Description
In this paper, I investigate whether conservative ideologies have influenced Japan’s involvement in developing Asian financial regionalism after the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis. I argue that al- though conservative ideologies exist in the making of regional financial cooperation policies, these policy outcomes are shaped by the domestic interactive dynamics amongst key state actors: 1) Lib- eral Democratic Party; 2) Ministry of Finance; 3) Bank of Japan. In the wake of the Asian financial crisis, Japan has been actively promoting the development of regional financial cooperation initia- tives (i.e. Chiang Mai Initiative, Asia Bond Markets Initiative, and Asian Bond Funds Initiative). Existing debates have mainly focused on structural factors of power rivalry either between Japan and China or, to a certain extent, East and West (e.g. Webber, 2010; Grimes, 2009) ; structural factor of economic interdependence (e.g. Kawai, 2009; Capannelli et al. 2010). In this paper, I analyse whether right-wing conservative ideologies have contributed to Japan’s proactive stance in develop- ing Asian financial regionalism since 1997. Notably empirical evidence show that leading to the outburst of the Asian crisis, conservative political figures (e.g. Shintaro Ishihara), top officials in the Ministry of Finance (e.g. Eisuke Sakakibara) have voiced their opinions regarding the necessity of Japan to take leadership in shaping regional order. More recently observers have argued that under Prime Minister Abe’s leadership, Japan’s competition with China in shaping regional financial order has intensified (e.g.Terada 2014). In order to investigate this research question, I adopt a historical institutionalist approach and conduct archival research on the published statements, research stud- ies, and conference meetings of the three mentioned state actors from 1997 to 2017.
