ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the political relationship between China and Japan. Chinese and Japanese politicians alike are apt to suggest that their countries enjoy a special relationship which stems not merely from geographical proximity, but from a cultural association stretching back to the seventh century. Japan's written language and to a large extent its religious, artistic and ethical foundations are derived from Chinese culture. When China's leaders talk of political problems in their relationship with Japan, the one that it is invariably uppermost in their minds is Taiwan, China's 'gravest wound'. According to the Sino-Japanese joint communique and relevant agreements between the two governments, Japan and Taiwan should maintain only non-governmental and local contacts. The fifty years of Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan from 1895 to 1945 have undoubtedly made China suspicious of Japan's relations with Taiwan. Since 1985, however, Beijing has become increasingly critical of Tokyo's relations with Taibei.
