1. Historical Legacies and Current Issues
PRC-Japan Relations
Historical Legacies and Current Issues

2. Historical Legacies: I
Cultural influence in ancient times
written characters
architecture
calendar
...

3. Historical Legacies: II
Similar experience of Western invasion in 19th century

4. 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

5. 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”

6. 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”

7. Contacts before 1972
Sporadic, unofficial contacts between PRC and Japan before 1972

8. 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

9. 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

10. Peace Treaty (1978)
Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the People's Republic of China and Japan
Deng Xiaoping visited Japan

11. 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

12. Japanese Loans to PRC Official Development Assistance (ODA)
Japanese government loan
energy loans
Japanese free aid
trade surplus loans

13. After Cold War Relative rise of U.S. and China
Relative decline of Russia and Japan

14. 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

15. 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

17. 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

19. Japan’s Direct Investment
China’s 2nd largest investment source
31,855 projects
US$66.6 billion
1 million employees

21. 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

22. 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

23. Territorial Dispute
Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands in East China Sea

24. 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