1、FEBRUARY 2020CHINA,JAPAN,AND THE ART OF ECONOMIC STATECRAFTMIREYA SOLSGREAT POWERS1EXECUTIVE SUMMARY To some observers,Asia is moving towards a long familiar past a China-centric regional order.While the jury is still out on the outcome of rekindled strategic rivalry between China and the United Sta
2、tes(an extra-regional actor enjoying primacy during the past seven decades),most believe it is game over when it comes to Asian great power competition.The conclusion seems obvious to most:China has eclipsed Japan.However,a focus on economic statecraft renders this conclusion premature.Geoeconomics
3、stands to define Asia not only because a more powerful China is flexing its state-capitalism arm abroad,but also because Japan has overcome enough of its domestic limitations to offer economic leadership.Both China and Japan are pushing visions of regional integration(the Belt and Road Initiative an
4、d the Free and Open Indo-Pacific,respectively)and offering development finance to see them through,but neither is pressing developing Asia with binary choices.The regional order in Asia is contested,but not exclusionary.In the 21st century,the task for Japan has been to exert influence with dwindlin
