Chronology of China-Japan ties

(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-12 07:05

September 1972:China and Japan establish diplomatic relations during then Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka's visit to China. Japan says it understands and respects China's position on Taiwan.

August 1978:Japan and China sign the Treaty of Sino-Japanese Peace and Friendship. In October, then vice-premier Deng Xiaoping visits Japan.

1985:Then Japanese prime minister Yasuhiro Nakasone visits Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 top war criminals of World War II are honored, sparking strong protests from China.

April 1989:Then premier Li Peng visits Japan and holds talks with Emperor Akihito.

April 1992:Then president Jiang Zemin visits Japan.

October 1992:At the invitation of Jiang, Emperor Akihito becomes the first Japanese monarch to visit China. He says he "deplores" the sufferings brought upon China by Japanese invaders but stops short of apologizing for his country's brutal militaristic past.

1995:Fifty years after World War II ended, then Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama makes the most widely recognized apology for Japan's role in World War II.

September 1997:Then Japanese prime minister Ryutaro Hashimoto becomes the first Japanese leader to visit Northeast China after World War II.

2004:Bilateral trade reaches $168 billion and China becomes Japan's No 1 trading partner.

October 2005:Junichiro Koizumi pays his fifth visit to Yasukuni Shrine as prime minister, continuing an annual practice from 2001 when he took office.

October 2006:Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pays a two-day "ice-breaking" visit to China.

December 2006:Chinese and Japanese scholars hold their first meeting to study history.

China Daily

(China Daily 04/12/2007 page2)