Recently Japan, China's biggest neighbor in East Asia, expressed
its great concern over China's SARS epidemic and provided huge
monetary and material support. Moreover a Japanese delegation
headed by the secretaries general of the three ruling coalition
parties in Japan paid a visit to Beijing in May when most countries
dared not come. So Sino-Japanese relations seem to have improved
against such a background.
It
is worth notice though that the leaders of both sides didn't
mention a single word on the historic problems of their bilateral
ties, as they had always done before. Instead, they said they were
drawing lessons from history. According to Chinese official
reports, the leaders of both sides stressed the vital importance of
Sino-Japanese relations, saying to aim at long-term interests and
the entirety of bilateral relations.
For quite a time, some leading Chinese media suggested that China
and Japan should set aside their historical issues, or at least,
free the development of bilateral ties from the interference of
so-called problems of history. Such words certainly draw the
attention of the Japanese government.
So, can Sino-Japanese relations really surpass the historical
problems? Considering the complexity of their relations, it is
clearly not an easy matter.
The so-called historical problems between the two countries are not
just a political issue, but a social one too. China and Japan might
manage it effectively in the light of the wisdom of their statesmen
and the counting of national interests. Yet the precondition for
both sides bears the same political will to be friendly. For its
part, Japan, as colonists and invaders in history, must face their
history sincerely. Meanwhile, China, its past victim, should learn
to trust Japan, and get rid of its shadow.
However, the historical problem may not be that simple to tackle.
First of all, the problem is a realistic question because it is
still active. The current obstacles in Sino-Japanese relations are
mostly from history. Take territory disputes for example, the
Diaoyu Islands is a question left over from World War II. Despite
the Chinese government's restrain, the Japanese government has
constantly been trying to legalize its occupation of the Diaoyu
Islands together with its right-of-centre organizations, which is
viewed as being disrespectful of the feelings of the Chinese people
across the world.
Furthermore, is Japan's open approval of Taiwan's WHO application
really in consideration of its public health? What lies beneath is
Japan's strategy to strengthen its ties with Taiwan
comprehensively.
Early in November 2002, one report on Japanese foreign policy
strategy, issued by a think tank of Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi, called for Japan to enhance its relations with
Taiwan. The point being that Taiwan's importance in Sino-Japanese
relations is the same as that in Sino-US relations. Taiwan is also
an historical problem to some extent. As a result, the close
contacts between Taiwan and Japan will certainly hinder the
development of Sino-Japanese relations.
To
make it more complicated, over the past two years, Japan has
successfully completed a series of domestic law legislation in the
atmosphere of the Anti-Terrorism War, the Iraqi War and the Korean
Nuclear Crisis. With the help of these new laws, Japan's Peace
Constitution became empty and it could rearm itself legally. Of
this, the Japanese Prime Minister declared openly: "Japanese
Self-Defense Force is the army of Japan."
So
far Japan has not yet armed itself though the voice of rearmament
is getting louder and louder there. In theory, the rearmament of
Japan does not necessarily lead to the revival of militarism in
Japan, but, the fact is that the trend of political conservatism
and new nationalism keeps rising.
Once Japan rearms itself, it might completely deny the existence of
any historical problems either with China or with Asia. A rearmed
Japan with no correct historical view will turn out to be an
uncertain and unstable factor in East Asia.
Chinese perceptions and requirements of Japan are loosening due to
the importance of Sino-Japanese cooperation in East Asia
Cooperation. A smooth Sino-Japanese relationship would not only
help China to play a bigger role in East Asia, but also serve as
the key factor in East Asian Cooperation.
In
this regard, China, Southeast Asia and some other places in East
Asia, all hold the same view. It is highly expected that China and
Japan will work hard to improve their relationship and shoulder
leadership in this region.
However, things are not quite that simple. Japan has always been
watching China's rapid development within its own political
standard. In fact, Japan does not sincerely embrace China as a
rising regional power.
By
now, Japan still regards itself as the most important country in
Asia. In diplomatic language, Japan repeats again and again that it
welcomes China's reform and development, and is willing to
participate in China's modernization. Yet these words only
represent Japan's sense of superiority. That's why Japan stresses
that it is the most important part of the West (the second world
economic power) and Japan is the only Asian country to join the G8
club.
In
fact, looking back on the development of relations between Japan
and East Asia over the past ten years, we need not to care too much
of Sino-Japanese relations. The myth Japan created as a development
model has faded out. As the world enters into the 21st century,
Japan is suffering many problems in its political and economic
structure.
After the Cold War, Japan could not work as the motor of economic
development in East Asia because of its long economic recession. So
even if Japan does not want to contribute its power function to
East Asian cooperation, China along with ASEAN to the south, South
Korea to the north can entirely replace Japan and build up the
cooperative structure in East Asia.
Moreover, Japan does not like to focus on Asia only. Though Japan
has already begun talks with Asian countries on the free trade zone
including Australia, Japan gives priority to global multilateral
free trade talks.
Still, Japan eyes its relations with the US as vital for its
foreign policy. In security, Japan still relies on the US also. For
example, Japan wants to use the US force to diffuse the nuclear
threat posed by Democratic People's Republic of Korea. In strategic
terms, Japan needs to count on American power to balance China's
influence. Therefore, in the foreseeable future, no matter how the
Sino-Japanese relations change, this is unlikely to weaken. That is
to say, Japan can never improve its ties with China at the expense
of those with the US.
To
strengthen Sino-Japanese relations is common wisdom, yet historical
problems have always been its biggest interference. China really
needs to consolidate its friendly relations with Japan. However,
Rome was not built in a day, and good will cannot be based on
wishful thinking.
(The author is a research fellow in the International Studies
Institute at Tsinghua University)
(China.org.cn translated by Zheng Guihong, June 20, 2003)