Northeast Asia after the Russian War: The Search for Cooperation among Japan, South Korea and Taiwan

The world has been shaken by Russia’s war in Ukraine since February in 2022. The war signals the end of the “post-Cold War” international order. The coming era of “great power competition” is often referred to as a new “Cold War” or a new type of confrontation. Russia is officially breaking with the established international order and its norms, a series of international expectations that Russia herself had been instrumental in creating in the years since WWII. China, India and other powers have accepted Russia’s behavior, resulting in a new fault line emerging in the world. Is the world really becoming “muti-polar” as these powers hope?
Northeast Asia also faces serious challenges provoked by the Russian war in Ukraine. Some emphasize the danger of a Taiwan crisis and that Japan would become a “second Poland” once China uses force against Taiwan with the support of Russia. Nuclearized North Korea’s presence too shows the ability of enhanced military cooperation with Russian to create tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
It is notable that Asia does not offer a united front against Russia. Rather, the fault lines in the region seem to have widened and deepened. Given the positions of China and India vis-à-vis Russia, only a few Asian countries—Japan, South Korea and Singapore—sanction Russia, while the remainder keep away from the issue. In addition, the sanctioning countries show different attitudes toward Russia. While Japan, from the beginning, imposes hard sanctions in line with the US and EU on one hand, South Korea’s are mild, to the point Russia’s foreign ministry noted that it was “the most friendly among the unfriendly countries.” Taiwan has also introduced sanctions, and has served as a motivation for Russia and China to develop their “no-limits” relationship since 2022.
This panel welcome papers that analyze the foreign policies of Japan, South Korea and Taiwan towards Russia, and that shed light on how the Northeast Asian community overcomes challenges to a stable and peaceful region.