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Earlier this month Hu met with a delegation from Japan's two leading political parties, and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi spent four days in Japan, during which he and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda agreed that Hu's upcoming visit represented an important step forward in the two countries' relationship. The trip is a return visit following Fukuda's visit to Beijing last December.
Nakasone was in Beijing to attend the third Northeast Asia Trilateral Forum, a meeting of some 30 prominent figures from China, Japan and South Korea. At that meeting, participants discussed the idea of a regional free trade agreement and even a regional common currency.
The region may not be ready for those ideas yet, but it is surely time to reconstruct a healthier relationship between China and Japan. There is a great need for China and Japan to focus on policies of engagement, rather than containment, toward each other. If both countries have strategic partnerships with countries in other continents, why shouldn't Japan and China cooperate in this way? A partner relationship would benefit both.
On the domestic level, China and Japan can exchange experiences in dealing with issues like inflation, pensions and employment. The two countries could help compensate for each others' shortcomings, as they did in the 1980s, when Sino-Japanese relations enjoyed a honeymoon period in the midst of the Cold War hostility and military competition between the United States and the former Soviet Union.
The two countries could also benefit from exchanges in technology and the space industry, and in military cooperation. Greater transparency on both sides would reduce tensions, strengthen security and build confidence that would help guarantee peace and stability in Asia.
On the global level, the two could also cooperate on matters such as the reform of the United Nations, regional peacemaking, environmental protection, financial risk avoidance, energy development and even anti-terrorism.
Is it possible for the two neighbor states to rebuild the cozy relations they had during the Cold War? Starting when China began its open-door policy in the late 1970s, Japan poured billions of U.S. dollars into China to help reconstruct its economy. Visits between leaders and ordinary people were common, various cultural activities were held and many sister cities were formed between the two nations. In those days Sino-Japan relations could be described as almost affectionate, rather than purely rational and practical.
There are some thorny issues that remain, however. The historical issue is still there. The current Japanese leadership has calmed Chinese emotions by refraining from visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, where war criminals are honored along with Japan's war dead. Visits to the shrine by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi greatly annoyed China, as they seemed to show an indifference to the feelings of the Chinese people.
The issue of Japanese textbooks downplaying Japan's invasion of China during World War II, and especially the Nanjing Massacre incident, remain unresolved. There is also the question of sovereignty in the East China Sea, with its rich oil deposits in the seabed below, which could lead to serious conflict if it is not dealt with in a cooperative manner.
It is not likely that Hu Jintao will brush aside the past like South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who declared on a visit to Japan this month that he would demand no further apologies from Japan -- which occupied Korea for nearly 40 years -- but would adopt a pragmatic, future-oriented attitude.
China's attitude is that Japan must sincerely apologize for its wartime atrocities. Yet to what degree and in what style Japan could offer such an apology is a concern for both countries; careful handling of historical issues is important to avoid a wave of nationalistic fervor in both countries, which could be destabilizing.
Another issue is Japan's strong desire for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, which would require China's approval as one of the Council's five permanent members. It is unlikely that Hu will give Japan a definite positive response on this matter during his upcoming trip.
In the past China's position has remained firm that this issue is related to the Japanese attitude toward their invasion in World War II. Chinese from the grassroots level to the top leadership view the Japanese invasion as a trauma to the Chinese nation as a whole.
Another unsettling issue from the Chinese point of view is Japan's military alliance with the United States and South Korea, which appears to be strengthening under the new South Korean president. In addition, Japan's connections with Taiwan and its attitude toward Tibet are sometimes called into question. Although Japan supports the "one China" principle, its leaders' statements sometimes contradict that stance, such as Fukuda's recent remark that the issue of riots in Tibet is an international one.
From the Japanese side, there are also concerns over the safety of imported Chinese food, sparked when a number of Japanese fell ill after eating tainted dumplings from China.
Therefore, although both sides seem interested in improving the Sino-Japanese relationship, there is no indication that these thorny issues are close to a resolution. They are likely to be set aside, ready to reemerge whenever new tensions arise.
Mutual trust is essential for building a healthy partnership. Although globalization encourages greater cooperation in an increasingly interdependent world, old attitudes, habits and perceptions still remain. It is hoped that Chinese and Japanese leaders can find the wisdom to fully resolve their outstanding issues, which would open the door to fuller cooperation on all levels and guarantee long-term peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia.
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(Zhang Quanyi is an associate professor at the Zhejiang Wanli University in Ningbo, China, and a Ph.D. candidate at Shanghai International Studies University, studying policy making and collective identity. His research interests focus on conflict management and identity construction. He can be contacted at qyzhangupi@gmail.com. ©Copyright Zhang Quanyi.)
