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THIS year marks the 40th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan; but it has turned out to be the coldest year in bilateral relations between the two countries since the World War II.
Both countries have had numerous protests against each other; many planned celebrations were cancelled; commercial links were severed and high-level exchanges suspended.
The turning point in the souring of relations is over the much disputed Diaoyu Islands (Fishing Islands literally), a group of uninhabited small islands in the East China Sea, which both China and Japan claim sovereignty over. On September 10, Japan’s Yoshihiko noda’s administration announced it would “purchase” some of the Diaoyu Islands from their “owner,” ignoring the strong opposition from the Chinese government. This move also aroused fierce protests in China.
As a countermeasure, the Chinese government announced specific boundaries related to the territorial waters of Diaoyu Islands. Based on this, the Chinese government sends its surveillance ships and fishery administration ships to the waters on a regular basis.
“Undoubtedly, the Diaoyu Islands belong to China no matter historically or legally,” Xu guangyu, Member of the Board of China arms Control and Disarmament association, told ChinAfrica. “This is widely recognized by the international community. I believe Yoshi- hiko noda [Japanese Prime Minister] also knows the fact though he denies it repeatedly.”
Back to negotiations
A report released by the U.S. Congressional Research Service on September 25 said Washington has never recognized Japan’s sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and takes no position over the territorial row between Japan and China. It claims the United States recognizes only Japan’s administrative power over the Diaoyu Islands after the Okinawa Reversion Treaty was signed in 1971.
For a long term, China and Japan kept the principle of “setting aside dispute and pursuing joint development” put forward by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, until the recent move by the Japanese government of the so-called “purchase” of the islands.
“Before the so-called ‘purchase’ of the lands, China showed great restraint over the issue,” said Liu Yongjiang, Deputy Director of Institute of Modern International Relations of Tsinghua University in an interview with China Central Television.
Starting mid-September, China’s surveillance ships and fishery administration ships have been frequently seen close to the Diaoyu Islands. Since October 1, the ships have been sailing in the waters almost daily. “This phenomenon was rarely seen in the past,” said Liu.
According to Liu, when the Japanese government“nationalized”the Diaoyu Islands, China needn’t abide by the principle of “setting aside dispute and pursuing joint development,” and that’s why China can so frequently send surveillance ships and fishery administration ships to the islands, because China does not need to consider it disputable, said Liu.
“China has set routine the patrols on the waters, and maybe later will do that permanently [if this problem cannot be solved through negotiations],” said Liu.
China’s bottom line is clear. “Japan should face reality, acknowledge the dispute, correct its mistakes and come back to a solution to the issue through negotiations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular news conference on October 10.
Economy affected
It is true that while the growing dispute over the islands has affected bilateral political relations, it impacted the economic sector even more. In the past four decades, after normalization of the bilateral diplomatic relations, China and Japan rely greatly on each other in economic development, as China is Japan’s largest trading partner, while Japan is China’s fourth largest trading partner. But it seems that the solid economic foundation is gradually being undermined.
Tourism is the first sector that felt the heat. according to data from the Japanese tourism authority this year, the number of the Chinese tourists to Japan rose dramatically in the March summer season. From July to august, a total of 398,000 tourists from the Chinese mainland visited Japan, accounting for 24.5 percent of all the foreign tourists in Japan during that period. adding in tourists from China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan, that percentage was pushed to 48.1 percent.
Since September, after the island dispute broke out, many travel agencies both in China and Japan had to close travel services to each other’s countries because of the lack of interest.
Li Juan from Beijing booked a trip to Tokyo for sightseeing during China’s eight-day nationwide holiday break from September 30 to October 7 several months before the time. But in late September, she cancelled the trip and went to Hong Kong instead.
“I don’t think it is the proper time to go to Japan against this background, so I changed my plan,” Li told ChinAfrica.
Many travel agencies in China, like the China Youth Travel Service and Jinjiang Travel, have closed their business to Japan. Data from Jinjiang Travel showed that the travel agency received no bookings to Japan during the past national Day holiday week in October.
Other sectors such as auto sales and airline transportation, which account for big business in the economic sector between the two countries, have all seen massive drops, causing great losses to both sides.
Future conflict
Despite the great losses, both sides refuse to make concessions and the dispute seems to be ascending. China now sends sea patrols regularly to the Diaoyu Islands waters and Japan has also tightened its control on the islands by sending 30 patrol ships to the waters.
On October 4, seven Chinese warships sailed the waters 110 km away from Japan’s Miyako Island without informing Japan. This is the first time a Chinese warship has sailed these waters since the Japanese government “nationalized” the Diaoyu Islands. Japanese media interpreted the move as “intimidation.”
In early October, the United States sent two navy aircraft carrier battle groups and a Marine Corps air-ground task force to the Western Pacific. The situation there seems to be tense and many experts and scholars are debating the possibility of war between China and Japan.
But Xu guangyu from China arms Control and Disarmament association believes that the possibility of a war between China and Japan is very slim.
“China is the world’s second largest economy and Japan, the third largest; no one would like to see a war between the two economic giants as that will be a disaster for the whole world,” he said. “But friction or low-intensity conflicts are possible. Such friction and conflicts will occur for a long time.”
Both countries have had numerous protests against each other; many planned celebrations were cancelled; commercial links were severed and high-level exchanges suspended.
The turning point in the souring of relations is over the much disputed Diaoyu Islands (Fishing Islands literally), a group of uninhabited small islands in the East China Sea, which both China and Japan claim sovereignty over. On September 10, Japan’s Yoshihiko noda’s administration announced it would “purchase” some of the Diaoyu Islands from their “owner,” ignoring the strong opposition from the Chinese government. This move also aroused fierce protests in China.
As a countermeasure, the Chinese government announced specific boundaries related to the territorial waters of Diaoyu Islands. Based on this, the Chinese government sends its surveillance ships and fishery administration ships to the waters on a regular basis.
“Undoubtedly, the Diaoyu Islands belong to China no matter historically or legally,” Xu guangyu, Member of the Board of China arms Control and Disarmament association, told ChinAfrica. “This is widely recognized by the international community. I believe Yoshi- hiko noda [Japanese Prime Minister] also knows the fact though he denies it repeatedly.”
Back to negotiations
A report released by the U.S. Congressional Research Service on September 25 said Washington has never recognized Japan’s sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands and takes no position over the territorial row between Japan and China. It claims the United States recognizes only Japan’s administrative power over the Diaoyu Islands after the Okinawa Reversion Treaty was signed in 1971.
For a long term, China and Japan kept the principle of “setting aside dispute and pursuing joint development” put forward by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, until the recent move by the Japanese government of the so-called “purchase” of the islands.
“Before the so-called ‘purchase’ of the lands, China showed great restraint over the issue,” said Liu Yongjiang, Deputy Director of Institute of Modern International Relations of Tsinghua University in an interview with China Central Television.
Starting mid-September, China’s surveillance ships and fishery administration ships have been frequently seen close to the Diaoyu Islands. Since October 1, the ships have been sailing in the waters almost daily. “This phenomenon was rarely seen in the past,” said Liu.
According to Liu, when the Japanese government“nationalized”the Diaoyu Islands, China needn’t abide by the principle of “setting aside dispute and pursuing joint development,” and that’s why China can so frequently send surveillance ships and fishery administration ships to the islands, because China does not need to consider it disputable, said Liu.
“China has set routine the patrols on the waters, and maybe later will do that permanently [if this problem cannot be solved through negotiations],” said Liu.
China’s bottom line is clear. “Japan should face reality, acknowledge the dispute, correct its mistakes and come back to a solution to the issue through negotiations,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a regular news conference on October 10.
Economy affected
It is true that while the growing dispute over the islands has affected bilateral political relations, it impacted the economic sector even more. In the past four decades, after normalization of the bilateral diplomatic relations, China and Japan rely greatly on each other in economic development, as China is Japan’s largest trading partner, while Japan is China’s fourth largest trading partner. But it seems that the solid economic foundation is gradually being undermined.
Tourism is the first sector that felt the heat. according to data from the Japanese tourism authority this year, the number of the Chinese tourists to Japan rose dramatically in the March summer season. From July to august, a total of 398,000 tourists from the Chinese mainland visited Japan, accounting for 24.5 percent of all the foreign tourists in Japan during that period. adding in tourists from China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan, that percentage was pushed to 48.1 percent.
Since September, after the island dispute broke out, many travel agencies both in China and Japan had to close travel services to each other’s countries because of the lack of interest.
Li Juan from Beijing booked a trip to Tokyo for sightseeing during China’s eight-day nationwide holiday break from September 30 to October 7 several months before the time. But in late September, she cancelled the trip and went to Hong Kong instead.
“I don’t think it is the proper time to go to Japan against this background, so I changed my plan,” Li told ChinAfrica.
Many travel agencies in China, like the China Youth Travel Service and Jinjiang Travel, have closed their business to Japan. Data from Jinjiang Travel showed that the travel agency received no bookings to Japan during the past national Day holiday week in October.
Other sectors such as auto sales and airline transportation, which account for big business in the economic sector between the two countries, have all seen massive drops, causing great losses to both sides.
Future conflict
Despite the great losses, both sides refuse to make concessions and the dispute seems to be ascending. China now sends sea patrols regularly to the Diaoyu Islands waters and Japan has also tightened its control on the islands by sending 30 patrol ships to the waters.
On October 4, seven Chinese warships sailed the waters 110 km away from Japan’s Miyako Island without informing Japan. This is the first time a Chinese warship has sailed these waters since the Japanese government “nationalized” the Diaoyu Islands. Japanese media interpreted the move as “intimidation.”
In early October, the United States sent two navy aircraft carrier battle groups and a Marine Corps air-ground task force to the Western Pacific. The situation there seems to be tense and many experts and scholars are debating the possibility of war between China and Japan.
But Xu guangyu from China arms Control and Disarmament association believes that the possibility of a war between China and Japan is very slim.
“China is the world’s second largest economy and Japan, the third largest; no one would like to see a war between the two economic giants as that will be a disaster for the whole world,” he said. “But friction or low-intensity conflicts are possible. Such friction and conflicts will occur for a long time.”