Sometimes, the best strategy is to just leave things as they are, when the alternative is only to make things worse. Signs that tensions between Japan and China may be easing have raised hopes for a long-delayed summit meeting of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping during annual APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit in Beijing in November. That the two have not met so far has troubled both sides, given the major role both countries play in regional affairs.
A meeting between Abe and Xi on the sidelines of the Pacific rim meeting would be a step toward normalizing relations disrupted by the longstanding dispute over islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both countries. But analysts say a meeting will not lead to a significant easing of friction unless the two sides can find a mutually acceptable compromise.
How crucial is it to each side that relations improve? Tensions flared into anti-Japanese riots across China in September 2012 after Japan nationalized the disputed islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China. China has sent ships and aircraft to patrol seas near the islands, drawing indignant responses from Japan. While both sides have refrained from exchanging fire, there have some been some close calls, with military aircraft from the two countries passing just 30 meters away from each other over the East China Sea earlier this year.
Many nations, including the U.S., expressed consternation after China declared it had set up an Air Defense Identification Zone covering the East China Sea, requiring aircraft from other countries to identify themselves. “It is clear that the relationship is under a lot of strain at the moment, and that is likely to continue because [of] political problems within China and the anti-corruption campaign,” says Franklin Allen, a Wharton finance professor. “On top of that, you have the island dispute.”
Japan and China: What’s the Best Way Forward?
A meeting between Abe and Xi on the sidelines of the Pacific rim meeting would be a step toward normalizing relations disrupted by the longstanding dispute over islands in the East China Sea that are claimed by both countries. But analysts say a meeting will not lead to a significant easing of friction unless the two sides can find a mutually acceptable compromise.
How crucial is it to each side that relations improve? Tensions flared into anti-Japanese riots across China in September 2012 after Japan nationalized the disputed islands, known as the Senkakus in Japan and the Diaoyu islands in China. China has sent ships and aircraft to patrol seas near the islands, drawing indignant responses from Japan. While both sides have refrained from exchanging fire, there have some been some close calls, with military aircraft from the two countries passing just 30 meters away from each other over the East China Sea earlier this year.
Many nations, including the U.S., expressed consternation after China declared it had set up an Air Defense Identification Zone covering the East China Sea, requiring aircraft from other countries to identify themselves. “It is clear that the relationship is under a lot of strain at the moment, and that is likely to continue because [of] political problems within China and the anti-corruption campaign,” says Franklin Allen, a Wharton finance professor. “On top of that, you have the island dispute.”
Japan and China: What’s the Best Way Forward?
) and admit they are better together than apart. Since Nihonjin1051 brought Game of Thrones into this conversation I will too. If relations continue to dip, scenes such as this might become more and more of a reality;
