(Project of the Kajima Institute of International Peace)
The US-China Competition and Japan
Ryo Sahashi
Professor at Kanagawa University
1. Introduction
At the US-China summit talks held in Florida in April 2017, Xi Jinping must have laughed up his sleeve. Retrospectively, Donald Tramp's victory in the presidential election in November 2016 was, for China, obviously an unexpected upshot. China considered Trump a candidate more "tractable" than Hilary Clinton who had been expected to take a hardline attitude toward China in terms of security and human rights issues. Yet, it was hard for China to foresee what Trump's unpredictable way of thinking would bring about. A shocking development ensued for China: a congratulatory phone call to Trump from President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, and the Japanese Prime Minister's visit to the Trump Tower prior to Trump's inauguration --- a result of the Japanese government's efforts to secure inroads with Trump's inner circles. China's counterattacks, however, were also conspicuous and with great results. The Chinese Ambassador in Washington explored a channel with Jared Kushner; and Xi Jinping succeeded in extracting a promise from President Trump to honor its "One China" policy adopted by previous US administrations, in a telephone summit that barely preceded the Japan-US summit meeting in February 2017. Lastly, Xi Jinping came over to Florida in April and held a summit meeting with President Trump.
More than a year and a half has elapsed since then. How many experts could have predicted that the US-China relationship would deteriorate in this way? Regarding technology which was to constitute a major agendum for the US-China competition, the interim report of the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx) released in February 2017 and media's daily reports not only on China's improvement of advanced technology but also on her unfair manner of technology acquisition. The existence of a huge trade deficit with China had been earlier noted. President Trump's inaugural speech also emphasized "America First." Since the 2014-15 period of the Obama era, such behaviors of the Xi Jinping administration as cyber attacks, and construction and militarization of artificial islands in the South China Sea exacerbated US public opinion of China. In the middle of 2017, however, negotiations between both countries were underway; and the "globalists" within the Trump administration including the Director of the US National Economic Council Gary Cohn, who fully acknowledged the relevance of the Chinese economy for the US economy, made a certain contribution to the formulation of China policies.
In 2018, the US government, Congress and society significantly hardened their attitude over US China policies, and a tremendous change to the extent of rewriting the playbook occurred. Although it was a logical consequence in international politics of the coming closer of two superpowers, yet, its rapid development was surprising.
What does the United States consider problematic about China? What move will happen in the bilateral relationship? What will be possible impact on Japan? First, this paper will focus on the two speeches delivered in the fall of 2018 by Vice President Mike Pence. Next, it will consider US policy continuity and discontinuity from the Obama administration, and finally it will discuss possible implications on Japan to help predict future developments.
2. China illustrated by two Pence speeches
(1) The Hudson Institute speech (October 4, 2018)
Vice President Pence's speech at the conservative Hudson Institute on October 4 was delivered in a context aware of the upcoming midterm elections and of his visits to Asia. The content of the speech lasting over 40 minutes is strongly-worded against China. Immediately afterward, it was considered in the Washington neighborhood as portent of "New Cold War." Actually, however, the speech includes few prescriptions for problems. While enumerating as many issues as conceivable, the speech fails to give clear priorities.
At the outset, Vice President Pence stated as follows: "Beijing is employing a whole-of-government approach, using political, economic, and military tools, as well as propaganda, to advance its influence and benefit its interests in the United States." This signifies that "China problems" are not confined to the US trade deficit but inclusive of an extremely broad range of issues. The speech aims at raising attention to the fact that "Chinese problems" have begun to affect not only the international order built by the United States after World War II, but also US society itself. Touching on the bilateral trade issue, The Vice President's accusations were directed to the Made in China 2025 strategy; unfair, forced technology transfer; infringement of intellectual property rights, subsidy provision, and information stealing --- all promoted by the Chinese government.
As for the security issue, the speech refers to disturbing Chinese behaviors in the South China Sea, where the destroyer USS Decatur conducting a Freedom of Navigation Operation had an unsafe encounter with a Chinese destroyer just before the speech, and in the East China Sea, and particularly to the A2/AD strategy. The novelty of this speech is its reference to: Christianity, Buddhism (Tibet), and Islam (Uighur) in relation to restricted religious freedom in China; China's accusable loan practices to extract political or economic concessions from a debtor country that have become widely known as "debt-trap diplomacy," and particularly China's interference and political maneuvers against the democratic society. Regarding the last point, the speech has enough cogency to make the audience shudder. It recounts the Chinese government's confidential decision by referring specifically to official documents, and by disclosing Chinese government's demand on corporations to set up an in-house CCP organization, as well as related specific instructions and pressure.
Repetition of "the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)" is also characteristic of this speech. There seems not to be a definite rule for its usage. But repeated use of "the Communist Party" will leave the impression with the audience that China's political system should be accountable for the root cause of "Chinese Problems." Incidentally, it cannot be judged just at present --- at least from this speech or other references to US China policy, whether the US government has shifted to a policy seeking a reform of China's political regime.
This speech is a strange motley of an economic nationalist's conventional complaint that China's accession to the WTO was a failure, and anti-China hardline theories in various domains such as political interference and freedom of religion. Reportedly, in the process of drafting, cross-ministerial adjustments were made. However, those hardline theories are far from being in concordance with one another. Political priority seems to have been given to taking a strong stance against China by exhibiting a comprehensive display of accusations. Furthermore, some interpretations hold that the Vice President is deliberately playing "bad cop" against China prior to an upcoming direct negotiation led by President Trump.
(2) The APEC speech (November 16, 2018)
Vice President Pence, who attended the APEC CEO Summit held on November 16 in Papua New Guinea, gave another speech. This speech mainly highlights US economic involvement (investment and aid) for the Indo-Pacific region. In this context, China is repeatedly designated as a rival. The speech particularly emphasizes the risk of Chinese debt trap capable of infringing on the loan recipient country's sovereignty, while declaring the United States will not do such a thing.
The speech states that the United States will not spare its support for the realization of civil society, the rule of law, and improvement in government accountability, etc. toward building the international order based on rules, and declares that "Authoritarianism and aggression have no place in the Indo-Pacific." In the midst of increasing concerns about the South Pacific's strategic significance, the speech also articulates that a tripartite cooperation toward Manus Island should be advanced between the United States, Australia, and Papua New Guinea. This speech is relatively short compared with the previous one on October 4, focusing on US government policies. Although the address did not attract so much attention, yet it clearly shows US views on the international order distinct from those of China.
As of December 2018, the Chinese response to the Pence address in October has seemingly subsided. According to a Washington-based journalist with whom the present author recently exchanged views, US government officials refer overtly to US-China rivalry over economy and technology, and to the exclusion of China; yet, as far as military security (except technical fields) is concerned, the US government remains vigilant against China's military moves, issuing cautious remarks that it is significant to induce China to change its behavior and to prepare crisis management. However, the deterioration in the US-China relations remains unchecked as represented by the arrest of Huawei's CFO, concurrent with the US-China summit talks at the G20 in Buenos Aires; China's suspected involvement in the Marriott data breach exposing personal information of 500 million customers, etc.
3. Policy continuity and discontinuity from the Obama administration
The first US administration to face "the emerging China" may have been the Obama administration. Debates had begun earlier inside the US government since the Bush era to discuss how to face China in the future. (Refer to the exhaustive research by lecturer Nina Silove at the Australian National University.) However, the Obama administration was to witness China's expansion in different areas, such as the South China Sea, cyber space, and international finance --- China had already acquired enough economic power to overtake Japan. The then newly inaugurated Xi Jinping administration, through the 2014 Central Conference on Work Relating to Foreign Affairs and the strengthened international NGO management law, strongly impressed US and European experts with China's different nature. The US vigilance against China began to rise in that period.
The response of the Obama administration was a rebalancing policy. The chief objective of the policy was to upgrade US capabilities to address China's rise.1 Being apprehensive whether the existing alliances were being compromised, the Obama administration feared that China would emerge as a substitute actor for the United States bound by human rights obligations. In addition to actively participating in multilateralism in the Southeast Asia region (ASEAN-based multilateral cooperation mechanism), the United States was obliged to allocate more resources to maintain and strengthen the US military presence through advancing bilateral security cooperation with different countries as well as multilateral cooperation mechanism led by the US military. TPP negotiations were also emphasized from strategic concerns. US military experts were apprehensive, from a longer perspective, about the possible impact on the US force projection of China's introduction of precision guided weapons. This is related to China's A2/AD capability and the air-sea battle concept as a countermeasure against it.
The Obama administration, especially in its second term, heightened the alertness to the rise of China, and gradually lost hope to make China, through the involvement policy, a contributor in the international community and to pave the way to her democratization. A part of the policy community overtly argued measures to impede the emergence of China. (A report authored by Robert Blackwill and Ashley Tellis at the Council on Foreign Relations is a typical example.) This awareness of the existence of a problem has been carried over to the Trump administration. The stagnant bilateral relationship contributed to the United States viewing China as a challenger and a competitor. Alertness is widely shared against China's deviation from international rules that had so far safeguarded the US interests. For example, one China expert testified in Congress in September 2015 as follows: "Chinese leaders are also moving forward with initiatives that undermine U.S. interests via tactics that evade current international governance mechanisms and U.S. attempts to counteract and deter these actions."2 China's problematic behaviors pointed out by the expert include cyberspace intrusions, unfair trade practices, infrastructure construction in the South China Sea, and restrictive national security regulations.
However, until this period China had not been credited with having the structural power3 capable of really threatening the US superiority --- not even in discussions on economy and finance. Debates led by China experts emphasized the need to change the behavior of China and to, above all, prioritize Asia in US foreign policy. David Shambaugh argues to the effect that China boasts an active presence in several regions and domains in the world; nonetheless, she is not yet actually influencing the trajectory of international affairs in various domains, or shaping global trends.4 Thomas Christensen also states that what China is doing in relation to multilateral cooperation is nothing other than cheating and free-riding.5
As seen from the above, the Trump administration is the first US administration facing an emerging possibility of US-China equilibrium and the realistic fear of being overtaken by the rising China. Policy measures taken by the Obama administration seem to have assumed some political flexibility. China experts, except US military planners, would agree to similar assessments.
4. Clues to future prospects
How will future US China policy and the US-China relationship unfold? The bilateral relations are accompanied by an extremely strong uncertainty due to the "deal" strategy of President Trump. Meanwhile, China is proposing many placating measures such as some modifications to Made in China 2025 and larger imports from the United States.
Public opinion trends are of vital importance for the US foreign policy. Looking at US China policy from that viewpoint, it is noteworthy that hawkish views on China have recently become dominant in Washington. Such views are shared on a bipartisan basis and will remain dominant for the time being, given the emerging US-China equilibrium and the peculiar Chinese outlook on the international world order.
Two points in this connection may be worth mentioning. First, figuratively speaking, various hawkish views on China are juxtaposed in a mosaic fashion, irrespective of the fact that they are contradictory to each other in terms of major emphases and goals --- assertiveness alone is common to them all.
Second, there is still something in US policy circles that can be called "the temptation of appeasement." This is represented by, among others, measures to avoid "the Thucydides's trap" suggested in Graham Allison's "Destined for War: Can America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?" (grand US-China deals in the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula), or by the "strategic reassurance" theory of Jim Steinberg and Michael O'Hanlon. Historically speaking, the Acheson line drawn by Secretary of State Dean Acheson is remembered as an example of US consideration for China. Trump administration Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, however, expressed a suspicion about the everlasting sustainability of the One China policy in his testimony at House Foreign Affairs Committee on "One China Policy" in next 50 Years.
The person that Steve Bannon saw immediately after having been ousted from the Trump administration in 2017 was Henry Kissinger. Both men were of the same opinion that the United States and China are destined for war. According to Kissinger, the United States and China must strive for the "partial cooperation of countries that by normal standards might be considered enemies."6 This episode reminds us of an immoral nature of US detente policy. On the other hand, we must remember that the US intellectual community appreciates "accommodation" as a rational solution and "tolerance" to different values.
5. Implications for Japan
The fluid international situation that Japan faces today is unprecedented. It is fortunate for Japan that the current US government is more serious than the Obama administration in addressing China's challenge to the international order, by utilizing its own rich policy resources.
On the other hand, however, the Trump administration has yet to build a stable, trustworthy policy formulation process. There are big cracks in the transatlantic relationship, and the Trump administration's engagement in the principles and rules of the international order remains insufficient. It is feared that the Trump administration can make a deal with an authoritarian state quite easily and to bring large-scale strategic responses to another standstill. Meanwhile, the Trump administration would be likely to make excessively hard responses to China, and to adopt exclusive policies, thereby causing serious restrictions on economic and social relations with other countries including Japan.
Japan faces both a China risk and an America risk, and is asked to respond from a strategic perspective. One solution would be to call for and help to realize the possibility of changing Chinese foreign policy and economic policy. Yet, its feasibility is doubtful, while the United States could obstinately disrupt relations with China. Japan's strategic dilemma would then be too profound.
(The SSDP's secretariat takes full responsibility for the translation for this paper.)
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- June 2020,"Transformation of the International Order in the Middle East--- Varying Degrees of "Stateness" and Three Directions of the New Order" written by Satoshi Ikeuchi, Professor, Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, The University of Tokyo
- June 2020,"Destabilization in the Middle East and its Impacts on Japan's Energy Security" written by Amane Kobayashi, Research Fellow, The Institute of Energy Economics
- May 2020: Urgent Recommendations "Toward a V-shaped Recovery after the Novel Coronavirus Pandemic "Coronavirus Testing for All" --- the First Step of the Next Phase"
- May 2020: "US Diplomacy toward Iran: Economic Sanctions as a Diplomatic Tool" Hiroki Sugita Columnist, Kyodo News
- "Russian Factors in the Middle East" Taisuke Abiru Senior Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- "The SDF Dispatches to the Middle East --- History and Significance" Ippeita Nishida Senior Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- March 2020, "Space and Security" Kazuto Suzuki Professor, Hokkaido University
- March 2020, "The US Security Space Policy --- With a Focus on the Establishment of Two Space Forces" Yasuhito Fukushima Chief Researcher, The National Institute for Defense Studies
- March 2020, "China's Recent Activities in Space and Cyberspace" Bonji Ohara Senior Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- March 2020, "Environmental Security and Japan" Takashi Sekiyama Associate Professor, Kyoto University
- March 2020, "Changes in Global Environment and Security --- US Security Strategy" Hideshi Tokuchi Senior Fellow, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS)
- February 2020, "Cyberspace Security" Motohiro Tsuchiya Professor, Keio University
- February 2020, "Japan's Space and Cyberspace Policy" Yukinari Hirose Former President of the National Institute for Defense Studies
- December 2019, "The US-China Confrontation --- Where Will Hegemony Reside Next?" Akio Takahara Professor, the University of Tokyo
- December 2019, "Challenges Facing the Chinese Economy" Osamu Tanaka Chief Senior Researcher, Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO
- December 2019, "US Strategic Perception on China: Implications for US Allied Partners" Tsuneo Watanabe Senior Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- November 2019, "The Xi Jinping Administration's View of the International Order– China's emphasis on United Nations diplomacy and liberal economic policies−" Shin Kawashima, Professor, the University of Tokyo
- November 2019, "The Future of China's Security Strategy" Hideshi Tokuchi, Senior Fellow, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- November 2019, "China --- Its Confidence and Anxiety" Bonji Ohara, Senior Research Fellow, Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- August 2019: Several Perspectives on the Korean Peninsula Issue--- The Deteriorating Japan-South Korea Relationship and the Uncertain Denuclearization of North Korea --- By Masahiro Akiyama Chairman, the SSDP
- July 2019, "An Outlook on the Denuclearization of North Korea--- What is the Stance of North Korea?---", Junya Nishino, Professor, Keio University
- July 2019, "An Outlook on the Denuclearization of North Korea --- How will the US move?", Narushige Michishita, Vice President, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- July 2019, "Discussion on Denuclearization of North Korea", SSDP Discussion Meeting on May 8, 2019
- May 2019: "Current Status and Prospects of South Korea and Japan's Frictions over History: How to address the Judicial Problems", Masao Okonogi, Professor Emeritus, Keio University
- May 2019: "South Korea and Japan's Frictions over History" (Comments), Junya Nishino, Professor, Keio University
- May 2019: Japan and South Korea Relationships (Question & Answer)
- March 2019: "The Present State and Prospects of the Indian Economy and Economic Policies" written by Koji Kobayashi, Senior Economist Mizuho Research Institute Ltd.
- March 2019: "The "Modi diplomacy" in the History of Indian diplomacy--- Departure from or maintenance of the traditional diplomacy? ---" written by Toru Ito, The National Defense Academy of Japan
- February 2019: Dynamics of Indian Politics and the 2019 General Elections, written by Chiharu Takenaka, Professor of Rikkyo University
- February 2019: "Cooperative Strategy" to Realize "Competitive Strategy"--- The composite structure of Japan's "Free and Open Indo-Pacific" strategy (vision) ---, written by Matake Kamiya, Professor at The National Defense Academy of Japan
- January 2019:, A paper, "How will the US midterm elections results affect the Trump administration's foreign policy for 2019?" written by Tsuneo Watanabe, Senior Fellow, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- January 2019:, A paper, "The Present and Future of the International Trade Order" , written by Akihiko Tamura, Professor, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- December 2018: The US-China Competition and Japan, written by Ryo Sahashi, Professor at Kanagawa University
- December 2018: An Outlook for the US-China Trade War―What makes the two economically interdependent superpowers confront each other?―, written by Takashi Sekiyama, Associate professor at Toyo University
- September 2018: Proposal, "The Denuclearization of North Korea and the Restoration of Peace in the Korean Peninsula― Correct Perceptions and Eight Proposals on Japan's North Korea Diplomacy-" edited by the Society of Security and Diplomatic Policy Studies
- September 2018: "The Taiwan Policy of the Xi Jinping Administration in its Second Term: An Outlook on Cross-Strait Relations in the New Era" written by Yasuhiro Matsuda, Professor of the Tokyo University
- July 2018: "The EU States and Russia on North Korea Issues- Expansion of Influence through Diplomacy: Attempts and Limitations -" lectured by Yuichi Hosoya, Professor of Keio University
- "An Assessment of the US-North Korea Summit and an Outlook for the Future of the Korean Peninsula" lectured by Junya Nishino, Professor of Keio University
- "Korean Peninsula Issue and Japan's Future Security Policy" written by Hideshi Tokuchi, Senior Fellow of National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies
- July 2018: "US North Korea policy affected by personnel changes in the Trump administration" lectured by Tsuneo Watanabe, Senior Fellow of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation.
- "China-North Korea relationship under Xi Jinping" lectured by Shin Kawashima, Professor of the Tokyo University.
- "North Korean Denuclearization and Russia" lectured by Nobuo Shimotomai, Professor of the Hosei University.
- March 2018: "The Network Hegemony Theory for a Security Architecture in The Asia Pacific Region" lectured by Masahiro Akiyama, Chairman, the Society of Security and Diplomatic Policy Studies
- January 2018: "A Destabilized Middle East" lectured by Koichiro Tanaka, Professor, Keio University
- December 2017: "Problems in Sino-Japanese Relations, 1992-2042" lectured by Ezra F. Vogel, Professor of the Social Sciences Emeritus at Harvard University
- November 2017: "The Future of the Asia-Pacific Region" written by Yoriko Kawaguchi, Fellow, the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs, Former Minister Foreign Affairs
- October 2017: "A New Trend in India's Foreign Policy and Japan" Written by HIROSE,Takako, Professor, Senshu University
- August 2017: "The Shocks that shook the Transatlantic World and their Implication for Japan's Foreign Policy" written by HOSOYA, Yuichi, Professor, Keio University
- August 2017: "Does Economic Interdependence not Encourage Collaboration? ―Thinking Japan-China Relations from an Economic Perspective―" written by Takashi SEKIYAMA, Ph.D., Toyo University
- July 2017: Proposal article "The Trump Administration's Impact on the Cross-Strait Relations" written by Yasuhiro Matsuda, Ph.D.
- June 2017: Proposal article "The outlook for the relationship between two great powers and implications for Japanese diplomacy" written by Professor Shin Kawashima
- May 2017: (Emergency Proposal) Facing the Inconvenient Truth: Re-examining Policy for Peace and Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula (Chief author, Masao Okonogi)
- March 2017: "Economic Influences of the Trump Administration" written by Professor Motoshige Ito
- February, 2017: Proposal article "Trump's Foreign and Security Policy - Unpredictable President, Realistic Secretaries - " written by Mr. Tsuneo Watanabe is posted on the website of SSDP.
- December, 2016: Proposal article "Reconsidering North Korea Policy: How to Deal with a Nuclear Armed Divided States" written by Professor Masao Okonogi is posted on the website of SSDP.
- Taiwan-Japan Round Table on August 24th, at Capital Tokyu Hotel
- Japan-Korea Political Leaders Dialogue was held on February 10th,2023 at International House of Japan
- March 2022, A remembrance seminar "Remembering Professor Ezra Vogel" held on January 17, 2022
- March 2021, Japan-ROK Parliamentary Dialogue -Japan-ROK Cooperation in the Era of US-China Competition- held on March 11, 2021
- December 2020: The report of the Japan-ROK Future Dialogue held on November 21 to discuss "Japan-ROK Cooperation in the Post-Covid-19 Era
- October 2020: "Responses to COVID-19 and Agendas for the Post-COVID-19 Era", A Brief Overview of the Japan-Korea Experts Dialogue held on July 29,30, 2020
- October 2020: "The China-Taiwan Confrontation over Corona Response and Taiwan's Security" written by Makoto Ogata, Former Chief of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei
- May 2020: "Rivalries in the Middle East in New Security Dynamics", Written by Sayed Ghoneim, Major General (retired) of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Chairman, Institute for Global Security & Defence Affairs
- March 2020: The Japan-South Korea Relationship in a Cul-de-Sac--- Where is an Exit ? Masao Okonogi Professor Emeritus, Keio Universit
- December 2019: The Hong Kong Upheaval and the Future of Cross-Straits Relations-The 2019 Japan-Taiwan Strategic Dialogue Report OGATA, Makoto Former Chief of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei
- August 2019: Report; 2019 FUTURE CONSENSUS DIALOGUE --Sustainable Prosperity and Future of Korea-U.S.-Japan Cooperation-- By Future Consensus Institute (Yeosijae)
- June 2019: Report on India – Japan Security Dialogue 2019 by Ms. Vindu Mai Chotani, Ph.D Student, The University of Tokyo
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June 2019: Four papers on Japan-India Cooperation submitted to India-Japan Security Dialogue 2019
-
Japan's Rationale for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision
Tsuneo Watanabe, Senior Fellow, The Sasakawa Peace Foundation -
The Significance and Possibilities of India-Japan Cooperation in the Concept of the Indo-Pacific
Toru ITO Associate Professor, National Defense Academy of Japan -
Japan-India Defense Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific Context - Operationalizing the Security Aspect of the Indo-Pacific Vision –
Hideshi Tokuchi, Senior Fellow, National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) -
India-US-Japan Defense Cooperation: What's next?
Dr. Satoru Nagao, Hudson Institute
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Japan's Rationale for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision
- November 2018: "The Present State of the Japanese Economy and Policy Issues" lectured by Motoshige Itoh, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo.
- November 2018: "Expanding Social Security Expenses and Fiscal Reforms" lectured by Kazumasa Oguro, Professor at Hosei University.
- September 2018: "Taiwan Identity and Cross-Strait Relations and Trump's Taiwan Policy and the Future of Taiwan-US Relations-Discussion at The Second Japan-Taiwan Strategic Dialogue (June 21, 2018, Taipei)-" written by OGATA, Makoto
- September 2018: "Japan-Taiwan Dialogue 2018 Minutes", 21st June 2018, Taipei, Taiwan.
- July 2018: Report on The Second Japan – Philippines Strategic Dialogue prepared by Ms. Vindu Mai Chotani, Ph.D. Student, Graduate School of Public Policy, Tokyo University.
- May 2018: "Civilian Control "at Crisis"? – Perhaps Not, for the Case of the Field Sit-reps from SDF's South Sudan Mission" reported by Ippeita Nishida, Research Fellow, the Sasakawa Peace Foundation
- January 2018: "Fukushima, Genki?Project-Young Taiwanese volunteers introduce the facts on Fukushima's revival through documentary films-" reported by OGATA, Makoto, Former Chief of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association in Taipei
- December 2017: "Commemorating a Quarter Century of Dispatches of the JSDF's PKO Units: Challenges and Possibilities in the Post South Sudan" written by Takayuki Shoji, Lecturer, Nihon University
- November 2017: "19th CCP National Congress" written by Mr. Bonji Ohara, Senior Research Fellow, the Sasakawa Peace Fondation
- October 2017: "What is Japan's Role in the Indo-China border conflict?" written by Dr. NGAO,Satoru, Research Fellow, Institute for Future Engineering
- July 2017: "Overview of the Current Situation in Taiwan-" the Naturally Independent Generation" will affect the Taiwan"s politics-" written by Makoto Ogata MGE.(Ret.)
- June 2017: "Japan-U.S. Economic Dialogue" written by Mr.Takaaki Asano
- March 2017: "The Japan-Philippines Strategic Dialogue" written by Mr. Hideshi Tokuchi
- February, 2017: Current topic "The Importance of Japan's Security Role Under Trump" written by Dr. Satoru Nagao is posted on the SSDP website.
- December, 2016: Current topic "Widening Security Task: Will SDF do the Job?" written by Mr. Ippeita Nishida is posted on the SSDP website.
- July 2024, Research journal "Security Studies vol6 no2" (How Has South Korea Changed under the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration?) in English edition was published.
- April 2024, Research journal "Security Studies vol6 no1" (The Middle East in Turmoil) in English edition was published.
- December 2023, Research journal "Security Studies vol5 no4" (What is th Global South?) in English edition was published.
- September 2023, Research journal "Security Studies vol5 no3" (Hegemonic America: Where It's Headed) in English edition was published.
- June 2023,Research journal "Security Studies vol5 no2" (Nuclear Crisis Scenarios Facing Japan and the Outlook of Nuclear Deterrence and Arms Control and Disarmament) in English edition was published.
- March 2023,Research journal "Security Studies vol5 no1" (What Will Happen to European Security?―Facing the War in Ukraine) in English edition was published.
- January 2023, Research Jounal "Security Studies (vol 4 no 4)" - Defending Our Country – Defense Policy in a "New Cold War Era - was published.
- October 2022, Research Jounal "Security Studies (vol 4 no 3)" - Xi Jinping's China - Politics, Economy, Society and Diplomacy - was published.
- Jun 2022, Research Jounal "Security Studies (vol 4 no 2)" -The Russia-Ukraine War and Its Global Impact- was published.
- March 2022, Research Jounal "Security Studies (vol 4 no 1)"-What is Economic Security?- was published.
- December 2021, Research Jounal "Security Studies (vol 3 no 4)"-Korean Peninsula Situation- was published.
- September 2021, A research journal "Security Studies vol03 no03" -Asia's Security II- (English edition)
- June 2021, A research journal "Security Studies vol03 no02" -Asia's Security I- (English edition)
- March 2021: Research journal "Security Studies (vol3 no1) "- US Foreign Policy in the Biden Administration / The 2020 US Presidential Election and American Democracy -(English edition)
- December 2020: A research journal "Security Studies (vol2 no4) "- Normalize Japan-South Korea Relations trough Dialogues -(English edition)
- September 2020: A research journal "Security Studies (vol2 no3) "-The Novel Coronavirus and Security-(English edition)
- July 2020: A research journal "Security Studies (vol2 no2) - Middle East Situation and Japan's Security - " (English edition) was published
- May 2020: A research journal "Security Studies (vol2 no1) - Cyber, Space, Environment and Security - " March 2020 (English edition)
- February 2020, "A research journal "Security Studies (vol1 no4) " (English edition)"
- September 2019: A research journal "Security Studies (vol1 no3) " (English edition)
- August 2019: Korea-Japan Joint Seminar: FUTURE CONSENSUS DIALOGUE
- April 2019: "Security Studies (vol1 no2) April 2019"
- March 2019: A research journal "Security Studies vol1 no01" just published
- February 2019: The Denuclearization of North Korea and the Takeshima Issue
- December 2018: Former Vice Defense Minister Masahiro Akiyama's Memoirs (An Ad)
- November 2018: Participation in the Future Consensus Forum held in Beijing
- September 2018: "2018 Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue" reported by Masahiro Akiyama
- 2017 December: "The Butterfly Project-A possibility of showing a solution to the North Korea problem-"
- October 2017: Campaign on the problems with North Korea
- August 2017: A New Containment Policy Strategy
- June 2017: Korean peninsla
- March 2017: President Duterte
- February, 2017: Kazakhstan
- November, 2016: Participated in Astana Club 2016 held in Kazakhstan on November 14- 16, 2016.