China and Japan try to move away from the past - while holding on to it
Frank Ching says China's intent to repair its frayed ties with Japan may well be undermined by its remembrance of past hostilities
This past spring, almost 70 years after Japan invaded China, the National People's Congress designated two days for commemorating historical events. September 3 was designated "War Against Japanese Aggression Victory Day" and December 13 was designated a day of remembrance for victims of the Nanking Massacre of 1937.
It isn't surprising that a country should wish to mark such dates. But it is unusual to have so many decades elapse before taking action.
China was responding to much more recent events, including the continuing dispute with Japan over ownership of a group of tiny islands in the East China Sea and the Japanese leader Shinzo Abe's visit in December 2013 to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese war dead, including convicted war criminals, are honoured.
China was using the commemorative dates to teach Japan a lesson today.
By putting these dates on the calendar, China has created an opportunity to regularly remind its populace of Japan's aggression during the war. At the same time, Japan will have little choice but to conduct itself especially carefully around these sensitive dates so as not to provoke its powerful neighbour.
On December 13, President Xi Jinping went to Nanjing to participate in events to mark the 77th anniversary of Japan's invasion of the city. Some people in Japan deny that a massacre occurred while others question the number of victims. Xi, in a speech, said no one could deny that it had occurred. "Anyone who tries to deny the massacre will not be allowed by history, the souls of the 300,000 deceased victims, 1.3 billion Chinese people and all people loving peace and justice in the world," Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
However, it has been China's position that only a "small minority of militarists" were responsible for the invasion of China and that the Japanese people, too, were victims in the war. Xi continued this theme in his speech, saying in statesmanlike tones that Chinese "should not bear hatred against an entire nation just because a small minority of militarists launched aggressive wars".
Japan established relations with the People's Republic in 1972, at a time when China was still diplomatically isolated. In the normalisation agreement, China waived war reparations.
Still, Japan offered economic aid to China. It was not until 2007 that then premier Wen Jiabao openly thanked Japan for its aid, of which the Chinese public was largely ignorant.
Xi's measured words in Nanjing suggest that China and Japan are now ready to gradually rebuild their frayed relationship, after a cold handshake between Xi and Abe during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting in November.
It is high time for Asia's two most important countries to mend their ties. But it is not clear that the new memorial days, which will keep the relationship on tenterhooks twice a year, will help rather than hurt in this endeavour.
