Chronologies
Japan - China
Chronology from Jul 2005 to Oct 2005
: Japan and China meet for director general-level talks on East China Sea issues in Tokyo.
: Osaka High Court rules Koizumi’s visits as “official” and “religious” in nature.
: Keidanren Chairman Okuda Hiroshi meets secretly in Beijing with President Hu Jintao. During Oct. 24 press conference, Okuda denied that he was acting as Koizumi’s special emissary.
: Japanese and Chinese diplomats meet in Tokyo to discuss East China Sea issues.
: Tokyo High Court dismisses suit seeking compensation for prime minister’s visits to Yasukuni.
: To emphasize Japanese sovereignty claims, METI Minister Nakagawa uses Japanese name “Kashi” given to Tianwaitian natural gas field.
: Koizumi government institutes 90-day visa waiver for Taiwanese tourists.
: Keidanren Chairman Okuda Hiroshi meets in Beijing for one hour with Premier Wen Jiabao; Wen tells Okuda, “I want you to study [history] fully.”
: Yamasaki Taku, political confidant of the prime minister, tells a Sunday Fuji TV audience that he thought Koizumi would visit Yasukuni before the end of the year.
: Foreign Minister Machimura Nobutaka announces Japanese and Chinese diplomats will meet in Tokyo at the end of September to discuss East China Sea issues.
: METI Minister Nakagawa assures Teikoku Oil Company that Japan “will do its duty” with regard to protecting exploration activities.
: Kyodo and AP report China has initiated natural gas production in Tianwaitian field, located west of the mid-line boundary; Foreign Ministry protests to Chinese Embassy.
: Five Chinese warships found near mid-line boundary in East China Sea.
: Nagasaki District Court sentences man to eight-month prison terms for mailing threatening notes and razor blades to Chinese consulates in Nagasaki and Osaka during April anti-Japanese demonstrations in China.
: Japanese Coast Guard requests funding for construction of lighthouse on Okinotori island in the Senkaku island chain.
: Koizumi government holds Inter-Agency coordinating meeting on issues related to the continental shelf and protection of marine resources; ¥11.7 billion requested for survey activities in 2006.
: President Hu Jintao delivers speech in Beijing celebrating China’s victory in the Struggle against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.
: Eleventh meeting of the Japan-China Cooperation Committee on Science and Technology takes place Beijing.
: Tamagawagakuen, a private school in Tokyo suburb, adopts history texts compiled by Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform.
: Teikoku announces that it is prepared to explore for natural gas in East China Sea; asks for reassurances from government that it will be protected in the event of reaction by China.
: China’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Wu Dawei meets in Tokyo with Asia Director General Sasae to discuss six-party meeting on North Korea.
: Japanese Foreign Ministry announces that translations of Japanese history books will be posed on its website; initial translations are in Chinese and Korean.
: Tokyo District Court dismisses defamation of character suit filed by relatives of two executed Japanese soldiers against Mainichi and Asahi papers and Asahi journalist Honda Katsuichi for reporting that the two had competed in China in 1937 to be the first to behead 100 Chinese.
: Japanese Foreign Ministry initiates History Q&A site on its homepage.
: Japanese Foreign Ministry protests Chinese pipe-laying operations in East China Sea, requests survey data from China, and asks that Chinese exploration activities cease.
: Koizumi tells reporters that he has no intention of making Yasukuni an election issue.
: Chinese injured by exposure to poison gas in Qiqihar, Heilonjiang Province (August 2003) from chemical weapons abandoned by the Imperial Army meet in Tokyo with Senior Vice Foreign Minister Aisawa to seek assistance and medical care.
: Diet approves legislation permanently waiving visa requirement for Taiwanese tourists, extending waiver put in place for Aichi Expo.
: Teikoku Oil Company completes license application process.
: Japanese Diet adopts resolution commemorating 60th anniversary of the end of the war.
: Koizumi Cabinet approves Defense Agency White paper “Defense of Japan 2005.”
: Tokyo Metropolitan School Board adopts history texts compiled by Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform.
: Osaka High Court dismisses class action appeal seeking compensation for Prime Minister’s August 13, 2001 visit to Yasukuni.
: Kakegawa City mayor meets Li Jun, head of CCP Internal Department Second Bureau; Li cautions that Koizumi visit to Yasukuni could change political situation in China.
: Japanese Foreign Ministry announces decision to expand visa waiver for Chinese tourist groups from present locations – Beijing and Shanghai and five provinces – to authorized tourist groups nationwide.
: Chinese plaintiffs appeal to Supreme Court decision by Tokyo High Court rejecting claims for compensation for suffering inflicted by Japan’s germ warfare activities in China.
: Japanese officials welcome China’s decision to revalue the yuan.
: Japan sends chemical-weapons expert mission to Guangzhou to excavate chemical weapons abandoned by the Imperial Army.
: Fourth security-related meeting between Japanese and Chinese officials held in Tokyo.
: Koizumi tells Japan-China 21st Century Friendship Committee that Yasukuni is “not the only problem” in Japan-China relations.
: Chinese Embassy in Tokyo protests East China Sea decision to Japanese Foreign Ministry.
: Koizumi government approves granting of East China Sea exploration rights to Teikoku Oil Company; Chinese Foreign Ministry protests to Japanese embassy.
: LDP pro-Yasukuni study group holds its third meeting.
: City of Otawara adopts history texts compiled by Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform.
: LDP pro-China study group holds initial meeting.
: China executes Yang Ning, convicted of 2003 Fukuoka robbery and murder.
: Senior vice minister for foreign affairs visits China to attend WTO meeting in Dalian.
: Japanese Embassy in Beijing reports possible attack on its web-page.
: China’s Ambassador Wang advocates bilateral FTA with Japan to business community.
: Okinawa prefectural government approves granting of East China Sea exploration rights to Teikoku Oil Company.
: China reopens renovated museum on site of Marco Polo Bridge Incident.
: Osaka District Court dismisses lawsuit seeking compensation filed by Japanese war orphans abandoned in China at end of war.
: Kagoshima prefectural government approves granting of East China Sea exploration rights to Teikoku Oil Company.
: China and Japan steel industry associations agree to share environmental protection expertise.
: Iimura Yutaka, ambassador to Indonesia, tabbed as next ambassador to China.
: Japanese Coast Guard ships visit Shanghai to join in maritime rescue drills.