The relationship between China and Japan is one of the most complex and subtle political problems today. Among the fiercest conflicts clouding the judgments of both countries are the Taiwan issue and the ownership of fishing islands.
China and Japan are geographical neighbours and are historically intertwined. For instance, China’s ancient culture, political regime and even production skills have a huge impact on Japan. It is also well known that the Japanese literary writing stems from China.
A long and unhappy relationship
The good relationship between China and Japan is key to keeping the balance of the Asian-Pacific region and, to a certain degree, is vital to maintain the stability of the international community. However, conflicts between China and Japan exist all the time. I personally think that historical factors contribute to the cause of all these problems: China and Japan must come to a common understanding on their respective positions in the world for this crucial relationship to develop.
Two main wars between China and Japan in history should never be forgotten: the Sino-Japanese (Jia Wu) War and World War II. Both of these have had a profound impact in forming the framework of current relationships between China and Japan.
The Sino-Japanese War lasted from 1894-1895 during the Qing Dynasty in China and the Japanese King Ming Zhi period. Since the accession of King Ming Zhi in 1868, Japan was dominated by a military ideology, which claimed that territorial expansion was Japan’s basic national policy and decided on aggressive invasion of its neighbours - Korea and China. In 1874 Japan invaded Taiwan.
In spring 1894, the Korean “Eastern Study Party“, tried to overthrow the Korean government, who sought help from China. At the same time, Japan took advantage of this affair as an excuse to invade Korea.
The battlefield had two main theatres: at sea and on Chinese mainland. Due to the corruption of the Qing Dynasty, China lost the war entirely, and had to sign the “Sino-Japanese Ma Guan Treaty“, which forced the Chinese government to pay 230 million silver pieces to the Japanese government and give Taiwan to Japan.
This war had two significant impacts on Japan: firstly, Japan used the money to accelerate its capitalist regime; secondly, the result of the war changed the balance of power in the Asia-Pacific region. Here, Japan competed with Britain and Russia. As for China, this war hindered the development of its capital economy while making China a semi-colonised country.
War renewed
Less than two decades later, as part of the struggle against Fascism, Japan formally invaded China in July 1937. (In 1931, Japan invaded the Dong Bei area of China.) This war ended in 1945 with Japan’s surrender.
The Japanese government’s slogan, offered by its Prime Minister Tian Zhong Yi Yi in 1927, was: In order to conquer the whole world, we must conquer China first! It is obvious that, due to the limitation of its natural resources, Japan always tries aggressively to expand in order to rob resources from other countries. As Japan’s nearest neighbour, it is without doubt that China became the victim in history. However, unlike the German attitude towards its invasion of other European countries during World War II, the most unacceptable thing for the Chinese is that the Japanese government denied that it invaded China: Japan’s new generations are told a story of Japan’s history without any of its evil behaviour.
The legacy to live with
Today, the relationship between China and Japan is still very tense. One aspect is that after 50 years’ ruling by Japan, Taiwan claims its independence from China while Japan strongly supports its independence: this would detract from China’s further development and influence in the international community. Another aspect is that China’s sovereignty over the fishing islands has been challenged by Japan, which hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.
Moreover, Japan applies to be a permanent member in the UN using the excuse that it is a big financial contributor to the UN. At the same time we must know that the reason to set the five permanent members in the UN after World War II is to prevent any aggressive country to start any war in the name of Fascism. I think the current permanent members should not consider Japan’s application due to its attitude towards war.
Japan is China’s biggest trading partner; China wants to develop peacefully with Japan. Nevertheless, if the Taiwan and fishing island issues cannot be resolved, the conflict between these two countries will deepen. The Japanese government should have a long-term view that only if it faces history objectively and rightly can it provide a fair arena for both countries to develop peacefully so as to maintain the stability of the Asian-Pacific region.
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