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History, Nationalism and Face in Sino-Japanese Relations

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Abstract

While Sino-Japanese relations are quite stable presently, it was as recent as 2004–2005 that the two nations slid into the worst bilateral quagmire in decades. When in 2007 Japan was China’s third largest trading partner and China surpassed the US to become Japan’s largest trading partner, what is eating these two otherwise very pragmatic traders? History, nationalism and face, enabled by recent changes in the strategic environment, are the factors that have been most salient in bringing about the plunge in Sino-Japanese relations in 2004–05 and though Sino-Japanese relations have been much better since, these factors hang like a storm front over Sino-Japanese relations today.

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Notes

  1. People’s Republic of China Ministry of Commerce, “Strengthen Trade and Economic Cooperation to Realize Mutual Benefits and a Win-Win Situation—Assistant Minister Chen Jian Delivers a Speech to the First China-Japan High-Level Economic Dialogue,” November 30, 2007 (accessed October 5, 2008, via http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/aarticle/speech/200802/20080205367514.html).

  2. An important difference between China’s experience with the British in the Canton area in 1840–42 and Japan’s experience with the Americans in 1853–54 was the British insistence on selling opium to China’s merchants and people. China’s stand against the British was motivated not only by a desire to protect its sovereignty, but by a desire to keep its people free from opium addiction.

  3. The Economist, “Special Report: China and the World Economy—From T-shirts to T-bonds,” July 30th, 2005, p. 61–63.

  4. CIA World Factbook (accessed October 5, 2008, via https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html).

  5. The growth rate figures here are the official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics of China (China Statistical Yearbook, 2007 [accessed via: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2007/html/C0301E.xls]) and are adjusted for inflation.

  6. National Bureau of Statistics of China, China Statistical Yearbook, 2007 (accessed via: http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/ndsj/2007/html/C0301E.xls). Global Times (February 4, 2010; http://world.globaltimes.cn/asia-pacific/2010-02/503466.html; accessed May 28, 2010).

  7. James Mulvenon, “Your Guess is as Good as Mine: PLA Budgets, Proposals and Discussions at the Second Session of the 10th National People’s Congress,” China Leadership Monitor, No. 11, 2004.

  8. See Friedberg [1].

  9. See Moore [2].

  10. United States Department of Defense, The Military Power of the People's Republic of China, July 19, 2005.

  11. See Moore [3].

  12. Associated Press, “U.S. Pushing Japan to Boost Military Role,” April 9, 2005, via Taiwan Security Research (http://taiwansecurity.org).

  13. See Chang [4]. Note: Nanjing and Nanking are two different romanizations of the same southern Chinese city. Today’s Chinese pinyin system uses the former, and so do I.

  14. See Li [5].

  15. See Gold [6].

  16. For more, see Barenblatt [7].

  17. See William Underwood, “Chinese Forced Labor, the Japanese Government and the Prospects for Redress,” JapanFocus.org, posted July 8, 2005.

  18. For a comparison, see Baruma [8].

  19. Raymond Bonner and Norimitsu Onishi, “Japan’s Chief Apologizes for War Misdeeds,” New York Times, April 23, 2005.

  20. Normitsu Onishi, “Koizumi Apologizes for War; Embraces China and South Korea,” New York Times, Tuesday, August 16, 2005, p. A4.

  21. Ienaga [9], p. 339. The article was originally published in International Security, V. 18, N. 3, Winter 1993/94, p. 113–133.

  22. See Anthony Faiola, “Japanese Schoolbooks Anger S. Korea, China: Militarist Past is seen as Whitewashed,” Washington Post, April 6, 2005, p. A15.

  23. See Wan [10]

  24. The Yomiuri Shimbun, “Yasukuni: Behind the Torii—From Government-run Shrine for War Heroes to Bone of Contention,” June 11, 2005.

  25. For a helpful discussion of this dispute, see Green [11].

  26. Norimitsu Onishi, “Japan and China Dispute a Pacific Islet,” New York Times, July 10, 2005.

  27. Norimitsu Onishi, “Japan and China Dispute a Pacific Islet,” New York Times, July 10, 2005.

  28. Steve Herman, “Japanese Minister Links China’s Sub Intrusion to Gas Exploration,” Voice of America (www.voanews.com), November 14, 2004.

  29. See James J. Przystup for his detailed timeline of events in 2005. “Japan-China Relations: No End to History,” Comparative Connections Quarterly E-Journal, July, 2005.

  30. See A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility—A Report of the Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, New York: United Nations, 2004.

  31. In Joseph Kahn, “China is Pushing and Scripting Anti-Japan Protests,” New York Times, April 15, 2005.

  32. On face in the Chinese context, see Gries [12]; and references to face in Mann [13]; and Garver [14]. For Japan, see Nakane [15]; and Pharr [16].

  33. For a taste, on Japan, see Stronach [17]; Ishihara [18]; Eugene Matthews, “Japan’s New Nationalism,” Foreign Affairs, November/December, 2003, p. 74–90. On China, see Zhao [19]; Gries [12]; Zheng [20].

  34. See Zhao [19].

  35. Eugene Matthews, “Japan’s New Nationalism,” Foreign Affairs, November/December, 2003, p. 76.

  36. China Confidential, “Japanese Opinion of China Hits All-Time Low,” December 25, 2005 (http://chinaconfidential.blogspot.com/2005/12/japanese-opinion-of-china-hits-all.html).

  37. Associated Press, “U.S. Pushing Japan to Boost Military Role,” April 9, 2005, via Taiwan Security Research (http://taiwansecurity.org).

  38. Joseph Kahn, “Anti-Japan Protests ‘Evil,’ a Chinese Editorial Asserts,” New York Times, April 28, 2005.

  39. See Moore [21].

  40. The most recent and interesting example being Shirk’s [22].

  41. Go Ito, “Progress in China-Japan Bilateral Relations: Can the ‘Nationalism Spiral’ be Escaped?” Unpublished Manuscript, Tokyo: Meiji University, 2005.

  42. See Kang [23] and Moore [24].

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  1. Political Science Department, School of Public Administration, Zhejiang University, 388 Yuhangtang Road, Hangzhou, People’s Republic of China, 310058

    Gregory J. Moore

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Moore, G.J. History, Nationalism and Face in Sino-Japanese Relations. J OF CHIN POLIT SCI 15, 283–306 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-010-9113-3

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