The book establishes a linkage between perceptions and foreign policy by exploring, how China’s behavior towards Japan is driven by mental shortcuts. The study is focused on the aspect of historical memories and how it factors in China’s Japan Policy. It explores the linkage between perceptions born from the past, their interpretations in the present and thereby, the shaping of policy behavior of China towards Japan. The author delves beyond the realist and liberal interpretations of international politics, which assume that states’ interests and material capabilities are a ‘given’ in the international system- thus, offering a conceptual understanding of Sino-Japanese relations in the twenty-first century.

Dr. Amrita Jash is Assistant Professor at the Department of Geopolitics and International Relations, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (Institution of Eminence), India. She holds a Ph.D. in Chinese Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University. She was a Pavate Fellow at the University of Cambridge. Dr. Jash has authored The Concept of Active Defence in China’s Military Strategy (2021).