Abstract
The scope of this research starts with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s “Chinese Dream” in 2012, and ends in August 2020 when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigned for the second time due to health reasons. The purpose of the research is to analyze how Taiwan and Japan adjust their roles in this context during this period. Further, explore what kind of bilateral relations developed by the interac- tion between Taiwan and Japan. The similarities between Taiwan and Japan make Taiwan and Japan have their particularity worthy of study in maintaining bilateral relations and responding to the pressure of the “Chinese Dream.” This article uses the “role theory” to reduce the state to an “individual,” and defines the relationship between Taiwan and Japan as “the process and result of role interaction.” It is be- lieved that the respective roles of the two parties determine the motive of mutual interaction of the presentation of the final mutual relationship. This article finds that the “Chinese Dream” is the key point that allowed the depth of Taiwan-Japan in- teraction to surpass his personal previous term in Abe’s second administration. Be- cause Taiwan and Japan are facing the substantial influence of China’s “nationalist expansion of political and economic power.” When Taiwan and Japan developed independent roles based on their democratic values and geographic location, they also received assistance from the United States to counter the “Chinese Dream” with the “Indo-Pacific strategy.” This help strengthen Taiwan and Japan’s consen- sus and recognition of each other’s interactive roles.
PDF Link: Taiwan-Japan Relations and Role Interactions in the Context of the “Chinese Dream”.pdf
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