By Tao Wenzhao
The verdict is in: Premier Wen Jiabao's recent Japan trip was a
complete success. Leaders of the two countries reached consensus on
developing a Sino-Japanese strategic relationship of mutual benefit
and identified areas for bilateral cooperation. This constitutes a
new start for Sino-Japanese relations.
Wen devoted much of his speech before the Japanese parliament to
retracing the history of bilateral relations between China and
Japan, with their profound implications.
The history of relations can be roughly divided into three
periods some 2,000 years of friendly exchanges, about 50 years of
unfortunate events in modern history, and the 60-plus years
following World War II.
The relations date back to the Qin (211-206 BC) and Han (206
BC-AD 220) dynasties.
Friendly exchanges have been so broad-ranging with such profound
impacts that few if any parallels are found in the history of world
civilizations.
The War of Resistance against Japanese Aggrestion
of 1931-45 through World War II was a period of painful relations
as the Japanese militarists subjected China to the ravages of war.
We must mark this chapter in our shared history as a mistake never
to be repeated.
As the late Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai said when Sino-Japanese
ties were normalized, "Lessons learned from the past can serve as a
guide for the future." This history should be used as a lesson
rather than an obstacle in developing friendly bilateral
relations.
With the normalization of Sino-Japanese relations, the main
trend of bilateral ties has been cooperation despite various
disputes and friction. The 28 years of economic reform in China
have seen Japan as one of its major economic and trade
partners.
Japan has also provided assistance to China in the form of
low-interest yen-denominated loans. Japan has upheld the one-China
policy. And the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping described Japan's
position, spelled out in the Sino-Japanese Joint
Declaration, as the "Japan format". It served as a model for
the normalization of Sino-US relations.
When the US-led Western alliance pressured China after the
Beijing incident of 1989, Japanese leaders opposed proposed
sanctions against China at the G7 meetings in 1989 and 1990. They
also opposed attempts to isolate China from the international
community.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu was the first state
leader from a major foreign country to step on Chinese soil in the
1990s when he visited Beijing in October 1991.
Five areas of the new China-Japanese strategic relationship of
mutual benefit were spelled out in the Sino-Japanese Joint
Statement signed during Premier Wen's Japan visit last week.
Two of the major ones are strategic and economic.
As two major countries in East Asia, China and Japan's bilateral
ties are of great significance in maintaining peace and stability
in the region. The ties also serve the common interests of both
China and Japan.
On the other hand, it goes without saying that the two nations
are still suspicious of each other. China is very concerned about
the updated Japan-US alliance and the Japan-Australia Joint
Declaration, while Japan is worried about China's efforts to
modernize its national defense. What is needed is a new security
concept.
As we advance into the 21st century, the old no-peace game has
become outdated and only win-win relations of mutual benefit will
provide stability. Following the path of peace and development is a
strategic decision China has made, not some stop-gap measure.
China and Japan need to strengthen communications to increase
mutual trust. Significantly, dialogue and exchanges were placed
ahead of defense matters in the joint statement signed during Wen's
Japan trip.
In economic and trade relations, the two countries
inter-dependence is now deep-rooted. Today, the total value of
bilateral trade between China and Japan exceeds US$200 billion
while Japan's investment in China has topped US$50 billion and is
growing.
Seemingly both China and Japan have refrained from asking the
question: Will Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visit Yasukuni Shrine
during his term in office? Because the freezing of Sino-Japanese
ties in the past few years was caused by Abe's predecessor
Junichiro Koizumi's visits to the war shrine in his official
capacity, this issue must not be taken lightly.
In this author's opinion, people who doggedly cling to the
position that the war of aggression never happened are just a tiny
minority in Japan. But they can be so influential at certain
moments that it appears they represent the majority view.
Politicians no doubt have their own beliefs, but votes are
always more important than ideals. Whether Abe will visit the war
shrine is not for him alone to decide. If efforts by both sides,
including reciprocal high-level visits, exchanges between the two
governments and peoples and the development of bilateral economic
and trade ties, can convince the Japanese public that Sino-Japanese
ties are very important, most Japanese voters will not approve of
Abe's visit to the war shrine. Then he would be very unlikely to
follow in the footsteps of his predecessor.
A related point is that Sino-Japanese ties must be rooted in
people's hearts.
Brief as Wen's Japan trip was, he managed to find time to make
close contact with ordinary people. The chief goal of such contacts
was to show the Japanese that the Chinese premier was visiting
Japan with truly friendly intentions toward the Japanese
people.
The leaders' joint statement also emphasizes exchanges to
enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the two
peoples.
One high-level visit cannot resolve all issues between China and
Japan, but Sino-Japanese relations will have a bright future if
both sides nurture their bilateral ties.
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The author is a senior researcher with the Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences.
(China Daily April 19, 2007)
