MATSUMOTO Haruka (Chinese Name: 松本春香)

Previous research

I completed an MA in International Studies at Tokyo University of Foreign Studies in 1997, an MA in History at Georgetown University in 2003, and a Ph.D. in Area Studies of China at Tokyo Woman’s Christian University in 2018. From 2003 to 2005, I worked as a research fellow at The Japan Institute of International Affairs, an affiliate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Since 2005, I have been with the Institute of Developing Economies, JETRO, under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan. I have conducted research overseas as a visiting scholar at the Institute of European and American Studies, Academia Sinica in Taiwan (2010), and at the School of International Studies, Peking University in China (2011). During my scholarships in Taiwan and China, I focused on China–US and China–Taiwan relations, conducting research based on archival materials. I am currently researching US–China–Taiwan relations, analyzing these complex dynamics from both contemporary and historical perspectives.

Current research projects

I am currently working on two main topics. First, as part of my research on Cold War history, I am studying the Taiwan Strait crises and conducting a diplomatic historical analysis of documents and historical materials from the United States, Taiwan, and China from a diplomatic history perspective. This research has been partially funded by a KAKENHI Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research. Second, I am analyzing the foreign policy of the Xi Jinping administration, China–US relations, and Taiwan issues. In the future, I aim to connect historical and contemporary analyses by utilizing oral records and archived materials from the United States, Taiwan, and China.

English works

• "Chiang Kai-shek's Vision for Returning to China in the 1950s," IDE Discussion Papers, No.729, 2018.

• "Taiwan Strait Crises and Chiang Kai-shek's Strategic Thinking: A Perspective from the Taiwan's Archive," IDE Discussion Papers, No. 481, 2014.

• "The First Taiwan Strait Crisis and China's‘Border'Dispute around Taiwan," Eurasia Border Review, vol.3 Special Issue, 2012.

• "The Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1954-55 and U.S.-R.O.C Relations," IDE Discussion Papers, No. 223, 2010.

• "The Evolution of the One China Concept in the Process of Taiwan's Democratization," IDE Discussion Papers, No. 91, 2007.