Pieczara, Kamila (2014) The trilateral cooperation of China, South Korea and Japan : a sign of regional shifts. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.
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Abstract
The separate trilateral cooperation mechanism among Japan, the Republic of Korea (thereafter Korea) and the People’s Republic of China (thereafter China) emerged from a wider framework for cooperation, the ASEAN Plus Three. To the scholarship on that framework, the new development constituted a puzzle, as the scholars considered a scenario for trilateral cooperation mechanism without ASEAN as highly unlikely. Instead, it took seriously prospects for Sino-Japanese competition and divisions running deep throughout all of Northeast Asia. Despite the obstacles that seemed insurmountable, a separate trilateral cooperation mechanism emerged in 2008. My argument to explain this development reaches back to regional sources. I introduce the analytical framework centred on foreign-policy preferences and outcomes to argue that collective outcomes originate neither in strategies of individual states nor in their bilateral relations, but through interaction at the level of a region; I also argue that the Trilateral Cooperation is a shift in regional affairs, but it is far from being a genuine revolution. I argue that ASEAN Plus Three provided a cooperative context for their relations in Asia. This thesis argues that for Asian international relations, the Trilateral Cooperation mechanism is neither a revolution nor an insignificant development, but a sign of shifts in regional affairs.
While previous scholarship–as reviewed in chap. 2–focused on obstacles to cooperation, my research emphasised the incentives. Even though a ‘trilateral cooperation’ may seem a vision too distant from the three states’ preferences, through interaction they achieved an outcome of cooperation in International Relations (chap. 1). Intentions of Japan, Korea, and China vis-à-vis Northeast Asian regional cooperation differ (chaps. 3, 4, and 5), but they share a participation in regional initiatives. Through a study of literature, official documents, and interviews, I re-picture foreign-policy profiles of these Northeast Asian states: albeit none of them was reaching for the Trilateral Cooperation in its specific form, this forum emerged as a side-effect of their regional interactions. This research implies that picturing state interests per ‘nation’ state leads to a stalemate in explanations. We can overcome this through allowing for side-effects of state interactions, which explain more effectively how preferences of the states can produce outcomes in International Relations.
| Item Type: | Thesis [via Doctoral College] (PhD) |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | J Political Science > JZ International relations |
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | Japan -- Foreign relations -- China, China -- Foreign relations -- Japan, Korea -- Foreign relations -- China, China -- Foreign relations -- Korea, Japan -- Foreign relations -- Korea, Korea -- Foreign relations -- Japan, International relations |
| Official Date: | June 2014 |
| Dates: | Date Event June 2014 Submitted |
| Institution: | University of Warwick |
| Theses Department: | Department of Politics and International Studies |
| Thesis Type: | PhD |
| Publication Status: | Unpublished |
| Supervisor(s)/Advisor: | Breslin, Shaun |
| Sponsors: | University of Warwick ; Nihon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai [Japan Society for the Promotion of Science] ; Han'guk Kukche Kyoryu Chaedan [Korea Foundation] |
| Extent: | 321 leaves |
| Language: | eng |
| URI: | https://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/64049/ |
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