Japan and China: A Look at the Current Crisis Through Past Conflicts |
In the first half of January 2026, the crisis in relations between Japan and the People’s Republic of China continued to escalate. In addition to previous measures, China banned the export of dual-use goods to Japan on January 6 that could in any way enhance Japan’s military potential.
Rising Relations and Creeping Disagreements
From 1972 to the first half of the 1990s, Japan-China cooperation was often considered its heyday. During this period, the 1972 Joint Communique was signed, restoring official relations between the countries and defining their terms; The Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1978 was signed, laying the political and legal foundation for peaceful bilateral relations; Emperor Akihito visited China in 1992; and in 1995, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama issued a statement apologizing for Japan’s military aggression during WW2.
The provisions set forth in the 1972 communique (Japan’s understanding and respect for China’s declaration that Taiwan is an inalienable part of PRCs territory) and the 1995 Murayama Statement (recognition of Japan’s war crimes and an apology to China for them) defined the rules to which both countries must have adhered.
Despite this period of apparent cooperation, relations were not entirely smooth. Contentious issues began emerging, foreshadowing later conflicts between Japan and China.
For example, during the normalization of relations in the 1970s, the two sides failed to resolve the issue of the Diaoyu (Senkaku) Islands, postponing it until later. And when “later” arrived, disputes over their ownership significantly worsened relations between the countries.
China was also displeased by the fact that, despite the official severance of relations between Tokyo and Taipei, Japan-Taiwan trade remained significant ($8.4 billion in 1985), and tourism ties were maintained.
In the early 1980s, China expressed dissatisfaction with Japanese high school history textbooks, which downplayed the scale of Japanese war crimes against China. At that time, Japan agreed to amend the disputed textbooks. China also expressed dissatisfaction with Japanese........