China and Japan's Foreign Policy Strategies in Central Asia

Central Asia has been always under special attention of regional and transregional powers due to its natural resources. A thorough scrutinize in China and Japan’s foreign policy strategies between 2012 and 2016 demonstrates that in one hand China follows some economic, security, energy and political interests in the region, and in the other hand, Japan seeks some regional and international long time goals such as economic and energy interests. The present literature tries to find out the strategies and interests of China and Japan in Central Asia and to reply this question that which divergences they will face in their future presence in the region. The hypothesis of this study is that China’s strategy is using its rising economic and political power in Central Asia especially through SCO, while Japan is using official development assistance and political multilateralism as well as its capacities in Asia – Pacific regional organizations and United Nation institutions such as UNDP. This research is done using explanatory analytical research method and library and internet resources.