Introduction
China and Japan are two nations that have influenced each other for centuries in their architecture, culture, language, language, religion, etc. Separated by the East China Sea, when the bilateral relationship between China and Japan disused, generally, the history is seen as a background issue for the reasons behind the current conflicts. It is beloved that a long time is required to ease those tensions. The two Asian neighbors have endured tensions and hostility for a long time now. It would be unlikely to come to any concrete solutions without addressing the fundamental roots of hostility.
The history
Without going in the background, it would not be easy to understand at why the ghosts of wars still haunt Sino–Japanese relations. Looking at the public media and history textbooks of both countries, and studying the popular culture and education in China, it seems that the war has never ended between China and Japan. Compared with the Chinese, the history education in Japan carries very little information on World War II. For example, very detailed accounts of the Nanjing Massacre1 are given in the middle school history textbooks in China. Numerous films, historical books, and newspaper articles have been produced in China on Nanjing. However, no such details are mentioned in junior high school textbooks in Japan. Ambiguous terms are used to describe the casualties of the Nanjing Massacre.
__________________________1History Education: The Source of Conflict Between China and Japan,” The Diplomat, accessed December 10, 2014, http://thediplomat.com/2014/04/history-education-the-source-of-conflict-between-china-and-japan/ , paragraph 6.
Sino-Japanese relations in the past 2000 years have been mutually beneficial at times, and conflictive at other times, conflictive at other times historical contributions of Chinese, while China is inspired by the economic policies and developmental success of Japan. However, there have been fierce political-military conflicts in more recent history that cast a dark shadows on their mutual relationship.
The trade factor
Most Chinese people carry a negative perception of Japan because of Japan's invasion of China during the Second World. Thus, it is difficult to build up mutual trust on both sides. Japan observes that China shows no desire to establish its state and economic ties with Japan because of the impact of the historical legacy of the Second World War. Japan also paused official assistance to the Beijing government's nuclear testing during the mid-1990s.
Before World War II Japan was the only industrialized country for years in Asia. In the late 1920s, Japan financed heavy industry in Manchuria and in the 1970s; Chinese economic reforms progressed. Chinese leaders regarded Japan as a model Japan offered extensive official development assistance (ODA) to China 2, but also enjoyed reciprocal benefits. The ODA from Tokyo worked as a lubricant for its economic relations with China. Subsidized loans were given to Japanese corporations in China, thus offering further industrial development in Japan. However, Japan did not succeed in making a watermark on the direction of the Chinese industrialization process. It was also not able to assimilate China in its transnational expansion strategy for East Asia.
_____________2 Roger Chapman. 2003. Japan and China: Cooperation, Competition and Conflict. H-US-Japan, H-Net Reviews.
Japan's motive behind ODA was to take advantage of cheap labor in China, and its foreign direct investment was seen in sectors like food processing, textiles, and apparel. It anticipated a long-term perspective of making profits from the ever-expanding Chinese market. China became the biggest source of imports from Japan by 2002 and Japan's share of FDI inflow of China was higher during the 1980s than the 1990s.
Locking at the scenario today, even though tensions between Japan and China are on the rise, there is also an uneasy status quo between the two sides, due to the an economical version of mutual deterrence. In the recent times, Chinese citizens boycotted Japanese products because of a rift over an island chain that has been controlled by Japan for more than a century. It was feared that China might impose a market squeeze on Tokyo in order to get territorial concessions.
Those barren islands are known as Diaoyu Islands in Chinese and Senkaku Islands 3 among the Japanese. Recent surveys have suggested that the area is rich in coal, oil and natural gas. Thus, it is no surprise to see the two nations locked in bitter disputes over the ownership of these islands. According to Japan, any negotiations over this matter are pointless as its ownership is irrefutable. China, on the other hand maintains that it owns the entire South China Sea.
However, with United States making it clear that it would come to Japan’s defense that the commotion subsided. Japanese security experts still suggest that China might try other means of bullying, such as a longer-term economic boycott.
_________________________3 Brinkley, Joel. 2014. Conflicting claims: China, japan, taiwan on edge. World Affairs 176 (5): 55.
However, those fears might not materialize, because China still needs to buy Japanese products and most of the high-tech products collected in and exported from China are Japanese-made parts. Moreover, Japan too needs to sell those products. Thus, both countries cannot afford a conflict on this ground
Looking at the prevailing situation, Washington’s pledge to Japan’s defense4 the economic interdependence is likely to keep the peace between the two countries. Still, an accidental clash can lead to tensions and aggravate an unintended conflict. It is true that the two countries gain far more from trading than from remaining in conflicts.
History, trade and attitudes seem to dominate the Japan-China relationship. There are too many issues like China’s seizure of a Mitsui, the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, Yasukuni Shrine and a lot more that is always in the background of the conflicts. Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s appointment to the Yasukuni Shrine resulted in political aftershocks. China opened a memorial to honor Korean resistance leader, Anh Jung- geun, who assassinated Japan’s Governor-General of Korea, and this has led to more dissatisfactions. Chinese plaintiffs have sought damages of $163,000 per plaintiff for wartime forced labor from Mitsubishi Materials Corporation 5. Regular patrols in the Diaoyu/Senkaku region have become the norm for the Chinese patrols.
2013 foreign trade figures reveal that the Chinese trade with Japan has lowered by 5.1 percent, and it is the second consecutive year-on-year decline. China’s exports to Japan have gone down. Meanwhile, Japanese direct investment in China is down by 30%.
__________________________4Mutual Assured Production: Why Trade Will Limit Conflict Between China and Japan,” accessed December 10, 2014, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139451/richard-katz/mutual-assured-production, paragraph 4.5James J Przystup. 2013. Japan-china relations: Can we talk?Comparative Connections 15 (3):
The future
Japan and China are the two greatest Asian national economies. In China, the economic growth has continued while in Japan, there are economic woes due to the collapse of its real estate markets. China has become a significant political and economic power in the region. The future roles of Japan and China in East Asia and how their relationships will turn, or will they be cooperative or conflictive, remains to be seen 6. It is a matter of high international importance how the two countries will deal with the United States.
Are the two great nations condemned to permanent conflict? Well, this could be bad news for the world. Sino-Japanese communications are shadowed by the violent history and misunderstandings. Today Japan is concerned about the non- transparent military budget and strategic posture of China. China in turn is concerned about Japan’s intimacy with the US. China has always refrained from criticizing Washington or identifying it as its adversary. However, the truth remains that at present, the Unites States is the only country that can influence political matters on a global scale. As Unites States remains a global leader in economic, technology, education, science and culture, China is forced to maintain a close relation with Washington. However, the Unites States also needs China’s help to maintain balance and stability in the Middle east7.
_______________________6 Jisi, Wang. 2005. China's search for stability with america. Vol. 84. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.7 Boyd, Sir. 2005. China and japan. Asian Affairs 36 (3): 275-88.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Boyd, Sir. 2005. China and japan. Asian Affairs 36 (3): 275-88.
Brinkley, Joel. 2014. Conflicting claims: China, japan, taiwan on edge. World Affairs 176 (5): 55.
History Education: The Source of Conflict Between China and Japan,” The Diplomat, accessed December 10, 2014, http://thediplomat.com/2014/04/history-education-the-source-of-conflict-between-china-and-japan/ , paragraph 6.
James J Przystup. 2013. Japan-china relations: Can we talk?Comparative Connections 15 (3):
Jisi, Wang. 2005. China's search for stability with america. Vol. 84. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.
Mutual Assured Production: Why Trade Will Limit Conflict Between China and Japan,” accessed December 10, 2014, http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/139451/richard-katz/mutual-assured-production, paragraph 4.
Roger Chapman. 2003. Japan and China: Cooperation, Competition and Conflict. H-US-Japan, H-Net Reviews.
