The Development of Japan-China Relations in the Period of Stability in Cross-Strait Relations

Abstract

Analyses of the developments in China's Japan policy in the 21st century indicate that it is in a dilemma. For the peace and prosperity that the CCP needs for its legitimacy to rule, good relations and cooperation with the neighbors, especially Japan, is useful and necessary. However, for the unity of the Party and the nation, and for gathering people's support for the Party and government, struggle with the neighbors and especially with Japan proves useful and effective. China's Japan policy oscillates between these positions, depending on the situational factors involving political and economic conditions and on the policy tendency of the leadership. Most recently, while Xi Jinping has not abandoned the Japan-bashing card in domestic politics, he has sent a signal to his people by meeting Abe twice that it is high time they promoted political relations with Japan. He seems to be more comfortable in signaling this because he has consolidated his power base, but probably feeling more urgent since the decline in economic exchange with Japan is exacerbating the economic downturn that could undermine the stability of his regime.

Keyword:

• Japan-China relations
• Cross-Strait relations
• Intra-Party disagreements
• anti-Japanese demonstrations
• China's Dream

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Akio Takahara

Akio TAKAHARA is Professor of Contemporary Chinese Politics at the Graduate School of Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo. He received his DPhil in 1988 from the University of Sussex, and later served as Visiting Scholar at the Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong (1989–91), Japanese Embassy in Beijing (1996–98), Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, Harvard University (2005–06), and School of International Studies, Peking University (2014–15). Before joining UTokyo, he taught at J. F. Oberlin University (1991–95) and Rikkyo University (1995–2005). He also served as Programme Officer of the Sasakawa Peace Foundation (1988–89), Member of the Governing Body of the Institute of Development Studies (1999–2003), President of the Japan Association for Asian Studies (2009–11), and Secretary General of the New Japan-China Friendship 21st Century Committee (2009–14). He currently serves as senior researcher of the Tokyo Foundation, adjunct fellow of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, and senior researcher of the Japan International Forum. His publications include The Politics of Wage Policy in Post-Revolutionary China, (Macmillan, 1992), “A Japanese Perspective on China's Rise and the East Asian Order,” in Robert S. Ross and Zhu Feng (eds), China's Ascent: Power, Security, and the Future of International Politics (Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2008), pp. 21837, and “The Rise of China and Its Neighborhood Diplomacy: Implications for Japanese Foreign Policy,” The Journal of Contemporary China Studies, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2012, pp. 47–71.