| What is the reason why Britain and Japan,which are close to the mainland and have similar geographical positions,have adopted very different near-shore continental policies?From a global geo-perspective,both the UK and Japan are located on the"periphery" of Eurasia and are well positioned to provide a high degree of security and easy access to the ocean.However,in modern times,the foreign policy preferences of the neighboring continental countries of the United Kingdom and Japan are completely different:the foreign policy of the United Kingdom is basically based on the European region,whether it is the "balance of power policy" in the past,or the period of accession to the European Union,or the relationship of "leaving and leaving" after the "Brexit";In modern times,Japan has been pursuing a foreign policy of "distant friendship and close attack",and has been strengthening its alliance with the West based on various factors while maintaining a relatively distant relationship with countries in the East Asian continent.Regional geopolitics,regional geo-economy and regional geo-culture constitute the concept of regional geo-pattern organically,and the regional geo-pattern is taken as the independent variable and the nearshore continental policies of Britain and Japan as the dependent variable.Through the three factors of regional geopolitics,regional geoeconomy and regional geo-culture,this paper explains why Britain and Japan adopt different near-shore continental policies when the geographical factors are similar.From the perspective of regional geographical pattern,this paper analyzes the causal relationship between regional geographical pattern and the nearshore continental policy of Britain and Japan.The basic point of view of this paper is that the United Kingdom is facing a relatively balanced European continent,and no one country can occupy an overwhelming advantage for a long time,which lays the foundation for the United Kingdom to adopt a long-term balance of power policy and the current flexible policy.On the other hand,Japan was geographically confronted with China.Tsarist Russia(Soviet Union)and other continental countries with an absolute land area,and the regional pattern in East Asia was difficult to balance in terms of power for a long time.Japan could not meet its needs of aggression,expansion and plunder with its own strength alone,which forced Japan to constantly seek development space from overseas in modern times.Finally,he embarked on a policy path of relative estrangement from the countries in the East Asian continent in the political and military fields.In addition,when Britain rose,there were still a large number of ownless lands or areas that could be developed and colonized in the world,so Britain had little desire for land on the European continent,but focused a lot of energy on overseas colonization and maritime trade.Since the Meiji period,Japan has found almost no unowned land in the world to occupy and use,and the development gap between Britain and Europe is much smaller than that between Japan and other countries in East Asia,which are important reasons.From the comprehensive perspective of regional geopolitics,regional geoeconomy and regional geo-culture,the nearshore continental policies of Britain and Japan are quite different,and there are various reasons.From the perspective of regional geopolitics,the main reason for the difference in the nearshore continental policies of the UK and Japan is that although the UK and Japan are geographically located in the outer edge of the Eurasia continent,the regional geopolitical patterns of the two countries are completely opposite.The UK is confronted with many sovereign states in the European continent,and there are several powerful countries.There is much room for tolerance in regional relations;In the East Asian continent,Japan faces two relatively powerful countries,China and Russia,which is difficult to form a dominant position in the region,and naturally needs to rely on powers outside the region.From the perspective of regional geo-economy,the main reason is that the special regional geo-economic relations between Britain and Europe enable Britain to carry out its twosided strategy:"One side turns to the European continent to adjust the balance of power,the other side points to the sea to strengthen its maritime control";For Japan,geoeconomic advantage lies less in proximity than in a complementary relationship.From the perspective of regional geo-culture,the main reason is that Britain and Europe have always been in the contradiction of one and two sides,on the one hand,there is a certain"centripetal force",on the other hand,there is a certain "centrifugal force";The Japanese culture is closer to the Western culture tradition,which makes Japan continue to deepen its policy choice of "with distant relatives and near invasion".From the perspective of their respective vertical historical comparison,Britain and Europe today mostly maintain a state of "closeness rather than opposition,cooperation more than competition,friendship more than estrangement".With the advance of globalization and regional integration,the UK cannot adopt a "balance of power policy" toward the European continent as it once did,but more integration into Europe and the EU,whether it is common security and defense,complementary economic interests and friendly people-to-people communication.Despite Brexit,the relationship between the UK and the EU will continue to be close,and the UK will maintain close cooperation with the EU and countries on the European continent as a non-EU member.On the other hand,Japan and the East Asian countries show a pattern of "confrontation more than intimacy,competition more than cooperation,estrangement more than friendship".Although Japan currently has a high degree of dependence on economic and trade exchanges with the East Asian countries represented by China,it is difficult to change its general strategy of "distant friendship and close attack" only by maintaining a high degree of economic dependence due to ideology,the needs of aggression,expansion and plunder.On the whole,in addition to accepting the reality for a short period of time after the defeat,Japan has almost continued its foreign policy of "distant friendship and near attack",but at this stage,due to the peace constitution and other reasons,it can not complete its "near attack" attribute,more of a "distant control near" pattern.However,from the actual actions in recent years,Japan is slipping from "far to near" to the abyss of "distant friends and close attacks". |
