In this episode of the Asia Chessboard, hosts USSC CEO Mike Green and Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS Jude Blanchette chat to Christopher B. Johnstone, former National Security Council director for Asia under President Biden and director for Japan and Oceanian affairs under President Obama who now serves as senior adviser and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
They begin with a look at what Japan’s new national security strategy means for its role in the region and the US-Japan alliance. Next, they turn to China-Japan relations, examining how Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration is navigating declining Japanese public sentiment toward his country’s largest trading partner. They then discuss how conversations in Tokyo are unfolding about what type of role Japan might play in a potential conflict in and around Taiwan. The conversation concludes by examining how crisis management and crisis communications mechanisms between Taiwan, Japan, and China are evolving.
The Asia Chessboard is co-produced by the United States Studies Centre and Center for Strategic and International Studies and features in-depth conversations with the most prominent strategic thinkers on Asia. Co-hosts Dr Michael Green (CEO of the United States Studies Centre) and Jude Blanchette (Freeman Chair in China Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies) take the debate beyond the headlines of the day to explore the historical context and inside decision-making process on major geopolitical developments from the Himalayas to the South China Sea.