PRC-Japan Relations

Historical Legacies and Current Issues

Historical Legacies: I

• Cultural influence in ancient times– written characters– architecture– calendar– ...

Historical Legacies: II

• Similar experience of Western invasion in 19th century

Historical Legacies: III

• Rise of Japan in late 19th century

• Japan’s territorial gains from China– 1895: Taiwan– 1931: northeast China– 1937: north & east China– 1944: central China

Rape of Nanking (1937)

• Tillman Durdin of the New York Times:– ``… to get to the gate I had to just climb over

masses of bodies accumulated there … one of the great atrocities of modern times.”

• Christian missionary, John Magee:– ``… every prisoner they could find but also a

vast number of ordinary citizens of all ages … were shot down”

Peace Treaty with Japan

• 1951, Peace Treaty with Japan was signed in San Francisco– neither PRC nor ROC was invited

• 1952, Republic of China (Taiwan) signed Peace Treaty with Japan– ``state of war between the Republic of China

and Japan is terminated”

Contacts before 1972

• Sporadic, unofficial contacts between PRC and Japan before 1972

Diplomatic Relation (1972)

• Turning point: Nixon visited Beijing and Shanghai in February 1972

• Japan’s Prime Minister visited Beijing and signed Joint Communiqué in September

• Diplomatic relations were established between Japan and P.R. China

Joint Communiqué (1972)

• Japan ``fully understands and respects” that ``Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China”

• neither Party will seek regional hegemony

• both shall oppose any attempt by any other country or group of countries to establish regional hegemony

Peace Treaty (1978)

• Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the People's Republic of China and Japan

• Deng Xiaoping visited Japan

War Reparations

• 1951 Peace Treaty at San Francisco– John Foster Dulles sought to eliminate war

reparations– feared that heavy reparations burdens would

similarly cripple Japan as did Germany in 1919

– make it vulnerable to Communist domination

• 1972, PRC government waived the claim of war reparations against Japan

Japanese Loans to PRC

• Official Development Assistance (ODA)

• Japanese government loan

• energy loans

• Japanese free aid

• trade surplus loans

After Cold War

• Relative rise of U.S. and China

• Relative decline of Russia and Japan

Current Status

• Washington-Tokyo-Beijing triangle– PRC & Japan regard relationship with each

other as 2nd in importance to that with US

• Japan plays significant role in integrating PRC into world economy

• Japan has a vital interest in PRC’s development and stability

PRC’s Trade Partners 2013

• Japan is Mainland China’s third largest export destination and second largest import source

• Total trade volume: US$313 billion

• 7.5% of Mainland China’s total foreign trade

• Total imports from Japan: US$162 billion

• 8.3% of Mainland China’s total imports

Japan’s Trade Partners 2012

• Mainland China is Japan’s largest source of imports and largest export destination– Exports: China 18.1%, US 17.6%, S.K. 7.7%– Imports: China 21.3%, US 8.6%, Austra. 6.4%

• PRC (including both Mainland China and Hong Kong) became Japan’s largest trade partner in 2004– surpassing the US for the first time

Japan's Top Trade Partners (Total Volume, in trillion yen)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

USA Mainland China Hong Kong

Japan’s Direct Investment

• 2nd largest investment source

• 31,855 projects

• US$66.6 billion

• 1 million employees

Current Issues

• Yasukuni Shrine– worship of Class-A war criminals of WWII– visits by Prime Ministers and high officials

• Japan recognized its aggression against China for the first time in 1998

• Japanese history textbooks– minimize Japan’s aggression in Asia

Other Issues

• destruction of Japanese chemical weapons in China– a memorandum was signed in 1999

• Rape of Nanking– Japanese nationalist extremists claim that the

rape of Nanking was a fabrication

Territorial Dispute

• Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands in East China Sea

Lack of Understanding

• China:– does Japan ignore or deny wartime atrocities?– may extremists revert Japan to militarism?

• Japan:– is China a military threat?

• mutually reinforcing misunderstandings

• both need public relations efforts abroad