Searching for A Consensus

By+Bai+Shi

Over the last two years， tensions between China and Japan over historical issues and territorial disputes have brought diplomacy between the nations to a stalemate. The on-going diplomatic discord has affected cooperation in the realms of politics， the economy and tourism for the two influential East Asian neighbors.

People with insight in both China and Japan have been making efforts to promote mutual understanding and maintain the Sino-Japanese friendship. From September 28 to 29， 450 veteran officials， press leaders and prominent think tank experts from both sides gathered at the 10th Beijing-Tokyo Forum to seek a way to narrow the widening gap between the two countries.

Held in Tokyo， the two-day event carried the theme of maintaining a peaceful environment in Northeast Asia. Participants agreed that a positive momentum for mutual trust is badly needed to bridge the widening divide in ChinaJapan relationship.

The annual forum serves as one of the few mechanisms for dialogue between the nations since it was established by Chinas English language newspaper China Daily and Japans nonprofit think tank Genron NPO in 2005.

In his speech at the forum， Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua commented that in recent years， Sino-Japanese ties have been confronted with many challenges， especially over historical and territorial disagreements.

The Japanese Governments unilateral move in 2012 to “nationalize” the Diaoyu Islands， part of Chinas territory， triggered a heated argument between China and Japan in the international arena. After Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe assumed office at the end of 2012， relations worsened further due to the Japanese Governments attempts to deny war crimes it committed during World War II.

“Mutual trust of the politics and security between our two countries has been badly damaged， which is neither good to the fundamental interests of both sides nor the regional stability in East Asia. The situation also harms the feelings of both nations peoples and increases the concerns of international community，” Cheng said.

The ever souring situation has also led to pessimism among the public in the two countries. Prior to this years Beijing-Tokyo Forum， a joint poll conducted in China and Japan showed that 93 percent of Japanese have a negative impression of China， hitting its worst level since the survey began in 2005， while 86.8 percent Chinese view Japan unfavorably， improving only slightly from last year.

The survey found that territorial dispute is the biggest obstacle for Sino-Japanese ties. Asked why they held an unfavorable view of Japan， 64 percent Chinese respondents chose Japans “purchase” of Chinas Diaoyu Islands as the main reason.

Though sentiment toward one another remains unfavorable， the public in both countries are aware of the issues. About 80 percent of Japanese and 70 percent of Chinese respondents see the current situation of worsening opinion as “undesirable and concerning” or“problematic and needing to be resolved，” according to the survey co-sponsored by China Daily and the Genron NPO.

Positive indicators

Despite a lack of high-level official contacts， China and Japan are not avoiding mending their ties. In particular， there were recently calls in Japan to improve relations. This reflects that building healthy and stable Sino-Japanese re-lationship is in line with fundamental interests and the willing of the two peoples， Cheng said.

“Shaping a good relationship between China and Japan matters not only to the two countries but the whole world，” said Yoriko Kawaguchi， former Japanese Foreign Minister and now visiting professor at the Meiji Institute for Global Affairs in Tokyo.

It is time for policy advisers to contribute wisdom and “provide inspirations for policymakers of both sides，” said Yasushi Akashi， former UN Under Secretary General and now Executive Chairman of the Beijing-Tokyo Forum.

Shortly before the forum， Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang met with a prominent trade delegation from the Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade in Beijing on September 24.

The Japan-China Association on Economy and Trade was established in 1972 when the two countries restored normal diplomatic relations. The association maintains broad contacts with Japanese enterprises and has organized a visiting delegation for Japanese business leaders to China every year since 1975. This years delegation consisted of more than 200 Japanese business leaders.

According to Executive Director of the association Ikuta Shoichi， Wang told the delegation that he hopes to resume high-level economic dialogue between Chinese and Japanese governments as early as possible.

Ikuta said that Wangs remarks can be regarded as an encouraging signal sent by the Chinese leadership. The high-level economic dialogue between Chinese and Japanese governments has been suspended since 2010.

The Japanese trade delegation itself shows that Japanese businesses are unwilling to lose China， a major trading partner， because of aggressive policies of Japanese authorities， China Daily commented.

According to statistics from Chinas Ministry of Commerce， China has been Japans largest trading partner since 2012， and Japan is Chinas fourth largest.

From January to July， Japans investment in China recorded a year-on-year decrease of 45.4 percent. The drop of Japanese investment in China and bilateral trade could not be attributed to commercial acts， and instead is closely related to cooling economic relations between the two countries， according to Ikuta.

Ikuta said he saw the strong reform measures that China has made to adjust the domestic economic structure during the recent tour in China. He noted that， with the huge market potential， Japanese investors and enterprises have good chance to realize great development in China. He also added that he remains optimistic to the future prospect of Japan-China economic cooperation.

Ultimately， Ikuta concluded that only by improving bilateral ties can enterprises make a great stride in Japan-China economic relations.

Around the same time， the China-Japan High-Level Consultation on Maritime Affairs was held in Qingdao， east Chinas Shandong Province， on September 23 and 24. Officials in charge of foreign， maritime and defense affairs from both sides exchanged views of reigning in disputes and carrying out cooperation on waters of the East China Sea. These were the first bilateral talks held by China and Japan since May 2012.

Both sides also agreed in principle to restart consultations on a maritime liaison mechanism between defense departments and hold a new round of high-level consultations on maritime affairs at the end of this year or the beginning of next year， Chinas Foreign Ministry revealed.

Jia Qingguo， professor of international relations at Peking University， said that the two governments have to restart their dialogues over maritime affairs.

Over the last two years， conflicts between maritime enforcement ships of China and Japan have happened many times in waters surrounding the Diaoyu Islands. However， Jia pointed out that the two countries hope diplomatic tensions do not lead to military conflict.

Da Zhigang， an expert on Japanese studies at Chinas Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences， held that the new round of maritime negotiations show that the two sides are willing to improve bilateral ties.

“Despite the difficult obstacles， the two countries are not likely to see the tension affect other sectors such as economy during this time of weak global recovery. Many people have realized the importance of improving SinoJapanese ties，” Da said.

Tipping point

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation （APEC） leaders meeting will be held in Beijing in November. Abe has said in many occasions that he hopes to talk with Chinese President Xi Jinping during the meeting.

In response， Hua Chunying， a Chinese Foreign Ministrys spokeswoman， said， “Our position is clear and consistent. We believe what is pressing now is that Japan should show sincerity， take action， and make earnest efforts to remove the political obstacles that are impeding development of bilateral ties.”

However， the Abe administration did not take any practical action to dispel Chinas concerns on historical issues and territorial disputes. Moreover， it recently announced to establish security troops of the Diaoyu Islands that Japan occupies.

“Japans muscle-flexing can neither fool anyone nor solve the problem. We expect Japan to show sincerity and take practical actions to properly resolve the problem，” Hua said.

Jia said that if Abe really was willing to talk with Chinese leader during the APEC summit， he must take positive actions soon.