessing or Threat to Developing Countries

Despite the Utopian promise of globalization and the advantages of an information society, the benefits have not been universal and inequality in the world has grown. To some extent, globalization may have exacerbated the discrepancy between the rich and the poor (at the international, national and individual levels) by its relentless progress. In this article, Ryokichi Hirono, professor emeritus at Seikei University and professor at Teikyo University, examines the impact of globalization, focussing in particular on its affect on developing countries (in terms of economics, politics and society) and the environment. He shows how in the last 40 years, the gap between developing and industrialized economies may have been gradually decreasing. Nevertheless, he concludes that as the world faces difficult times ahead, the global integration of economies may mean that the casualties will be higher for developing countries.