Foreign relations of Japan

Despite a tendency to slow economic growth since 1990, Japan remains a major economic power. Japan has diplomatic relations with nearly all independent nations and has been an active member of the United Nations since 1956. Japanese foreign policy has aimed to promote peace and prosperity for the Japanese people by working closely with the West and supporting the United Nations.

In recent years, the Japanese public has shown a substantially greater awareness of security issues and increasing support for the Self Defense Forces. This is in part due to its success in disaster relief efforts at home and its participation in peacekeeping operations in Cambodia in the early 1990s. However, there are still significant political and psychological constraints on strengthening Japan's defense.

Although its constitution and government policy preclude a military role for Japan in international affairs, Japanese cooperation with the United States through the 1960 U.S.-Japan Security Treaty has been important to the peace and stability of East Asia. Currently, there are domestic discussions about possible reinterpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese constitution. All postwar Japanese governments have relied on a close relationship with the United States as the foundation of their foreign policy and have depended on the mutual security treaty for strategic protection.

While maintaining its relationship with the United States, Japan has diversified and expanded its ties with other nations. Good relations with its neighbors continue to be of vital interest. After Japan signed a peace and friendship treaty with the People's Republic of China in 1978, ties between the two countries developed rapidly. The Japanese extend significant economic assistance to the Chinese in various modernization projects. At the same time, Japan has maintained economic but not diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan), where a strong bilateral trade relationship thrives.

Japanese ties with (Republic of Korea) South Korea have improved since an exchange of visits in the mid-1980s by their political leaders. South Korean President Kim Dae-jung had a very successful visit to Japan in October 1998. Japan has limited economic and commercial ties with Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea). Japanese normalization talks halted when North Korea refused to discuss a number of issues with Japan.

Japan strongly supports the U.S. in its efforts to encourage Pyongyang to abide by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Despite the August 31, 1998 North Korean missile test which overflew the Home Islands, Japan has maintained its support for the Korean Energy Development Organization (KEDO) and the Agreed Framework, which seek to freeze the North Korean nuclear program. The U.S., Japan, and South Korean closely coordinate and consult trilaterally on policy toward North Korea.

Japan's relations with Russia are hampered by the two sides' inability to resolve their territorial dispute over the four islands that make up the Northern Territories (Kuriles), which the U.S.S.R. seized towards the end of World War II. The stalemate has prevented conclusion of a peace treaty formally ending the war. The United States supports Japan on the Northern Territories issue and recognizes Japanese sovereignty over the islands. Despite the lack of progress in resolving the Northern Territories dispute, Japan and Russia have made some progress in developing other aspects of the relationship. Even without a peace treaty, most Japanese do not feel that relationship with Russia is troubled.

Beyond its immediate neighbors, Japan has pursued a more active foreign policy in recent years, recognizing the responsibility that accompanies its economic strength. It has expanded ties with the Middle East, which provides most of its oil. Japan increasingly is active in Africa and Latin America and has extended significant support to development projects in both regions. And a Japanese-conceived peace plan became the foundation for nationwide elections in Cambodia in 1998.

Japan's has formally issued statements for its military occupations during and before World War II but it has done little in helping to improve her relationships with neighboring countries, especially the People's Republic of China and South Korea. Despite the formal statements of regret from Prime Ministers Hosokawa Morihiro and Murayama Tomiichi, these countries still insist that Japan has yet to formally express remorse for its wrongdoings in the 20th century. In regards to the statements however, it is more of a debate about compensation and war reparations than over the symbolic nature of words and acknowledgments of wrongdoing and regret. Japan’s official stance is that all war related reparation claims have been resolved (except for North Korea). Unofficial visits to the controversial Yasukuni Jinja by past and present Prime Ministers belonging to the Liberal Democratic Party and the exclusion or generalisation some elements of Japan’s military history in a number school textbooks have also clouded the issue.

In 2004 the People’s Republic of China, North Korea, and South Korea also criticized Japan for sending its Ground Self Defence Forces to Iraq, which was seen as a return to militarism. The government of Japan insisted that it forces would only participate in reconstruction and humanitarian aid missions.

There is a widespread anti-Japanese sentiment in many Asian countries, particularly the People’s Republic of China and South Korea. However, division is not always the case. South Korea and Japan successfully dual-hosted the 2002 Football World Cup together bridging a physical and political gap between the two countries.

Disputes - international: islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai group occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945, now administered by Russia, claimed by Japan; Liancourt Rocks (Takeshima/Dokdo) disputed with South Korea; Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands) claimed by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China on Taiwan.

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