Japan’s Minilateral Engagement and Taiwan Contingency: QUAD and SQUAD

January 23, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Mānoa Campus, Tokioka Room, 319 Moore Hall Add to Calendar

Japan’s New Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s remark that a Taiwan contingency may qualify as an “existential threat to Japan” invited harsh reprisals from China, including aggressive diplomatic languages and a ban on rare-earth exports. As the tension over Taiwan escalates between China and the United States, the Taiwan question has occupied an important place in Japan’s security diplomacy. At the same time, the U.S. President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy has made Japan cautious about possible U.S. adoption of an “offshore balancing” strategy, which pits Japan in the frontline of confrontation against China to increase strategic options and the room for maneuverability for the U.S. security policy. Professor Sato’s talk will analyze the ongoing discord between Japan and China in the contexts of the utilities and limitations of the two minilateral engagements Japan is in. Yoichiro SATO holds a BA (Law) from Keio University, MA (International Studies) from University of South Carolina, and Ph.D (Political Science) from University of Hawaiʻi. He currently teaches at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University and was the dean of the Department and the Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, 2021-2024, the dean of research, 2015-2020. Previously, he has also taught at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, Auckland University (New Zealand), Kansai Gaidai Hawaii College, Colorado School of Mines, University of Hawaii (part-time), and Kyushu University (part-time). At the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, he taught government officials from the U.S. and some 40 other countries in the Asia-Pacific and beyond. He also was a senior visiting research fellow at the Yusof Ishak Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore (remote, 2022-2023). He researches and writes in several areas, including (in an order of frequency) Japanese foreign and security policy, maritime affairs, U.S. foreign policy and strategy, and international political economy. He has published more than ten academic books and countless articles and book chapters in academic journals, books, think tank outlets, and media. He has frequently been quoted on international media in over 30 countries including in Southeast Asia, Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong. This brown bag talk is co-sponsored by the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Department of Asian Studies, Department of Political Science, Center for Japanese Studies, and Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs.


Ticket Information
Please register at https://go.hawaii.edu/xnD

Event Sponsor
Asian Studies, Mānoa Campus

More Information
8089562686, cipa@hawaii.edu, https://manoa.hawaii.edu/indopacificaffairs/2026/01/16/japans-minilateral-engagement-and-taiwan-cont

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