This Day, That Year

70 years on

Editor’s note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On Aug 12, 1978, Huang Hua, the foreign minister, and his Japanese counterpart, Sunao Sonoda, signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between China and Japan in Beijing.

The signing set a new milestone in the history of Sino-Japanese relations, following the Joint Statement in September 1972 and the normalization of diplomatic relations.

The treaty commits the two sides to develop durable relations of peace and friendship on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, settle all disputes by peaceful means without resorting to the use or threat of force, develop economic and cultural cooperation and promote exchanges between their peoples.

The signing of the treaty opened up a new period of long-term friendly cooperation between the two countries.

In 1978, following the signing of the treaty, Deng Xiaoping visited Japan, and in 1984, Yasuhiro Nakasone, the Japanese prime minister, visited China. They agreed to establish the 21st Century Committee for Japan-China Friendship.

On Nov 26, 1998, the China-Japan Joint Declaration on Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development was inked.

An item in China Daily the next day showed Japanese emperor Akihito (right) welcoming China’s president, Jiang Zemin, in Tokyo.

Both sides affirmed that “they would work to maximize their common interests and minimize their differences”, and appropriately handle issues, differences of opinion and disputes that exist or may arise in the future through friendly consultations, “thereby avoiding any restraint or obstacle to the development of friendly relations between the two countries”.

On May 7, 2008, the China-Japan Joint Statement on All-round Promotion of Strategic Relationship of Mutual Benefit was signed.

It said, “The two sides are committed to resolving bilateral issues through consultation and negotiation.”