The relationship between the two

countries before and after the

Sino-Japanese War

Ken Tian
Modern World History
2019.1.9
 Between 1937–1945, a huge war broke out between China and Japan, the Second
Sino-Japanese War. Hatred appeared between people in both countries due to wars and
disagreements. This hostility still remains today, but both countries should move on as allies
because most of the citizens in these countries were not involved in the war because it was so
long ago.

The research was started by interviewing a subject who heard a lot of things about the
Second Sino-Japanese War from his father and has some great opinions about it. During two
interviews, he talked about some stories during the war. In the first interview, he talked about
what people’s life looked like during the war and some interesting stories about Japanese
soldiers. The interview also talked about the causes of the war, which was the Japanese
government. After that, he mentioned what Chinese government and citizens did in the war. In
the second interview, the subject went deeper in the relationship between China and Japan. The
subject mainly talked about how the relationship changed and what people can do better. The
subject said during the war, the relationship between China and Japan were not good because
they were enemies of each other. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War began with the Marco
Polo Bridge Incident in 1937 in which a dispute between Japanese and Chinese troops escalated
into a battle. After the war, the relationship got better because Japan gave China war indemnity
like gave China money or some help as loser in the war. Their relationship changed again after
they had an argument about ownership of a Diaoyu Islands. This argument has still affected these
people today; because those Diaoyu Islands means plenty of resources, so two governments did
everything they could to get the ownership. The subject thinks what the Chinese government
should do is to leave the hatred behind because most of the people who joined in that war are
already dead. Another way to change the relationship is for the Chinese government to
encourage Chinese teenagers to have more exchanges with Japanese citizens like discount tickets
to each countries to let more citizens have chances to traveling or encourage teenagers do the
school international exchange. Also, commercial cooperation between the two countries is a
good way to help each other.
The war started for numerous reasons, but was mainly caused by the Japanese ruler’s,
Emperor Hirohito, thirst for power and land.​ ​According to the quote by Renatus Peregrinus from
Quora, “1. Japan trying to replicate the Western imperialist model 2. Militarists in Japan trying to
legitimise and entrench their position 3. Fears over Communist encroachment in China given ties
to Soviet Russia 4. Western refusals to grant Japan some "breathing space" 5. Perceived failure
of liberal capitalism to produce satisfactory social welfare outcomes”​1​ Japan held two
Sino-Japanese Wars. They won the first one(1894-1895)​ ​and got many indemnity from China.
This caused Japan to want more indemnity, so they started a second war(1937-1945).

The origin of the Second Sino-Japanese War can be traced to the First Sino-Japanese War
of 1894–1895, in which China, then under the Qing dynasty, was defeated by Japan and
 was forced to cede Formosa, and to recognize the full and complete independence of
Korea in the Treaty of Shimonoseki; Japan had also allegedly annexed the
Diaoyudao/Senkaku Islands in early 1895 as a result being the victors of this war (Japan
claims the islands to have been uninhabited in 1895). The Qing dynasty was on the brink
of collapse from internal revolts and foreign imperialism, while Japan had emerged as a
great power through its effective measures of modernization.​2

Because the two wars killed many people in China, most of the Chinese people don’t
like Japan. Their mutual hatred caused the relationship between the countries to get worse. In
the interview, the subject states, “I think the problem between China and Japan is because of that
war killed many people, so Japan have left a shadow of hatred in many Chinese people’s minds.
That’s also the reason that make relationship between China and Japan has been bad.”​3​ Until
today, there are still many Chinese people who have prejudice to Japan.

The relationship changed after the war. There was a cold war period(1949-1972)
between China and Japan right after the Second Sino-Japanese War. Due to the pressure from the
United States against Japan, the two countries did not establish diplomatic relations, and because
they did not sign a peace treaty for World War II, China and Japan were legally hostile before
1972. Following this, China and Japan developed active private trade in the early days of the
Cold War, and signed private trade agreements four times in the 1950s. The period after the Cold
War , is known as the contact period(1973-1989).

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China and
Japan, the two countries have actively developed bilateral relations through official
leadership and carried out bilateral cooperation in economic, cultural, scientific and
technological fields. Tianjin and Kobe City formally established a sister city relationship
on June 24, 1973, which is the first friendship city relationship established between the
People's Republic of China and Japan. On August 12, 1978, the People's Republic of
China and Japan signed the "Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship."​4

That source was about China and Japan began to developed a better relationship by
different activities. Those activities began the honeymoon period(1989-1996). China and Japan
had their best relationship in history during this time.

On April 6, 1992, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Jiang Zemin visited
Japan and invited Emperor Akihito and Empress of Japan to visit the People's Republic
of China.
On August 15, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on behalf of the Japanese
government on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the war, expressed his willingness
 to face up to history and acknowledge the aggression. He expressed deep reflection and
apologize. This passage was later called "Murayama talk"​5

In the “Murayama talk,” Japan said they realized their faults and apologized to China.
After the apology, their relationship become far again because of China’s development.“And
then, after the reform and opening up, China's economy developed, and Japan had a conflict of
interest in the economy. So that their relationship become far.” In the second interview, the
subject’s opinions that their relationship became worse is because China began to develop and
this caused conflict again.

The most important is what can Chinese and Japanese people do to make the two
countries closer. They should urge people to pay more attention to the two countries’ relationship
and future.

YT: I think, nowaday, China and Japan are economically complementary and
interdependent. So overall, they need to develop a good relationship. There are also many
things that China should learn from Japan. So for the government of two countries, the
mainstream public opinion, it is still necessary to advocate peace and communication.
And increase the communication of the younger generation, help young people in two
countries establish a correct view of each other. At the same time, the Chinese
government should put the burden of history behind it, don't use historical hatred as the
keynote of history education.​6

This quote is from the second interview, stating that teenagers are the future of the two
countries. Teenagers should have more conversation and communicate more in culture and
thoughts. Most of people who join in that war are already gone, so people should not let this
widespread hatred affect teenagers. China’s development makes two countries have some
conflicts, but it’s also a great opportunity for both countries to make progress together. China's
development is an important opportunity for Japan. The Japanese side is willing to strengthen the
momentum of high-level exchanges with China, strengthen strategic communication on the basis
of the four political documents of Japan and China, and deepen cooperation and exchanges in the
fields of economy, trade, investment, finance, innovation, third-party markets, teenagers, sports,
and localities. Japan and China work together to adapt to the trend of the times and help solve the
common problems facing the world today. The two sides should work together to promote the
regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement negotiations to achieve substantive
progress as soon as possible, promote the establishment of a free and fair international economic
order, and contribute to free trade and world economic development.
 All in all, the war brought destroyed, damaged and hatred to people. War is not a way we
should do to develop our country and gain power. There are many other ways can do it. If Japan
can develop cooperation with China instead of holding the war, there will not be death and
destruction in the two countries.

YT: Because most People who participated in and experienced this war Sino-Japanese
War basically passed away. For both two countries there are only few people had been in
this war were still alive. People like your grandfather’s age around seventy and eighty are
just a little child at that time. Actually, there is no deep impression for them. So i think
we should look forward, forget this history, but we need to be vigilant, don’t let the war
happen again, but don’t always keep that hatred in the mind.​7

The war has passed so many years, it’s not influenced a lot to present people, so peoples
should look forward and forget that history. It’s good to know that their relationship get much
better now, at least they will never have war anymore. Two countries can develop together by
cooperation but not by fighting.

Relations between China and Japan have overcome “obstacles” and are moving “from
competition to cooperation”, the nations’ leaders said on Friday as they signed new deals
to prevent military clashes at sea and boost financial and economic collaboration
Despite a series of maritime disputes and China’s grievances over Japan’s actions during
the second world war, Asia’s two biggest economies appeared to set aside their
differences as China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday rolled out the red carpet for visiting
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.​8

It’s a news about two countries, we can know that they are having a cooperation now. I
agree that proper competition can make the country progress, but if it is too much, it will become
a disaster. Like what Japan did to China, even now, there are still many people having hatred in
the mind. Hope they can getting better and better.
 Endnotes
1. quora, accessed November 30, 2015,

https://www.quora.com/What-started-the-second-Sino-Japanese-war.

2. wikipedia, accessed January 10, 2019,

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War#Historical_background.

3. Interview by Ken Tian, West haven, CT, December 2, 2018.

4. wikipedia, accessed January 10, 2019, https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/中日关系.

5. wikipedia, accessed January 10, 2019, https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/中日关系.

6. Ye Tian, interview by Ken Tian, West haven, CT, December 2, 2018.

7. Ye Tian, interview by Ken Tian, West haven, CT, December 9, 2018.

8. South China Morning Post​, 10 26, 2018, ​[Page #]​, accessed 10 26, 2018,

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2170436/china-japan-moving-comp

etition-cooperation-leaders-say.
 Bibliography Annotated
Ye Tian, interview by Ken Tian, West haven, CT, December 2, 2018.
The interview is about Second Sino-Japanese War. We talked about what people live look like
and effect that Japan bring to China during Sino-Japanese War. We talked about a story
about my grandfather during that time. And in this interview, my father said that Japan
give China a lot stuff to compensate. He hopes both two countries' people can forget this
war and hatred​.

quora. Accessed November 30, 2015.

https://www.quora.com/What-started-the-second-Sino-Japanese-war.
Reason of second sino japanese war. It was a person in quora website that talked about five
reason that japan start the second sino japanese war.

South China Morning Post​, 10 26, 2018. Accessed 10 26, 2018.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/2170436/china-japan-moving-comp
etition-cooperation-leaders-say.
it is a news about Chinese president visit Japanese president. They try to overcome obstacles
and oost financial and economic collaboration

Tian, Ye. Interview by Ken Tian. West haven, CT. December 9, 2018.
This is the second interview did by Ken and his father, Ye Tian. In this interview, Ken goes
deeper than first one on question about relationship between China and Japan.

wikipedia. Accessed January 10, 2019.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War#Historical_background.
This sources is talked about the background information of second sino japanese war.

wikipedia. Accessed January 10, 2019. https://zh.m.wikipedia.org/zh-cn/中日关系.

This source is mainly talked about good relationship between china and japan. Two countries
start develop their relationship by helding different activities.