Forty years after friendship treaty, time for synergy between Beijing and Tokyo

As Sunday marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of the China-Japan Treaty of Peace and Friendship, experts have called for cherishing the spirit of the accord to enhance relations between the two countries.

The treaty, signed on August 12, 1978, paved the way for the two sides to develop ties and had a significant impact on bilateral relations, said Zhu Jianrong, a professor of international relations at Tokyo Gakuen University in Tokyo, Japan.

“Under the treaty, and since China adopted the policy of reform and opening-up in the same year, Japan has been supporting China’s economic development by providing capital and technological help, and meanwhile shared the fruits of China’s fast development,” said Zhu.

Since the treaty was signed, the two sides have gradually established government dialogue mechanism of various levels, and enhanced people-to-people exchanges, which, while bringing benefits to people of both countries, also made contribution to regional prosperity, said Zhu.

Over the past 40 years, bilateral ties also suffered twists and turns due to various factors, including historical and territorial issues.

“The friendship treaty was signed by the two sides based on the political insight of leaders of the two countries, including looking at the bigger picture and properly handling sensitive issues,” said Akira Ishii, historian and professor emeritus of Tokyo University. He added that one of the reasons for the twists and turns in relations between China and Japan in recent years was failing to deal with the bilateral relationship by looking at the bigger picture and implement the consensus of shelving differences.

Ishii said that some of the Japanese people had difficulty in accepting China becoming stronger as they used to see China as an “aid-receiving country.” It’s important to review the wishes for developing bilateral ties that the older generations held when signing the bilateral treaty, and fully accept China’s development and implement the treaty, said Ishii.

Experts noted that in recent years there have also been calls in Japan for learning from China, and under the new circumstances, the two sides are facing opportunities for cooperation in a lot of areas such as energysaving, environmental protection, medical services, shared economy and so on.

Takashi Okada, commentator from Japan’s Kyodo News, said that it’s important for Japan to cooperate with and even learn from China in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet technology.

Zhu said that the two sides have tremendous potential for cooperation under the Belt and Road initiative and jointly developing the third-party markets.

The two sides should further explore new cooperation areas and expand common interests through mutually-beneficial projects, he said.

The article is from the Xinhua News Agency. opinion@ globaltimes.com.cn