二次世界大戰後,日本對東南亞地區的外交政策,在日美外交對外政策核心與經濟中心主義的雙重影響下,基本上是被動與反應性的〈passive & reactive〉。對日本而言,東南亞的重要性可大分為政治與經濟兩大面向,在政治方面,東南亞地區國家在東西方集團對抗的過程中具備戰略中重要性,在經濟方面,東南亞地區則不僅是日本重要的海外市場,也是物資運往日本的必經海上航道。而其中的經濟利益在經濟中心主義的指導下,對日本而言,則經常長為其東南亞政策的主要特色。在外交政策手段方面,由於日本憲法第九條的限制,經濟外交〈對外援助〉遂成為日本外交最有效的政策利器。
Since the end of World WarⅡ, with Tokyo-Washington relations as the core of its foreign policy and influenced by its emphasis on economics in particular, Japan’s foreign policy towards Southeast Asia has basically been passive and reactive. For Japan, Southeast Asia has both political and economic importance. Southeast Asian nations were of strategic significance in the process of East-West confrontation. In addition, Southeast Asia is not only an important overseas market for Japanese commodities, but also a necessary sea lane for the transportation of materials and energy to Japan. Economic interests are often a major feature of Japan’s Southeast Asian policy. Given the restrictions of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, economic diplomacy (extending foreign economic aid) ha =s become Japan’s most effective diplomatic instrument.