Using hitherto unexplored archival materials, this study explores the extended negotiations leading to the 1972 Dutch-Sino joint communique in which the exchange of embassies was settled. It...Show moreUsing hitherto unexplored archival materials, this study explores the extended negotiations leading to the 1972 Dutch-Sino joint communique in which the exchange of embassies was settled. It identifies two accelerators and hurdles in the process. Richard Nixon's 1971 visit announcement initiated talks between the Netherlands and the PRC, while the PRC’s admission to the UN removed an important difficulty in their bilateral ties. Hurdles arose during discussions on how to communicate the elevation of bilateral ties to the ambassadorial level and on the formal language regarding Taiwan in the joint communique. The addition of the 'anti-Brezhnev doctrine' showcased the Netherlands' departure from the Brezhnev Doctrine, emphasizing peaceful coexistence. Beyond the negotiation intricacies, the study highlights the agency of smaller states. The Netherlands intentionally deviated from U.S. foreign policy in the UN-vote on Chinese representation and included discussions with Romania on European security and limiting superpower actions in its negotiations with China.Show less
This thesis analyzes the role of the middle class in China in the process of democratization. Based on the literature, two groups can be distinguished: those who state that the middle class will...Show moreThis thesis analyzes the role of the middle class in China in the process of democratization. Based on the literature, two groups can be distinguished: those who state that the middle class will inevitably support democratic processes and those who state that the middle class can be an important actor in the support for military regimes. In addition, there is a debate between those who state that China is too unique to comply with the theory (exceptionalism), while others state that the theory is universal. In this thesis, a framework is created to determine whether middle classes will support democratization, or not. The case of China is then tested on this framework. The economic dependency on the current regime, the strength of this regime, and the fact that the Chinese middle class is not a unified, homogeneous actor, make sure that the CCP remains firmly in power, without real indications that the middle class will support democratization in the near future.Show less
This thesis is an exploratory research that analysis Japan’s current Taiwan position. This was done by examining four themes: 1. The evolving place of Taiwan in Japan’s security policy and...Show moreThis thesis is an exploratory research that analysis Japan’s current Taiwan position. This was done by examining four themes: 1. The evolving place of Taiwan in Japan’s security policy and political discourse. 2. The development of Japan’s security policy and the turn towards a more sovereign security policy of Japan. 3. The development and strengthening of the U.S.-Japan alliance. And, 4. the introduction of the FOIP strategy. These themes were extracted from the literature. However, the literature in this field is quickly outdated. Besides no author in the literature did examine the four themes together with regard to Japan’s Taiwan position. Research was done through text analysis and comparative analysis. All themes show that Japan increasingly promotes values like: democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law, and a capitalist economy, which it shares with the U.S. and Taiwan. Although, by now, Japan more openly supports Taiwan as a democracy, no costly signalling towards Taiwan was done since no explicit cost was attached to the signals. Instead, I argued that Japan did send a costly signal to the U.S. by explicitly stating that the alliance is unwavering and that Japan and the U.S. together are increasingly promoting their shared (universal) values. The value politics that Japan and the U.S. envision can be seen in a broader spectrum of countries and alliances promoting values. China, for example, promotes its own values. Values that clash with the shared values that the U.S. and Japan promote. Since value’s legitimize actions to protect those value and two different value systems vie for their influence on Taiwan and both see the other as an infringement on their own value system, the Taiwan issue is cause for serious concern.Show less
The financial crisis of 2007-2008 had a great negative impact on the world. It also revealed how much the global economy is dependent on financial centres in the West. In the wake of the crisis in...Show moreThe financial crisis of 2007-2008 had a great negative impact on the world. It also revealed how much the global economy is dependent on financial centres in the West. In the wake of the crisis in 2010, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) assessed that the Asian region had a huge infrastructure gap of trillions in US dollars which needed to be filled. According to a report of the ADB, increasing infrastructure in Asia and fixing this gap would decrease the Asian region’s reliance on the Western economy and reduce the risk of a worldwide financial crisis reoccurring. China and Japan have hugely increased their efforts to address the need for infrastructure in the last decade, in both a competitive and cooperative manner. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are two initiatives which were announced in 2013 by the same Chinese leadership and are focused on the building of infrastructure. Japan has responded to these initiatives in a very ambiguous manner. On the one hand, Japan launched the Partnership for Quality Infrastructure (PQI) in 2015, just before the AIIB was officially signed, as an infrastructure-funding initiative which has competed with the BRI. On the other hand, Japan still started “conditional engagement” with China on 52 BRI projects despite Japan’s initial doubts about the ability for proper governance and lending practices. This thesis will examine both the cooperative response and the competitive response of Japan towards the BRI and AIIB. To analyse the cooperative element, it will use Brooks’ modern liberalist theory, which argues that Multinational Corporations (MNCs) and International Production Networks (IPNs) have become the more influential part of economic interdependence, and has mostly replaced the factor of interstate trade. From Brooks’ modernized liberalist perspective, this thesis argues that the Keidanren, one of Japan’s business federations has played a significant role in the road to cooperation between China and Japan on BRI projects. To analyse the competitive element, this thesis will use Nabers’ discursive approach and apply it to competition between China’s BRI/AIIB, and Japan’s Asian Development Bank (ADB) and PQI. It will focus on the standards and values portrayed by both countries’ initiatives, and it argues that they are converging, which is producing a fertile ground for increasing and deepening cooperation between China and Japan on infrastructure projects in third countries.Show less
