Japan and China on Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of signing the treaty of peace and friendship between the two countries, as the implication of bilateral relations has become different from the past due to Beijing’s rise to a superpower. In the same year the treaty was signed, the
Japan and China on Sunday marked the 40th anniversary of signing the treaty of peace and friendship between the two countries, as the implication of bilateral relations has become different from the past due to Beijing’s rise to a superpower.
In the same year the treaty was signed, the People’s Republic of China, founded by the Communist Party in 1949, adopted its reform and opening-up policy. It overtook Japan as the world’s second-biggest economy in nominal gross domestic product in 2010.
Recently, China has been apparently attempting to bolster its political clout abroad on the back of its increasing economic and military might in a bid to snatch the “hegemony” in the Asia-Pacific region from the United States, Japanese government officials say.
Although Tokyo has been seeking to boost ties with Beijing for regional stability, some diplomats warn that China is likely to start trying to drive a wedge into the Japan-U. S. alliance, which has great influence in the economic and security fields in Asia.
“I’d like to lead Japan-China relations to a new stage by promoting the overall improvement in bilateral ties,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during their meeting in Tokyo in May.
A Japanese government official voiced hope for improvement in Japan-China relations, saying, “With depopulation shrinking the economy, Japan will not be able to maintain national strength without China’s cooperation.”
Tokyo and Beijing have agreed to resume reciprocal visits by the two countries’ leaders. Abe is planning to visit China later this year, and China’s Xi Jinping is also expected to make his first trip next year to Japan since becoming president in 2013.
For years, the two neighbors had been mired in a territorial row over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. The group of uninhabited islets, which are called Diaoyu in China, are controlled by Japan but claimed by Beijing.
