The Treaty was signed in response to the then growing tensions surrounding disputed islands between Japan and China in 1978, right after the bilateral trade agreement signed earlier that year.
There is of course the usual “noise” in the relationship, such as last week’s news that three Japanese cabinet ministers, 53 Diet members, and former PMs Abe and Koizumi visited the Yasukuni Shrine on the 15th.
Despite the usual noise in the relationship, the relationship is in the best shape it has been in recent times, as I noted recently and the EAF has reported here and here. The Japanese Foreign Minister is in China for 3 days as right now and is discussing joint development of gas fields in disputed territory and seeking resolution of the North Korean abductees issue with his Chinese counter part, Yang Jiechi.
The pendulum of Japanese politics could swing back to the right – see Tobias Harris on increasing chances of a hawkish Aso as the next PM. Now might be an opportune time for the younger Fukuda to show the ‘enthusiastic attitude and persistent efforts’ (read: leadership) which his father showed in bringing Japan and China closer together. There is now some political space for a new initiative to secure the Sino-Japan relationship from political noise, as I have said before. Does the younger Fukuda have the time to use it?
I hope Tobias Harris is wrong about Aso. That will create too many unnecessary tensions and unpredictability in the relationship, and create too many challenges for Australia. Its time for the LDP to take a back seat for a long time in Japanese politics. Your piece was timely and the historical theme important.
Regarding the last sentence, “Does the younger Fukuda have the time to use it?”, you could also add the question, “does he and his faction have the ideas to initiate a new program of positive engagement with China”. What does Japanese business say about this, does the Japanese media have any views (I suspect not – they are captured by interest groups), and can the Foreign Ministry and METI work up a vision for the relationship that would drive a new strategy 2010-2020 taking Japan forward with China? I wonder. Is anybody thinking about this in Japan nowadays?
[…] always be some ‘noise’ in a relationship as big as that between Japan and China, no matter how close and robust it becomes. The important thing is that disagreements and tensions don’t dominate the relationship. Much of […]