China-Japan Relations in the Twenty-First Century: Creating a Future Past?
Review by Sean Curtin
This thought-provoking work analyzes the complex dynamics of East Asia’s most important bilateral relationship, how it may evolve and what impact it will have both regionally and globally. A central theme is the importance of historic memory on Sino-Japanese relations, how this relates to each nation’s contemporary perspective of the other and powerfully shapes their future visions. Several authors argue that competing perceptions of the past are powerfully shaping today’s image and are significantly impacting on each country’s long-term vision of the other. The editors assemble an impressive line-up of scholars and disciplinary approaches (history, anthropology, sociology, political science and international relations) to examine key domestic and international aspects of this multifaceted dynamic. The book seeks to set bilateral ties in a multiple dimensional context and covers an impressive range of topics including historical interaction, cultural perceptions, nationalism as well as a host of other ideological and regional perspectives.
In the introductory chapter the editors, Michael Heazle and Nick Knight, highlight the key issues analyzed in the following chapters. At the core of bilateral friction are divergent historical views of Japan’s colonial past and its wartime behaviour in China and the wider Asia-Pacific region. Heazle and Knight observe, “Many Chinese retain a deep sense of grievance about Japan’s pre-war and wartime activities in China, and express anger that Japan has (supposedly) not shown sufficient remorse for its injurious behaviour stretching back well over a century (page 2).”
In Chapter two Jian Zhang looks at the influence of grass roots Chinese nationalism found amongst ordinary citizens and its impact on bilateral ties. He views it as something that is often difficult for Beijing to control. Jian notes, “The rapid growth of on-line and off-line nationalistic groups has transformed popular anti-Japanese protests from ephemeral expressions of public anger to a potentially sustained grassroots social movement (page 21).” Opinion polls in China consistently show Japan as one of their most disliked nations and when provocative actions or insensitive statements are made by Japanese politicians, anti-Japanese sentiment can suddenly flare up and get out of control. The Chinese government realizes this is a deeply unsatisfactory situation and desperately wants more stable diplomatic ties with Tokyo, but this goal usually conflicts with a higher ranked objective of wanting to be more responsive to Chinese public sentiment. Thus Beijing finds itself increasingly constrained and bilateral political ties are frequently held hostage by emotive events such as the controversial annual visits of former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the war-tainted Yasukuni Shrine.
In the following chapter Xia Liping takes an in depth look at the relationship in the wider context of multilateral cooperation within East Asia. There are a host of areas such as trade and economic cooperation where it is beneficial for Beijing to work closely with Tokyo, a fact Chinese foreign policy readily acknowledges. While Xia sees this realization as highly a positive development with long-term future returns, he also acknowledges that frequent friction over sensitive historical issues is seriously holding back the process. Thus great efforts should be made to avoid inflaming nationalist passions, he comments, “Every visit to Yasukuni Shrine by Koizumi opened the old wounds of those in Asian countries who suffered terribly from the brutality of the Japanese army before and during World War II (page 51).” He optimistically concludes that if Tokyo can restrain its nationalist lawmakers, historic tensions will naturally recede, greatly benefiting both nations and the region as a whole.
In a highly thought-provoking chapter Nick Knight looks at the distinct perceptions both China and Japan hold of the modern world and associated dichotomies which characterize them, for example developing /developed nation and capitalist /socialist state. These have strongly shaped their perceptions of each other, especially as the two sit in opposing categories which only serves to accentuate the perceived differences between them. Knight concludes, “China’s perception of the dichotomies that characterise the modern world, in which Japan is categorised as developed and capitalist, in contrast to China which is developing and socialist, thus serves to reinforce China’s negative perceptions of Japan in other, more concrete, areas of disagreement (page 68).”
Rumi Sakamoto looks at the dynamics of popular nationalism in contemporary Japan by analysing Yoshinori Kobayashi’s (小林 よしのり) controversial best selling 1998 nationalistic manga series Sensoron (戦争論). This highly revisionist comic was targeted at young readers and is considered to have successfully disseminated a right-wing revisionist view of the war to the younger generation. He has a high profile as Eric Johnson notes in a latter chapter, “Kobayashi is given the same status and respect as professional historians and diplomats, and his views are rarely challenged aggressively (page 115).” Sakamoto argues that Kobayashi’s and similar works have to be taken into account when we try to understand the current perceptions and controversy over history and memory between Japan, China and Korea. Kobayashi deliberately ignores historical facts in his distorted view of the war which emphasizes the heroic struggle of the Japanese people against murky external forces. He utilizes an array of emotive nationalistic devices to drive home his highly charge ultra-rightwing narrative. Sakamoto comments, “he uses his materials selectively, ignores what contradicts his point, blows them out proportion and without any context, and generally jumps to unwarranted conclusions (page 86).” She observes, “Kobayashi’s manga does challenge the mainstream interpretation of history and opens up a dialogue over important issues such as the continuity between Japan before and after 1945 (page 89).”
Barbara Hartley looks at the hotly contested area of historical wartime memory in contemporary Japan and the competing narratives that appear in the Japanese media. She examines how perceptions of this in neighbouring countries powerfully shapes public opinion towards Japan, where it is generally believe a revisionist outlook is in the ascendancy. Hartley challenges this perception demonstrating that there is strong resistant to neo-nationalists interpretations. However, ultra-nationalists continually manage to grab the headlines over such issues as school texts books, creating the impression that revisionism is part of the mainstream narrative. Provocative actions and statements by prominent members of the long governing LDP reinforced this view, drowning out the more moderate, mainstream Japanese opinion. She also explores the highly disturbing documentary “Japanese Devils” (日本鬼子) about the brutal war atrocities committed by the Imperial Army as related by 14 former Japanese soldiers. These veterans bluntly tell of the horrific acts they committed including “throwing babies into bonfires and stuffing women’s vaginas with rags before dousing them with gasoline and setting them alight (page 101)” or “a former sergeant who raped and murdered a woman before serving her flesh to his comrades (page 102).” In her conclusion she asserts “many Japanese accept the necessarily for a full and frank acknowledgement of the nation’s misdeeds of the past (page 108).”
Eric Johnson looks at the current way the Japanese media portrays China and the two Koreas, focusing particular on 2005, the 60th anniversary year of Tokyo’s WWII surrender. He does not present a positive image, “Japan’s increasingly right-leaning mainstream media was either defending the country’s brutal colonisation of China and the Korean peninsula, or doing its best to play down such crimes (page 111).” He sees this trend as extremely problematic for Japan in the new globalized world where comments designed exclusively for domestic consumption can be instantly scrutinized worldwide. He also sees the media as portraying Japan as “the misunderstood victim” and warns, “until Japan realises that it can no longer have a tatemae (what you may encourage others to believe your opinions are) for the international community and a honne (your actual opinions or thinking) for domestic politics, it is doomed to find itself bedevilled by these historical disputes (page 112).” Johnson, a talented journalist, produces a highly readable, insightful chapter which is less academic than others, also containing fewer endnotes.
Jian Yang pens a stimulating and highly readable chapter on China’s security policy towards Japan. He sees historical issues as strongly influencing contemporary Chinese defence policy towards Tokyo, but also notes that some observers believe, “the friction between China and Japan over the history issue is merely a manifestation of strategic conflicts between the two countries (page 136).” Beijing fears, “It is just a matter of time before Japan revises its Peace Constitution to enable Tokyo to freely send military forces overseas (page 131).”
Joseph Y.S. Cheng takes an in-depth look at China’s regional policy from various perspectives, producing some excellent insights into its geopolitical strategy in Central Asia and Beijing’s tactics in dealing with what it sees as a US policy of containment. He comes to similar conclusions as many other writers regarding the China-Japan equation, he notes “mutual distrust between China and Japan has been increasing in recent years, and it has been exacerbated both by the Taiwan issue and the failure to resolve the historical legacy of World War II (page 156).” However, he concedes, “Sino-Japanese relations have been a failure in Chinese diplomacy (page 171).” Nationalism, as Jian Zhang documents earlier, is a growing force in each nation which is shaping policy, Cheng notes, “The spontaneous anti-Japanese protests in several Chinese cities in April 2005 probably caught the Chinese leadership by surprise, and it in turn feels pressure to stand firm in dealing with Japan (page 156).”
Michael Heazle offers an in-depth analysis of Sino-Japanese relations through the trinity of nationalism, security and prosperity. He is not overly optimistic, “The current outlook for Sino-Japanese relations is not a positive one (page 200).” He argues that Tokyo’s regional and global role will be significantly shaped by the way its relationship with Beijing develops as this will define its position in Asia and consequently on the international stage. Ironically, were bilateral ties to markedly improve Japan would become a more prominent global player and less dependent on the US, exactly what Japanese neo-nationalists want. At the time Heazle wrote his paper (about 2005/6) the LDP seemed entrenched in power, a factor he saw as a significant stumbling block impeding progress. With their ouster in August 2009, the future may be more promising for Sino-Japanese relations than Heazle’s conclusion envisages.
In a well written and stimulating chapter Michael Wesley looks at Sino-Japanese regional rivalry and the impact on East Asia. He charts how the turbulent relationship has played out over the postwar period, concluding that at the time of writing (2005/6) there was little optimism for a substantive improvement in the short to medium term. He neatly sums up one of the key impediments to progress, “as Japan becomes increasingly concerned about China’s and North Korea’s belligerence, it becomes increasingly committed to defence transformation within the [US-Japan] alliance; which in turn, further heightens China’s hostility (page 218).”
David Hundt rounds off the book with a look at South Korea’s relationship with both Japan and China. He points out that historical disputes are not just a China-Japan or Korea-Japan issue but also cause tensions between China and the Koreas as the 2003 dispute over Goguryeo (old Koryo) illustrates. China attempted to claim one of Korea’s ancient “three kingdoms” as historically Chinese causing uproar in South Korea. Hundt demonstrates that even on the sidelines of China-Japan relations life is complicated.
This original work offers superb insights and cutting-edge analysis on East Asia’s most pivotal relationship. It provides a first-rate framework which enables the reader to understand its dynamics and possible future scenarios. The Sino-Japanese tensions of 2005 were the Promethean spark for this work, thus most of the papers have been researched in 2005/2006 when Sino-Japanese relations were at an extremely low point and the long dominant Liberal Democratic Party seemed unassailable. Consequently, the book’s conclusions are a little gloomier than the situation appears in 2010. The LDP has been decisively unseated from a five-decade stranglehold on power giving a tremendous boost to a fresh type of bilateral exchange under the new Democratic Party of Japan administration. No prime minster has visited the controversial Yasukuni Shrine since Koizumi left office in 2006, enabling political ties to stabilize and thrive once more. There are still a multitude of future challenges facing this complex relationship which will shape both Asia and the world. This excellent book offers one of the best opportunities to understand them and is a must-read for anyone interested in East Asia.