Historical Legacies and Current Issues 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 2015 Japan is the 3rd largest export destination and 4th largest import source Bilateral trade decreased from US$313 billion in 2013 to US$279 billion in 2015 7% of Mainland China’s total foreign trade Total imports from Japan decreased from US$162 bil. in 2013 to US$143 bil. in 2015 8.5% of Mainland China’s total imports

Japan’s Trade Partners 2015 Mainland China is the largest source of imports and 2nd largest export destination Exports: US 20.2%, China 17.5%, S.K. 7.1% Imports: China 24.8%, US 10.5%, Australia 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 Direct Investment China’s 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: Japan: 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