Gabatan, Heavenly T.

6243 Free Elec 3

BA Political Science 3 Politics and Governance in East Asia

The relationship between the three great East Asian nations—China, Korea, and Japan—hangs in the

balance at the millennium's turn. Distrust and hostility, a legacy of decades of conflict in the 19th and 20th centuries,

cast a pall over the 21st century's chances for peace and collaboration.

Japan's long history of cultural relations with China has left the Chinese with a special interest and

friendship. Until the Meiji period (1868-1912), Japan's connections with the rest of the world were largely defined by

an East Asian international order dominated by China. Japan was a part of trade networks that spanned much of

Southeast and East Asia, resulting in a great deal of cultural as well as material interchange. Japan began dealing

with Western countries in the sixteenth century but found it to be disruptive both because of its ties to Christianity and

because of the demand for valuable metals it created. As a result, the government formally confined foreign trade to

Dutch and Chinese traders.

However, Korea's link with China has had a significant impact on Korean culture and technology, but it may

also have hampered Korea's ability to build its own distinct culture. Because of its proximity to China, the relative

location of the Korean peninsula influenced the development of Korean civilization. Korea was thus influenced by

Chinese culture. Aside from that, there are many cultural aspects, such as the Chinese writing system and Chinese

philosophical and religious influences, have long been shared between Korea and Japan.

In such that, Asia became increasingly appealing to expansionist Europeans in the nineteenth century, and

several countries were colonized. The old East Asian international order was no longer functional, and China was
considerably weakened. Western countries pressed Japan to engage in trade with them, and Japan had no choice

but to comply.

However, Japan made several treaties with Western countries in the 1850s and 1860s. Imperialism and

colonialism were the dominant institutions defining international relations at the time, and Japan quickly became its

own colonizing power, ruling both Taiwan and Korea. Japan was acknowledged as a force to be reckoned with by

Western nations at the turn of the twentieth century, and it joined the League of Nations.

Unfortunately, tens of millions of people died in East Asia's wars, which began with an armed battle between

China and Japan in 1894-95 over the fate of Korea and ended with an eight-year harsh warfare during World War II.

However, the three East Asian countries' histories offer a unique opportunity for future reconciliation and cooperation.

For more than two thousand years, the peoples of China, Korea, and Japan have lived in relatively peaceful

coexistence, developing comparable institutions, values, and customs. China, Korea, and Japan shared tools,

techniques, and material things, as well as ideas, which they modified to local conditions to create different aspects

of a common culture. To put these events in historical context, it's important to remember that many Japanese

economic and military strategists saw Japan's aggression in Korea and China in the decades leading up to WWII as

their only hope for survival in a hostile, racist world.

References:

China, Korea and Japan: Forgiveness and Mourning. (n.d.). Retrieved from Asia Society:
https://asiasociety.org/china-korea-and-japan-forgiveness-and-mourning?
fbclid=IwAR0nJBDkEgnqxp_a6R05rlpQ85k4kvUbPlvw7Y5uZtVYzSmt8TYvRg6afOE

China-Japan relations. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/China

%E2%80%93Japan_relations?
fbclid=IwAR3XVeLpG2IJq_ntcDPmLRmsqVqtkyIBHh7GKuOfltNjc7PR9pXmd9cUb58#:~:text=Since
%20the%20end%20of%20World,Sea%20(Xing%2C%202011)