Introduction
Part 1. Northeast Asia and China’s External Relations
3. Comparing Xi Jinping’s policy towards Japan with predecessor Hu Jintao’s policy towards Japan
3. Comparing Xi Jinping’s policy towards Japan
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April 2007, Chinese Premier Wen Jiaobao, initiated an “Ice-Melting Trip” to Japan, further improving China-Japan relations. China’s Secretary of Defense and the Navy visited Japan on various occasions. In September 2007, Abe resigned due to health problems, but his successor, Prime Minister Fukuda, continued to actively promote visits between both countries’ leaders. In December 2007, Fukuta initiated a “Spring Welcoming Trip” to China; in May 2008, President Hu Jintao initiated a “Spring Warming Trip” to Japan. During his visit to Japan, Hu Jintao positively evaluated Japan’s peaceful postwar development.
China and Japan published “United Declaration of China-Japan Push for a Mutually Beneficial Strategic Relationship.” The heads of China and Japan frequented visited each other, bringing the world back to the “honeymoon period” between China and Japan during the 1980s. After the Democratic Party of Japan rose to power, visits between the heads of China and Japan continued until the “Island Purchase Incident” of September 2012.
Second, under Hu Jintao, China actively pushed to further and expand China-Japan economic cooperation. (1) Create a mechanism for economic dialogue between China-Japan top officials. On December 1, 2007, China and Japan held the “First China-Japan High- Level Economic Dialogue” its main purpose was to: (a) exchange both countries’ economic development strategies and macroeconomic policies, deepen mutual understandings; (b) coordinate interdepartmental economic cooperation, discuss major
issues concerning both parties under cooperation; (c) strengthen policy communications regarding major regional and international economic problems, widen area of cooperation between the two countries.15 (2) Strengthen economic cooperation regarding environmental protection, energy, agriculture, and information technology. (3) Promote China-Japan economic cooperation regarding regional and international affairs.
Finally, China and Japan actively attempted to create a mechanism to resolve disputes over territory sovereignty. Towards the beginning of Hu Jintao’s presidency, China and Japan actively attempted to establish a cooperative mechanism to resolve the pending East China Sea issues.16 During Wen Jiabao’s visits to Japan in 2007, regarding the issue of East China Sea resource development, China and Japan reached are solution based on joint development. In June 2008, China and Japan agreed to set a joint development area in the East China Sea region. Even though the joint development plan received strong domestic opposition in China and Japan, China and Japan’s attitude of resolving disputes through a cooperative mechanism should be recognized.
Looking back on the development of China-Japan relations
15_“中日举行首次经济高层对话 共话合作共赢协调发展,” 中新网, 2007年 12月 1日,
<http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2007-12/01/content_7179828.htm>.
16_East China Sea issues include issues over the ownership of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, continental shelf division, and deep-sea oil and gas resources.
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under the Hu administration, the Xi administration needs to work in the following three areas. First, mutual political trust is key; summit meeting is the core. Under President Hu, the heads of China and Japan met often, creating another “honeymoon period” for post-war China-Japan relations. Summit meetings not only deepen mutual trust, they also foster the development of mutual trust in various levels and areas.
TableⅠ- 1 Statistics of China-Japan Leadership Summits and Visits
2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Leadership
Summits 1 6 8 7 4 4 1
Leadership
Visits 1 2 5 2 2 2 1
Japanese Prime Minister
Abe Abe → Fukuta
Fukuta
→ Aso
Aso → Hatoyama
Hatoyama
→ Kan
Kan → Noda
Noda → Abe
Chinese Leader
Hu/
Wen Hu/
Wen
Hu/
Wen
Hu/
Wen
Hu/
Wen
Hu/
Wen
Hu/
Wen Source: Based on the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Japanese Foreign Ministry, and
various media reports.
Second, China and Japan should continue to maintain and strengthen economic and social exchange and cooperation.
China-Japan economic cooperation witnessed comprehensive development under Hu Jintao. In 2007, mainland China replaced the U.S. as Japan’s largest trade partner; China-Japan bilateral trade reached $250 billion. In addition, China and Japan’s cooperation over environmental protection, intellectual property, finance, and information technology increased rapidly. However, China and Japan are currently facing a potential slowdown in economic relations.
Third, increasing China-Japan military exchange and security dialogue is the stabilizer in managing the two countries’
relations. Following improved mutual trust between the Chinese and Japanese governments, China-Japan exchange regarding military security can expand as well. In August 2007, Chinese Defense Minister, Cao Gangchuan, visited Japan, marking the first visit of the Chinese Defense Minister to Japan since 1998.
In November of the same year, Chinese navy’s “Shenzhen”
Destroyer paid a friendly visit to Japan, marking the first visit of a Chinese naval ship to Japan in history, after more than 120 years following Northern Navy’s visit during the Qing Dynasty.
However, after September 2012, China-Japan military exchange and defense contact have almost completely stopped. In April 2014, the Chinese navy hosted a naval review in Qingdao and did not invite the Japanese navy to participate. Under the crisis
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of continued confrontations between public ships from both sides in the waters of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, there was no dialogue or contact between the two countries’ defense departments; the danger of accidental military conflicts between the two parties and an escalation to partial war in the East China Sea region cannot be ruled out.