The rising mutually antagonistic nationalism between the two countries cause China and Japan to have contrasting perspectives and thus view the current issues between them through different lenses. This will continue to undermine bilateral relations and the possibilities of future collaborations between the two countries due to the nationalistic pressure of the countries’ people. Historical events like the second Sino-Japanese war has caused animosity and mistrust between the two countries. It was exacerbated in 2001 through the politically driven visits to the Yasukuni Shrine by the Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, despite China’s constant disapproval which cause bilateral relations to deteriorate greatly. Events like this reopen historical war wounds and thus cause a deterrence for the development of Sino-Japanese relations. However, other factors like territorial disputes and assertive actions are also indispensable as the obstacles to improving Sino-Japanese relations. Despite the considerable significance of nationalism, the effects of territorial disputes, historical differences and assertive actions also plays a big part in the improvement of Sino-Japanese relations. However, territorial disputes, historical differences and assertive actions stems from the same source which is the mutually antagonistic nationalism each country has for each other. Furthermore, the effects of mutually antagonistic nationalism greatly magnifies the problems of current issues. Thus, mutually antagonistic nationalism has been the key obstacle to improving Sino-Japanese relations since 2001.
Overcoming historical differences hold great significance as it is a latent problem for the development of Sino-Japanese relations. Japan’s stance for its relationship with China to improve is for the latter to not dwell on their past where Japan has been aggressive towards them as seen in the protest of China’s application to put the Nanking massacre as well as the “comfort women” in the UNESCO programme. On the contrary, China wants a sincere apology as well as for Japan to take full responsibility for past war crimes towards China as seen in their repeated reminder to Japan that without it the relationship between China and Japan would be kept stagnant. This has limited the development of their ties as both countries do not want to be the first to reconcile with the other as they have different viewpoint on who is in the wrong. This can be further supported by the Japanese Government authorising the Atarashii Rekishi Kyokasho, which is a history textbook reform, that led to the numerous amount of anti-Japanese mass incidents in 2005, this shows how the difference in the perceptions of their shared history can worsen relations between the Chinese and Japanese. Displeasure between the people due to their rough past can be seen in the form of these mass incidents which would greatly erode the opportunities to form a better relationship between the two countries. Hence, overcoming historical differences will aid in the relationship between China and Japan.
Furthermore, historical issues have also cause the relations between political leaders to be eroded due to their use of the different perception in history as a tool to garner more support for their political expediency. Koizumi’s visit to Yasukuni Shrine on 13 August 2001 has eroded his relationship with China as it contains the remains of fourteen Class A Japanese war criminals. On top of that, the Japanese Premier was to visit the Yasukuni Shrine every year during his incumbency. However, his visits was beneficial to Koizumi’s political support as seen in his landslide victory in the 2001 elections. Thus, political leaders would be able capitalise on the difference in their shared history to gain more political support from its people due to their strong nationalistic sentiments. Premier Li Ke Qiang’s firm warning on 4 March 2014 that China would not allow anybody to “reverse the course of history” shows the severity of the issues bought up by misinterpretations of shared history and the erosion of relation not only between the countries’ people but also their respective political leaders. Thus, solving the issue of historical differences will be beneficial to Sino-Japanese relations.
However, the evidence and scholars that have posited the fact that historical difference is the primary obstacle for Sino-Japan relations have failed to provide an in-depth look into the problems related to historical difference due it’s complexity. As the governments of both countries have to consider nationalistic pressures from their citizens to keep their political expediency which has deter further improvements of their relations. According to Gries, the relations between China and Japan has deteriorate more due to the political leaders using different perceptions of shared history to brew nationalistic animosity to gain political support. Thus, problems caused by different viewpoints have only arise due to the political leaders’ use of the strong mutually antagonistic nationalism as a tool for political support. It is also due to the instability like mass incidents cause by the respective country’s people due to their mutually antagonistic nationalism that has further dampened the efforts for the development of Sino-Japan relations. Thus, the effects of historical difference have been amplified by the mutually antagonistic nationalism of the citizens. According to He, the different interpretation of their common history, had acted to amplify the friction manifested through nationalistic sentiments. Thus, the problem between the difference in viewpoint of the countries’ people only grew due to their mutually antagonistic nationalism. Furthermore, with the Chinese people’s impression of Japan’s lack of remorse for past aggression like the Nanking massacre has caused the rise of anti-Japanese sentiments which pressures the Chinese government to dwell on historical scars, thus deterring the improvement of Sino-Japanese relations. Similarly, the Japanese government also experience the same pressure from their anti-Chinese citizens to not engage in any type of conciliatory measure for past incidents. Showing the significance of the mutually antagonistic nationalism in limiting the government’s decision and ability to reconcile and build new ties with one another. Thus, the root cause of the problems arising from the different views in their shared history is due to the nationalistic sentiments of both countries as it acts as the catalyst that greatly amplifies the problems of historical difference. Therefore the nationalistic pressure from the citizens is the foremost considerations in improving Sino-Japan relations.
Meanwhile, territorial dispute is another paramount issue that will undermine further development of bilateral ties between China and Japan as tensions are rising mostly due to the dispute over the East China Sea. In November 2004, a Chinese submarine was detected in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone. That incident was led by the dispatch of Chinese drilling teams in search for oil and gas deposits in Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zones. In response to this incidents, China was formally declared a security concern for Japan in its December 2004 National Defence Program Outline. According to Yuan, both China and Japan are not willing to give way on competing for the claims due to the geo-economic importance leading to the build-up of tensions. Smith further support this view by emphasising the attempts of both governments to establish sovereignty over the Islands through diplomatic countermeasures, militarized threat and economic sanctions, which do not essentially support the development of relations. The Senkaku Islands are close to important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds and lie near potential oil and gas reserves thus it holds great importance for both countries as these resources and shipping routes would bring great economic benefits to the country that has the Senkaku Islands. This increased of military presence like the Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) that challenge the sovereignty and control of Japan on the Islands has increased the possibility of armed conflict and naval battles, threatening the relations between the countries. Economic ties are also at stake due to territorial disputes as economic sanctions are being implemented due to the breach of sovereignty rights. Which is evident in the case where China set up trade embargos on rare earth materials to Japan after the 2010 confrontations. This has not only affected the imports and exports of goods but also eroded other sectors like tourism due to the display of nationalisation of the Islands in 2012 where 50,000 Chinese tourist cancelled their trip to Japan. Thus, the fight for the Senkaku Islands have affected the economic ties between the two country eroding further possibility of any collaboration between the two countries.
Besides Economic problems, political relations was also eroded due to the persistent territorial disputes, as seen in the harsh response of China towards Japan’s arrest of the crew of a fishing boat, which included the detainment of four Japanese citizens for entering restricted military area and disruption of bilateral negotiation. Furthermore , Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao delivered a speech which emphasised the fact that China “will never budge, even half an inch, over sovereignty and territorial issues.” The events mentioned above are signs of the limited cooperation and poor communications in solving territorial disputes further eroding the relations of China and Japan. Therefore, territorial disputes seems like the main cause for the stagnations of the development of ties as there are limited space for negotiations on both side thus coming up with an mutually agreeable resolution is almost impossible.
On a closer look, we should not dismiss the role that opposing nationalism plays as government persistence on the issue of territorial dispute is built on nationalism and pride of the country as if in the case of the Senkaku Islands, cooperation with the other country would be a better approach to reap economic benefits rather than fighting for full sovereignty rights. Stated by Zhang, the governments of both countries would take a harsher stance due to the nationalistic public sentiments as the soft measures would lead to a fall in the support of the ruling party threatening their legitimacy. This is evident, in the hard-line stance of both countries on territorial dispute such as the greater emphasis on the sovereignty over the Senkaku islands due to the nationalistic pressures. Showing the significance that nationalistic pressure has amplified and further escalated the fight over sovereignty rights of the Senkaku Islands. Induced by the angry Chinese public openly showing the disapproval of Japan by destroying their factories and rioting, the Chinese government had to introduce naval presence in the area further escalating tensions. This brings out the fact that both governments are afraid of anti-government sentiments due to the failure of protecting the countries’ territorial sovereignty thus would much rather create tension and disrupt the development of ties instead of eroding their own political stability. Therefore with the main priority of the government being the protection of its legitimacy as it is the foundation for most of the Chinese government’s policies, thus nationalistic pressure greatly influences the decisions made by the government in terms of territorial disputes, and it is the main obstacle for the development of Sino-Japan relations.
Assertive actions to prove and strengthen their political power creates the hostility between the two countries thus eroding bilateral relations. Both China and Japan are known as the great powers in Asia, thus there has always been and underlying dispute over who is the stronger of the two. As China has risen in their power capabilities, naturally it has been asserting more security based interest in East Asia, however as Beijing pressed for its position, the Japanese government has tried to go against it. This is evident in the Chinese policies towards Japan between 2001 and 2007 as it shows the growing military capabilities of China. This shows the growing Chinese power and influence over Asia and the world which would erode the strength and influence of its rival, Japan. This can be further supported by the fact that there has been a change in Chinese policy in the beginning of 2008, where China has become more assertive leading to the deterioration of bilateral ties. Thus proving the point that assertive actions in terms of China’s policies towards Japan has been a huge force in the deterrence of Sino-Japanese ties. Further evidence of China reducing Japan’s influence and power can be seen in Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s implications that China was opposed to Japan’s candidacy for a permanent seat in the UN security council. Japan has also expressed its worries of China’s assertive actions in the decision to mention the Taiwan Issue in the joint statement at the end of the consultations between U.S. and Japan in February 2005. Thus, the rise in assertive actions in the area has made to two countries increasingly wary of each other which does not provide for a good foundation for the building of Sino-Japanese relations. Therefore, to aid in further development of their relations, both government has to lessen its assertive actions towards each other as it would create animosity and hostility between the two country.
However, mutually antagonistic nationalism is the main source for the increased assertive actions as well as the hostility between the two countries due to the desire of the people to be better off as compared to each other. As stated before, both the Chinese and Japanese have engaged in a competition with each other and thus it has significantly eroded the possibility of a good Sino-Japan relations due to the hostility between the countries’ people. This can be seen in August 2004 where there was a full scaled rioting by angry Chinese soccer fans following the Japanese team’s victory over China in the finals. This shows the strong mutually antagonistic nationalism that the Chinese has against the Japanese thus fuelling tension and hostility between the countries. Furthermore, the government’s need to assert its dominance and strength is also fuelled by the nationalistic sentiments of its countries. The development of ties weigh heavily on the mutual perception of the people as any nationalistic sentiments would lead to the adaptation of harsher approaches and attitude in both states’ foreign policies. As the mutually antagonistic nationalism grows between the countries’ people, the government would be forced to take a harsher stance and assert its dominance over the other country. Thus, assertive actions between the country is to satisfy the need of the people’s mutually antagonistic sentiments leading to increase hostility between the countries, eroding further development of their ties.
While there may be a huge array of problems that will undermine the long term relations between Japan and China, they are purely just problems that came from the same root cause which is the mutually antagonistic nationalism. Even though, on the surface historical differences, assertive actions and territorial disputes are seen as the most prominent problems, the underlying problem of the countries’ mutually antagonistic nationalism has a greater impact on the ability to further develop Sino-Japanese relations thus solving mutually antagonistic nationalism will solve the root cause of the problem and therefore eradicating the effects of the other problems. Furthermore, the opposing nationalism also amplifies the negative impacts of the current problems and thus have been a huge contributing force to worsening relations of Japan and China. All in all, the primary issue that will affect and shape bilateral relations is the mutually antagonistic nationalism. Thus, mutually antagonistic has been the key obstacle in improving Sino-Japanese relations.