Japan-China ties remain tense in 45th anniversary year

September 29, 2017

TOKYO- Japan-China relations, strained in recent years over a group of islands, has not recovered markedly, with the two nations celebrating the 45th anniversary on Friday of the normalization of their diplomatic ties in 1972.

Incursions by Chinese government ships into Japanese territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan, continue, keeping bilateral tensions over the Japanese-administered islands festering. China claims the islands as its own, calling them Diaoyu.

The chasm between Japan and China has cast a pall over international responses to provocative acts by North Korea, which is pushing ahead with nuclear and missile programs.

"Both sides are making efforts to repair relations," a senior official of the Japanese government said. "There are a number of individual issues, but we should continue the efforts."

In September 2010, a Chinese fishing boat rammed into Japan Coast Guard patrol ships in waters off the Senkaku Islands. Following the coast guard's arrest of the captain of the Chinese boat, bilateral ties deteriorated sharply, as exemplified by China's refusal to export rare earths to Japan.

In September 2012, soon before the 40th anniversary of the signing of the 1972 Japan-China joint statement, under which the two nations normalized their diplomatic relations, the government of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the then Democratic Party of Japan, brought some of the uninhabited islands under state control.

The nationalization incurred the wrath of China, igniting anti-Japan protests in many Chinese locations.

Japan-China relations were at their worst level since the end of World War II, a senior official of Japan's Foreign Ministry said at the time.

In January 2013, the month after the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power and Shinzo Abe became prime minister for the second time, a Chinese Navy vessel locked a fire-control radar on a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, an action that usually precedes live fire. The lock-on incident boosted worries about an accidental military clash.

Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not hold their first summit meeting until November 2014. The two leaders have since held talks at last once every year as part of the ongoing effort to improve the bilateral relations.

Still, the improvement has not yet got on a stable track. The wrangling over the Senkaku Islands has become even more intractable, with Chinese government ships spotted more frequently in Japanese waters near the islands.

In addition, the two Asian neighbors remain apart over perceptions of bilateral history.

"Fundamental issues haven't been resolved. Our relations have improved only to a small extent," the Foreign Ministry official said.

The lack of mutual trust has prevented Japan and China from taking a united stand in addressing North Korea's nuclear and missile tests.

A meeting between Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, in New York on Sept. 21, revealed a gap in the two nations' approach. Kono requested Chinese cooperation on tightening international pressure on North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions, but Wang argued the importance of dialogue with the reclusive state.

The Japanese government hopes to host summit talks among Japan, China and South Korea in Tokyo sometime after the Communist Party of China convention in October, following a failed attempt to set up a three-way meeting in July. Jiji Press