CHEN Jingjing ZHANG Yong:The Transformation of International Order and the Strengthening of Strategic Cooperation between Japan and Europe

ARTICLES 

Under the context of profound changes unseen in a century, the international order has been undergoing rapid transformation With the return of power politics, the international order has been in shake, the strategic competition between China and US intensified, and the geopolitical factor become an important consideration for Japan to formulate its foreign strategy. In order to play an active role in the transformation of international order, safeguard and expand their strategic interests, influence and even lead the reshaping of international order, Japan and Europe began to construct their bilateral relations from a global perspective, actively enrich the connotation of the strategic partnership, and accelerate comprehensive cooperation in the fields of economy, security and strategy. Thus, the relations between Japan and Europe entered a “honeymoon” period that attracted so much attention, during the process of which, the two sides put an emphasis on maintaining the so-called “rule-based international order” and value-oriented diplomacy on the basis of ensuring practical interests. While trying to seek profits from China, Europe and Japan wish to regulate China’s international behaviors by rules, and to avoid the risk of US unilateralism and enhance the strategic cooperative relationship with the US. From the posture of the strategic approaches of Japan and Europe, the cooperation between the two sides has been comprehensive, and shown a state of relying on each other strategically, which implies their strategic ambition of shaping a new order actively. At the same time, we should  recognize that how close the two sides can approach each other and how far their ambitions can be realized are still subject to a multiple of practical factors. China should pay close attention to the influence of the strategic partnership between Japan and Europe, and prepare relevant knowledge storage and policy response in theory and practice.

Chinese Journal of European Studies Vol.39 No.2 April 2021