EVENTS

Abstract           

Sino-Japanese relationship has worsened after Japan’s decision to nationalise Senkaku islands (known as Diaoyu in China) on September 11,2012. Many developments that followed including China’s decision to impose an Air Defense Identification Zone and Japan’s decision to deploy troops to its South-western islands closer to China have escalated tension in the region. Japanese media follows the “incursion” of Chinese ships and gives extensive coverage to the developments in East China Sea. It has resulted in the erosion of a China friendly constituency that exists in Japan. These developments have impacted on Sino-Japanese political, economic and people to people relations. Giving a brief background of the origin of the dispute, the researcher would analyse the developments that followed after the nationalisation of the contested territory and assess its impact on the bilateral relationship. 

About the Speaker

Shamshad Ahmad Khan has a PhD degree in Japanese Studies from the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He keenly follows developments in Japan and its relations with East Asian countries. He was a Mombukagakusho Fellow at Waseda University, Tokyo while he was pursuing his PhD. He has been associated with various institutes in Japan including the Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University (December 2010 to March 2011), the Institute for Developing Economies (November 2012 to February 2012) and the Japan Institute of International Affairs (November 2014 to January 2015) as a Visiting Research Fellow. He has also been associated with Indian think tanks such as the Institute of Defense Studies and Analyses and the Indian Council of World Affairs. He has recently completed a 10 month research project with Keio Research Institute, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa Campus as Senior Researcher. He was presented with the Nakasone Yasuhiro Award by Japan’s former prime minister Nakasone Yasuhiro in 2011.