China’s Japan Policy: Seeking Stability and Improvement in Uncertainties

Due to historical legacies in Sino-Japanese relations, including the absence of a satisfactory apology to the Chinese people for Japan’s war atrocities, the related history textbook issue in Japan’s secondary schools, the visits to the Yasukuni Shrine by Japanese political leaders and the territorial disputes over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands as well as the exclusive economic zones in the East Asia Sea, China’s rising nationalism has been mainly directed at Japan, making it difficult for the Chinese leadership to engage in negotiations with its Japanese counterpart with respect to agreements on mutual concessions.