The end rather than the means

In 2008, China and Japan formally confirmed their "strategic relationship of mutual benefit", but with different understandings. In China both the "strategic relationship" and "mutual benefit" are emphasized, but in Japan they tend to take "strategic" as the means to get "mutual benefit".

Japan's understanding is like a castle in the air because it ignores the basis of mutual strategic trust. It is this lack of mutual strategic trust that has caused their confrontations and the worsening of relations. Historical problems and the territorial disputes over the Diaoyu Islands, together with military distrust, have brought relations to a new low.

Affected by strategic arrangements, the bilateral relationship is also increasingly complicated. Japan is playing up a "China threat" to serve its defense strategy and build up a united front against China.

Although Japan and China have a crisis management dialogue, it's designed to control and manage emergencies, and is far from enough to build strategic mutual trust. What the two countries need is a long-term strategic security dialogue to discuss their strategic intentions, strategic arrangements, strategic coordination and ways to prevent strategic confrontations.

The dialogue can address what China and Japan need from each other, ways to build trust, how to define the other in their strategies and how to prevent the positive elements in their relationship from turning negative. Only through such a platform can relations between them progress in the new era.

The author is director of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This is an excerpt from her speech at the recent World Peace Forum held in Beijing.

(China Daily 07/01/2014 page8)