History

For centuries, Japan was within the cultural sphere of the vast Chinese civilization to its
west. It adopted the Chinese writing system and numerous other cultural legacies.

Modern tensions in China's relations with Japan date back to the 1894-5 Sino-Japanese war,
in which Japan marked its emergence as a world power by inflicting a shock defeat on
China. Japan won Formosa (now Taiwan) and by 1910 it had also colonized Korea.

Japan's militarization accelerated in the early 1930s, and the resource-poor country set its
sights on more imperial prizes. In 1931, Japan invaded north-eastern China. Japan sought
to consolidate its hold on China and in 1937 it swept south.

The fall of the Chinese city of Nanjing heralded one of the most poisonous episodes in
Chinese-Japanese relations. Japanese soldiers embarked on a frenzy of murder, rape and
looting in which estimates suggest up to 300,000 people were killed and 20,000 women
were raped. Chinese women were also among the tens of thousands of Asian women forced
to serve as sexual slaves to Japanese soldiers.

Japan's government also sponsored the development of chemical and biological weapons in
China, testing them against POWs and civilian populations. Armed resistance to Japanese
control in China continued throughout World War II. Finally defeated, the retreating
Japanese forces are thought to have left at least 700,000 chemical weapons littering China.

Though the US's formal occupation of Japan ended in 1952, it left behind a large contingent
of forces that remains to this day. Japan and the People's Republic of China finally
normalised relations in 1972.

Economic Competition

Japan emerged in the post-war period to become the unquestioned giant of Asia, and today
remains the world's number-two economic power after the US. But since the early 1980s
Chinese growth has soared - and it shows little sign of slowing. While China sprints forward,
Japan inches along - and Japan is now feeling China's breath on its neck.

In many ways China's growth benefits Japan. Last year, China overtook the US to become
Japan's main trading partner. The two economies are in many ways complementary, with
China offering cheap goods and labor and Japan dominating the hi-tech industries.

But it is China's unquenchable thirst for resources that has Japan worried. The two nations
are now the world's second- and third-largest oil consumers, and the race is on to secure
access to energy and other resources.

In 2004, the two clashed over the route of an oil pipeline from large oilfields in eastern
Siberia, with Japan bidding for it to go to the eastern port of Nakhodna for shipment to
Japan, and China urging it to end in the Chinese city of Daqing. Japan won that battle.

Both sides dispute the route of maritime borders in the East China Sea, where there are
thought to be reserves of oil and gas. They both also claim islands within this disputed zone.
A two-day chase was sparked in late 2004 when a Chinese submarine strayed into Japanese
waters close to the islands.
The need to secure access to energy has also led to frantic diplomacy further afield, in such
places as Iran, Africa, and Latin America.

Strategic Balance

Bound up with Japan and China's growing economic rivalry and competition for resources is
a struggle for strategic control. For centuries, China was the dominant power in the region.
It bridled at its inferiority to Japan over the last century, and now seeks to reassert its
dominance.

Central to this rivalry is military power. China has reported big recent increases in military
spending - and is suspected of under-reporting such expenditure. In an important recent
defense report, Japan for the first time labeled China a security concern, along with North
Korea.

Meanwhile, Japan continues gradually to expand its military role, in spite of its pacifist
constitution. It too is one of the world's biggest spenders on defense. Its contributions to
US-led military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq reflect its desire to play a more assertive
role.

A major security focus is Taiwan, which China regards as a breakaway province but whose
leaders argue is a sovereign state. The US has made clear it may be prepared to defend
Taiwan in the face of a Chinese assault - and any such operation would most likely draw in
Japan, the nearest US military foothold. Japan underlined its support when it declared
Taiwan a security concern in a joint statement with the US.

Until now, Japan has relied heavily on the protection afforded by its American ally, but there
are signs it may be seeking a more prominent role as an international heavyweight - such
as its thus far unsuccessful bid to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Chinese protesters have opposed this campaign.

China too has thrust itself confidently onto the regional and world stage, taking a lead role
in local diplomatic initiatives, repairing ties with India, joining Brazil, Russia and India in a
new economic bloc of developing nations, and travelling far afield to secure new ties and
trade deals.

Japanese portrayals of China may betray unease about the rapidly changing power balance
in the region - such as when Japan's trade minister recently called China "a scary country".