The Origins Of The Reasons For The Sino-Japanese Hostility

For the majority of Chinese people, no matter which origin or opinion they belong to, Japanese aggressions, the Japanese denial of war crimes, the lack of apologies and others issues are still a matter of discussions. Controversies are held between politicians, historians, scholars and even among citizens who face intercultural incidents between people of Japanese and Chinese nationality every day. On the Japanese side, there are still many efforts about minimizing or deny their war crimes.This thesis argues that, in order to better understand and assess today’s situation, bilateral relations between the two countries should be evaluated from the perspective of the historical background. This thesis investigates the reasons for the today’s mutual hostility trough the history of the two countries and the most important contacts they had. Based on the gathered insights about the causes a future outlook is given to understand scenarios which, regarding the fast raising influence of China, could take a big matter in a global context.Key insight were drawn out of historical sources like Japanese textbooks, reports of conversations between Japanese officials, war reports from newspapers and diaries of witness, official letters and announcements by both governments as well as literature dealing with the history of China and Japan.In the background of both nations there are achievements in the course of history that supported as well as declined the reasons for the hostilities. On one hand China offered open possibilities to expose with the common history but on the other hand the government made little efforts to stem the growth of nationalistic feelings among their citizens. From the Japanese point of view and regarding the history of China this caused more hostile tensions.On the Japanese side there where tries to apologize which were not appreciated by Chinese officials as well as the majority of the common people. But the tribute the Japanese paid, might it be in their trial or in official and unofficial behavior towards China, never satisfied Beijing. Not just that the emperor was never accused for its crimes but also the little atonement Japan showed never closed the wound opened up by events like the1894occupation which led to one of the "unequal treaties" or the Nanjing Massacre. Finally there were never clearly defined lines between both nations intentions and attitudes in their efforts to approach to each other. This repeatedly caused new misunderstanding which lead to further tensions.The conclusion provides that Japan’s history of aggression can no longer be an excuse to avoid the burdens of maintaining international stability, neither for China to protest against an expanding Japanese role. Japan deserves credit and respect for its stable politics and society. And China deserves credit for continuing to make progress in economic and political fields. The two countries must be honest with each other, with no illusion of friendship but with a real willingness to build a new kind of cooperation based on common interests. Furthermore, China and Japan should have a new vision and determination to remove nationalistic myths that are still strong and promote a shared history through mutual critique and reflection. In this thesis is demonstrate that a strong nationalism will freeze the chance to have a new kind of positive Sino-Japanese relations. In conclusion, this thesis also argues that this dispute is manageable, as long as the two governments will understand that an open hostility is not interest of either country, and that a strong cooperation is essential.Although a recent conflict between the two nations is not predictable, the future course both nations will take is unknown yet. It is to hope that works like this thesis contribute towards a peaceful and mutual comprehensive relationship among both nations which gain more and more importance in the Asian sphere as well as on a global stage.