The year 2002 marks the 30th anniversary of the normalization in
1972 of Sino-Japanese relations, which have been developing in a
profound way since that time. However, several new characteristics
that entered the picture at the beginning of the 21st century might
influence the future development of relations between the two
countries.
Up
until now, the story in the long ancient history of Sino-Japanese
relations was of "China stronger than Japan" while the story in the
100-year-long period modern history presented a different picture
of "Japan stronger than China." After World War II, China and Japan
experienced over 20 years of isolation because of the Cold War
between the United States and the Soviet Union. The normalization
of Sino-Japanese relations in 1972 opened the door for future
development. The reform and opeing-up policy adopted by China since
1978 paved the way for changing the previous status-quo of "strong
Japan versus weak China." Since the 1990s, China has been growing
towards an economic power while Japan has been seeking to become a
political power. Therefore, for the first time in history,
Sino-Japanese relations are stepping into a new period of "strong
China and strong Japan."
On
the one hand, Japan is still much more powerful than China
economically. In terms of US dollars, the GDP of Japan is 4 times
that of China and its per capita GDP is 40 times that of China. On
the other hand, China had already shortened the gap with Japan in
the past decade in terms of national power, and China is predicted
to catch up with Japan in economic scale and to shorten the gap
with Japan in economic quality in next 15 to 20 years.
What's more, China has established its own unique political
position for years in the fields of international politics and
foreign affairs. In the field of economy and technology, China is
also leaping forward to catch up with the world. This trend has a
great impact on the strategic philosophy, foreign policy and
bilateral relations of the two countries.
In
politics, the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement issued on September
29,1972, along with the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and
Friendship signed on August 12, 1978 established the principle
rules for politics and security, the most important issues between
the two countries. The Sino-Japanese Joint Declaration issued on
November 26, 1998, set additional guidelines for new Sino-Japanese
relations after the Cold War. Under the guidance of the three basic
documents, Sino-Japanese political relations have developed
smoothly with frequent high-level exchanges and government
cooperation.
In
regard to security, the three fundamental documents set a tone of
friendship and no war for the two countries. Reviewing the modern
and current history of Sino-Japanese relations, it is clear that
the past 30 years were the best time since the middle of 19th
century. Security dialogue and communication has began recently, a
high level exchange is going on, an exchange of military officials
as well as navy ships is expected to start soon.
In
the economic and trade field, the bilateral trade volume in 1972
was only US$1.038 billion while it reached US$89.2 billion in 2001
(according to Japan's statistics). For the past ten years Japan has
been the biggest trading partner of China while China remains as
the second biggest to Japan. Japan is one of the major nations from
which China attracts investment and imports technology. By the end
of July 2000, the contracted value of the Japanese investment in
China was US$37.026 billion while the actual amount used was
US$26.58 billion. So Japan has become the second biggest investor
to China next only to the United States. The Japanese government
has provided development aid to China since 1980. By 2000, the
government loans to China totaled 2650.707 billion yen, donations
reached 123.325 billion yen and technology cooperation was worth
124.414 billion yen.
In
the non-governmental field, personal exchanges have developed
rapidly from only thousands in 1970s to millions per year now. In
2001, a total of 2.38 million Japanese visited China. So far, there
are 200 pairs of sister cities between China and Japan.
Far back in ancient history, Chinese formed a self-consciousness in
which China was superior to all other nations in the world.
However, modern history enabled Japan to establish a superior sense
of "joining Europe and breaking away from East Asia." The history
of Sino-Japanese relations proved that the different national
psychological sentiments formed in different historical periods, as
well as the historical hatred and emotional barrier is deeply
rooted, which takes time to resolve. At the turn of the 21st
century, China and Japan have been experiencing sharper frictions
in national feeling. This actually is a necessary phase and turning
point with China and Japan tending to be more equal
psychologically.
Against the background of changes between China and Japan in terms
of national power, interests as well as mentality, China and Japan
began to reexamine their policy towards one another. On November
1998, the two nations reached consensus in "establishment of a
partnership of friendship and cooperation for peace and
development." Since 1999, Sino-Japanese relations have developed
fruitfully in the fields of high ranking official exchange,
economic trade relations, security dialogue, regional cooperation,
etc. The process of building up the partnership is a process for
the two countries to adjust their policies, mentality and bilateral
relations.
(Dr. Jin Xide, researcher in the Institute of Japanese Studies of
the Chinese
Academy of Social Sciences, china.org.cn, edited and translated
by Zheng Guihong, May 27, 2002)