Are China-Japan Relations Really at Their Worst? The Pandas Are Gone, and So Is the Pretense

A Relationship Without Its Symbol

I watched a video about a zoo struggling after losing its pandas.

The pandas had been sent back to China amid worsening relations between Japan and China.

Pandas have long been described as a symbol of friendship between the two countries. Now, however, China is directing harsh rhetoric at Japan, while people in Japan seem increasingly willing to criticize China without the restraint they once showed.

Judging by the news alone, it would be easy to conclude that China-Japan relations are at their worst.

But I do not think the situation is entirely negative.

It could also be seen as the facade of “China-Japan friendship” finally falling away, allowing both sides to face each other more honestly.

Was “China-Japan Friendship” Ever Really Friendship?

Ever since I was a child, I have heard the phrase “China-Japan friendship” countless times.

There was also the expression “a narrow strip of water,” emphasizing how closely the two countries are connected, and pandas served as the symbol of that closeness.

After diplomatic relations were normalized, Japan provided China with official development assistance, and Japanese companies expanded into the Chinese market. Japanese capital and technology were valuable to China’s economic development, while the enormous Chinese market was attractive to Japan.

Japan’s wartime past and postwar remorse also shaped the relationship.

In other words, both countries had plenty of reasons to maintain friendly relations.

Calling that relationship a friendship, however, is a different matter.

There is nothing unusual about countries dealing with each other on the basis of mutual interests. The problem, I think, was presenting a relationship built on those interests as though it reflected genuine friendship between their peoples.

Pandas are adorable.

But no number of pandas can make disputes over the Senkaku Islands, Taiwan, or the interpretation of history disappear.

Leaving the Company and Becoming Mere Neighbors

If I were to compare the old China-Japan relationship to a personal one, the two countries may have been like coworkers at the same company.

Even if they did not particularly like each other, they would still bow and say, “Thank you, as always, for your continued support.”

They might go out for drinks or play golf together because business required it.

They were not best friends. They simply maintained the relationship because they shared an interest through the company.

Then the circumstances changed.

China became one of the world’s leading economic powers, and the era in which it received Japanese development assistance came to an end. Meanwhile, Japan went through a generational shift, and people with no direct experience of the war moved to the center of society.

It is rather like retiring from the company and discovering that the shared interests holding the relationship together have faded.

Suddenly, one person says, “To be honest, I never felt that we really got along.”

The other replies, “The feeling is mutual.”

Perhaps today’s China-Japan relationship is not so different.

Being Able to Complain May Be Better Than Pretending to Be Close

The collapse of a superficial friendship does not necessarily mean that every aspect of the relationship has deteriorated.

The same is true of personal relationships.

A relationship is not necessarily healthy when both sides are full of resentment but continue to insist, “We are best friends.”

It may be healthier to say openly:

• “That causes us problems.”
• “Do not cross this line.”
• “This is something we cannot concede.”

When both sides can say these things openly, each can understand the other’s boundaries.

Diplomacy is, ultimately, negotiation.

What does the other side object to? Where might it compromise? Which line, if crossed, will provoke a serious response?

Negotiation is impossible without that knowledge.

Rather than wrapping everything in the word “friendship,” a relationship may actually be easier to manage when both sides can see each other’s interests and grievances clearly.

Conflict Is Not the Goal

Of course, this does not mean that worse relations between Japan and China are always better.

Japan and China cannot move away from each other geographically, and their economic ties remain significant.

That is precisely why they need something more concrete than an abstract slogan about getting along. They need a framework that allows them to coexist even when they dislike each other.

The same principle applies to neighbors.

You do not need to become best friends with the person next door. You simply refrain from blasting music in the middle of the night, stay off each other’s property, and discuss problems when they arise.

That is enough.

Between countries, the equivalents are diplomacy, treaties, economic negotiations, and security arrangements.

Even Without Pandas, China and Japan Remain Neighbors

The pandas that long symbolized China-Japan friendship have now disappeared from Japan.

It feels like a symbolic moment.

The era of looking at adorable animals while celebrating “friendship” is over. Now the two sides say what they actually think.

Some people may find that sad.

I am not quite so pessimistic.

Rather than hiding their true feelings and continuing to act like friends, the two countries would be better served by drawing clear lines: “We will cooperate here, but we will not compromise there.”

Countries do not need to be best friends. They never did.

China is not going to move away, and neither is Japan.

The pandas can be returned. The relationship between neighboring countries cannot.

Instead of forcing themselves to perform friendship, learning how to coexist without fighting is the more realistic choice.