China-Japan Relations: Building Bridges

From a high-voltage tension that had besieged China-Japan relations throughout last year, mostly pivoted around maritime disputes, the two top economies of Asia have come a long way by taking small but significant steps to normalise relations and aim at a more permanent thaw in bilateral relations between them. Since the last quarter of last year, the two countries have shown the political will to end the hostility emanating primarily from maritime disputes and the memories of a ‘wrong’ history.

Demarches

In what appeared to be the first signs of bettering relations between the two countries, China and Japan re-started high-level talks on maritime issues in September 2014. The talks which took place in the Chinese port city of Qingdao was only the second such talk, after the first round had taken place in 2012. A series of events starting from the end of 2012 led to the nose-diving of the China-Japan relations. Towards the end of 2012 when Japan had reportedly bough parts of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands, it marked a fresh bout of hostility between the two countries. This further escalated when China began an increased sea-patrol near Japanese waters, when Shinzo Abe visited the Yasukuni shrine and when China declared its ADIZ overlapping parts of disputed islands. The high-level talks in 2014 were the first signs of a rapprochement between the two countries in recent times. Besides agreeing on maritime cooperation, the two countries agreed to establish liaisons between the respective defence ministries of the two countries. This was a major step as it established official communication links where non existed for a substantially long period.

In a second major step, the APEC Summit of November 2014 proved to be unprecedented as Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping met for the first time. The tone of the meeting was set by a four point consensus agenda that the Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Japanese National Security chief Shotaro Yachi jointly issued (just before the APEC Summit) a four-point consensus on improving China-Japan ties:

China and Japan pledged to “continue to develop a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests.”
Both sides reached “some agreement” on overcoming political difficulties in a spirit of “facing history squarely and looking forward to the future.”
Both the countries addressed the controversial issue of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
Both sides agreed to “gradually resume political, diplomatic and security dialogue through various multilateral and bilateral channels.”

Recent Steps

Building up on the gains made in the earlier talks and meetings, both Japan and China again shared the table to resolve issues of discord between them. In January 2015, Chinese and Japanese defence authorities discussed how to manage tensions in the East China Sea. Importantly, both the countries decided to establish a maritime crisis management consultative mechanism by the end of 2015. This also accorded reassurance to further bilateral meetings between the two countries. More recently, steps have been taken from both the sides to improve people-to-people diplomacy. Japan’s recent relaxation of visa norms for Chinese people has led to an increase in the number of Chinese touring Japan.

The latest diplomatic move to reset bilateral ties between the two countries entails the much awaited meeting between the deputy foreign ministers in March this year to restart the bilateral security dialogue. China, Japan, and South Korea held discussions at the deputy foreign minister-level in Seoul, setting the stage for a full-fledged ministerial meeting later. Besides, officials from Japan and China are planning on meeting in Singapore in May this year to continue talks on a bilateral maritime crisis management mechanism.

Between the two countries, Japan has incurred considerable loss due to falling bilateral relationship between the two countries. The continued economic rise has helped China replace Japan as the second largest economy of the world. A sudden stalled relationship also witnessed a sharp 43 percent decline in Japanese foreign direct investment in China in the first eight months of 2014. These reasons have weighed heavy on the economic and political considerations of both the countries. While Japan has taken a few demarches to improve relations with China, Beijing has shown a softening of its hardline stance on issues of discord. For instance, China has cut down the number of patrol boats being sent to the East China Sea.

The way ahead

For analysts and practitioners alike, it will be extremely difficult to rule out scepticism completely, when it comes o China-Japan relations. Although both the countries have “agreed to disagree” on certain steps, a series of steps, especially in the last few years, demonstrated the potential of a better China-Japan relations. However, political mistrust remains at the core of bilateral relations between the two countries. Even as the two countries are indulging in bilateral talks to build bridges, both the countries are individually indulging in unilaterally provocative moves and incendiary rhetoric. It is pertinent to point here that Japan’s recent defense reforms have troubled China as much as Japan has been concerned about the opaqueness surrounding China’s military modernisation. A sincere resolution of discords and disputes between China and Japan will necessarily have to entail the absence of these unilateral over

Author Profile

India Writes Network: India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.