Technology Transfer in Sino-Japanese Relations

Abstract

Technology transfer in Sino-Japanese relations assumes immense significance given the increasing role of technology in the developmental trajectory of the international, regional and their respective domestic contexts. What is singularly distinct about the technology transfer process is that it is punctuated by two contrasting phenomena of conflict and cooperation. Of these two, cooperation dominated until the 1980s, so long as the Chinese technological capabilities were still in the process of maturation. Once China began its journey on the path of becoming a technological superpower in the 1990s, conflict entered the technology transfer architecture between the two. Currently, both these phenomena characterise technology transfer between China and Japan in varying proportions and this trend might continue in the foreseeable future. The challenge for China and Japan, therefore, is to augment the component of cooperation while minimising conflict for the benefit of global technological development in general and of their respective technological capabilities and thereby, their economies in particular.

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