Chronologies
Japan - China
Chronology from Jan 2016 to May 2016
: Taiwan protests Japanese Coast Guard seizure of Taiwanese fishing boat in the vicinity of Okinotori Island; China supports Taiwan’s protest.
: Foreign Minister Kishida visits Beijing and meets Foreign Minister Wang and Premier Li.
: LDP General Council Secretary Nikai Toshihiro visits Beijing, meets high-level Chinese officials, and attends China-Japan-Korea International Forum.
: Japanese Coast Guard seizes Taiwanese fishing boat in Japan’s claimed EEZ in the vicinity of Okinotori Island.
: A 92 member supra-party delegation of Diet members’ led by Cabinet Minister Takaichi Sanae, visits Yasukuni Shrine.
: Japan announces first flight of unarmed prototype stealth jet.
: Prime Minister Abe sends offering to Yasukuni Shrine during the Spring Festival. China asks Japan to “deeply reflect on its invasion history” and make “a clean break with militarism.”
: JASDF aircraft scramble against Chinese reconnaissance aircraft over international waters between Okinawa and Miyako Island.
: Kitaoka Shinichi, head of Japan’s International Cooperation Agency, tells television audience that China, through militarization of sites in the South China Sea, is slowly working by a show of force to change the status quo in the South China Sea.
: Japan issues Diplomatic Blue Book.
: Xinhua reports that a Chinese military aircraft landed on Fiery Cross Reef to evacuate suddenly ill workers to a hospital site.
: Japanese government releases 750 new documents substantiating Japanese claims to Takeshima and the Senkaku islands. China’s Foreign Ministry responds that the Diaoyu Dao and affiliated islands are China’s inherent territory…sovereignty …is fully backed by historical and jurisprudence evidence.”
: China’s Ministry of National Defense confirms visit of Gen. Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, to several land-reclamation sites in the South China Sea.
: Japanese business delegation led by Kono Yohei meets Vice Premier Wang Yang in Beijing.
: JMSDF destroyers visit Cam Ranh Bay. Defense Minister Nakatani Gen emphasizes importance of the freedom to the seas to Japan’s security and commits Japan to working with the US and Australia to support peace and stability in the region.
: JMSDF destroyer Ise participates in international naval review off Padang, Indonesia.
: Japan’s Fair Trade Commission and China’s Ministry of Commerce sign memorandum agreeing to share information of mergers and acquisitions and to meet annually.
: G7 foreign ministers meet in Hiroshima.
: Former Prime Minister Hatoyama appointed honorary professor at Sian University of Communications.
: Three PLA Navy ships transit in international waters between Okinawa and Miyakojima.
: Japanese and Chinese diplomats meet in Tokyo to discuss North Korea sanctions. China is represented by Wu Dawei, Beijing’s representative to and chair of the Six-Party Talks.
: Two Japanese destroyers, the JS Ariake and JS Setogiri, and the submarine Oyashio make a port call to Subic Bay.
: Abe government’s new security legislation goes into effect.
: Japan establishes observation unit on Yonaguni Island.
: Abe Cabinet approves appointment of Yokoi Yutaka as ambassador to China.
: Former Prime Minister Fukuda meets Foreign Minister Wang on sidelines of Boao Form in Hainan. They agree on the need to take steps to improve relations.
: Xiamen municipal government hosts investment seminar in Tokyo. During 2015 Chinese municipal and provincial governments held 49 investment seminars in Japan, an increase of 49 percent over 2014.
: Japan-China vice-ministerial dialogue on agriculture resumes in Beijing after six-year hiatus.
: Prime Minister Abe attends Coast Guard graduation ceremony in Maizuru, becoming the first prime minister to attend Coast Guard graduation.
: Foreign Ministers Kishida and Wang Yi confer by phone on DPRK sanctions.
: Japan releases Foreign Aid White Paper, emphasizing ASEAN and sea lane security in Southeast Asia.
: US 7th Fleet, Philippine Navy, and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) hold consultations in Manila.
: Sansha City mayor announces commercial flights to and from Woody Island.
: China releases 2016 defense budget during National People’s Congress.
: China’s National People’s Congress meets in Beijing.
: China’s Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou meets Japan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sugiyama Shinsuke in Tokyo.
: China’s Global Times reports that a Japanese mission to clear space junk from earth’s orbit was a failure.
: Chinese intelligence-gathering ship operates in international waters off Japan’s Boso Peninsula.
: Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide announces that Chinese authorities arrested Japanese citizen on charges of spying; he says Japan does not engage in spying.
: Japan’s Ministry of Defense announces Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) scramble against Chines aircraft over the Sea of Japan.
: Japanese, Chinese, and Korean ministers of education meet in Seoul.
: Prime Minister Abe’s policy address to the Diet.
: China’s Ministry Commerce announces a 25.2 percent drop in Japanese investment in China to $3.21 billion in 2015.
: Foreign Minister Kishida announces his intention to visit China in the spring.
: Japanese media report coordination underway to resume Japan-China high-level economic dialogue, agreed to by Prime Minister Abe and President Xi Jinping in November, 2015. The meeting would be the first in five years.
: Prime Minster Abe, during Upper House Budget Committee meeting, congratulates Tsai Ing-wen on her election as Taiwan’s president; he looks to strengthening Japan-Taiwan ties.
: Jin Liqun, president of China’s Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, announces that the bank is open to Japanese and US participation.
: Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio holds telephone conversation with Chinese and Russian counterparts to coordinate response to North Korean nuclear test.
: Prime Minister Abe Shinzo presents report on Japan’s diplomacy to the Diet.
: China’s Foreign Ministry reports civilian test flight to land reclamation site in the South China Sea.