China and Japan are still best of frenemies, 40 years on from Treaty of Peace and Friendship
In 1978, an accord between Beijing and Tokyo ended a near century-long enmity. Now, as the countries prepare to celebrate the anniversary of that historic day, they find themselves drifting apart once more
It is as true today as it has been throughout history: China and Japan have as many reasons to be friends as to be enemies. And that is why, in the decades since they established diplomatic ties in 1972, their relationship has seen as many highs as it has lows.
The enactment of the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China on October 23, 1978, was one such high. Ending almost a century of enmity, it heralded a new era of relations, and was the culmination of a historic meeting in Tokyo between China’s then-paramount leader, Deng Xiaoping, and Japan’s then-prime minister, Takeo Fukuda.
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The goodwill progressed further when, in November 1983, Chinese Communist Party Secretary Hu Yaobang and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone agreed to establish the New Japan-China Friendship Committee for the 21st Century.
Underpinning these accords were ancient bonds and similarities – geographical proximity, shared customs, culture and religion as well as a history of bilateral exchanges stretching back to the Tang dynasty. They were also based on shared geopolitical interests: both nations saw the Soviet Union as their chief threat during the cold war era.
But its generosity had another, darker, aspect. It was driven at least in part by a desire to make amends for the immense suffering of the Chinese during the Japanese invasion in the second world war.
While the two countries have had mostly cordial relations since the third century BC, they were at war for half a century from 1894 to 1945.
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And since the dawn of this millennium, their differences have again begun to simmer. They have been at odds over historic perceptions (including of the war), territorial disputes and national-security policies. These spats have come as both seek to redefine their roles amid a rapidly changing geopolitical environment. In recent years, relations plunged following a string of hostile encounters regarding the disputed Diaoyu Islands – known as the Senkakus in Japan – in the East China Sea.
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Beijing may be eager to woo Tokyo to drive a wedge between Japan and the United States. But the truth is Tokyo is even more passionate than Washington about containing China.
Abe influenced Washington’s stance on a “free and open Indo-Pacific” – a vision that is as much about counterbalancing China’s growing assertiveness as it is about anything else. As the saying goes: keep your friends close, your enemies even closer. ■
Cary Huang, a senior writer with the South China Morning Post, has been a China affairs columnist since the 1990s