Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People’s Republic of China

What Happened

On 12 August 1978, in Beijing, the People's Republic of China and Japan signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship (日本国と中華人民共和国との間の平和友好条約). The Chinese Foreign Minister, Huang Hua (1913–2010), signed for China; the Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sonoda Sunao (1913–1984), signed for Japan. The signing fell in the 53rd year of the Shōwa era (昭和, Shōwa, "bright harmony"), the reign of Emperor Hirohisa's successor Shōwa — the period 1926 to 1989.

The treaty did not take effect on the day of signing. It entered into force on 23 October 1978, timed to the state visit of Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997), Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, to Japan. The text ran to five articles.

Background

The treaty's origin lies in the Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China, issued in 1972. That document normalised relations between the two countries; the treaty of 1978 was the formal peace instrument built on it.

Negotiations on a formal peace treaty opened in 1974. They dragged on for four years, held up by a series of disputes, before concluding in 1978. The Soviet Union opposed the treaty strongly.

Why It Mattered

The treaty converted the 1972 normalisation into a binding peace settlement, and it did so at a moment when the Soviet Union was actively hostile to the result. The entry into force was staged around Deng Xiaoping's state visit to Japan on 23 October 1978, giving the agreement a public, ceremonial weight beyond its five articles.

The Name in Japanese

The full Japanese name is 日本国と中華人民共和国との間の平和友好条約, read in kana as にほんこくとちゅうかじんみんきょうわこくとのあいだのへいわゆうこうじょうやく, and rendered in romaji as Nihonkoku to Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku to no aida no Heiwa Yūkō Jōyaku.

The name is a chain of nouns joined by the particles と (to, "and") and の (no, possessive or linking "of"). Broken down:

• 日 — read にち (nichi) here, meaning "sun"; in this compound it stands for Japan.
• 本 — read ほん (hon), meaning "origin" or "base"; 日本 together (にほん, Nihon) means "Japan", literally "sun's origin".
• 国 — read こく (koku), meaning "country" or "state". 日本国 (にほんこく, Nihonkoku) is the formal name of the Japanese state.
• と — the particle と (to), "and", linking Japan and China.
• 中 — read ちゅう (chū), meaning "middle" or "centre".
• 華 — read か (ka), meaning "splendour" or "flower". 中華 (ちゅうか, Chūka) is the name China uses for itself, "the central splendour".
• 人 — read じん (jin), meaning "person" or "people".
• 民 — read みん (min), meaning "people" or "nation". 人民 (じんみん, jinmin) means "the people".
• 共 — read きょう (kyō), meaning "together".
• 和 — read わ (wa), meaning "harmony" or "peace". 共和 (きょうわ, kyōwa) means "republic"; 共和国 (きょうわこく, kyōwakoku) is "republic".
• 国 — read こく (koku), "country". 中華人民共和国 (ちゅうかじんみんきょうわこく, Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku) is the People's Republic of China.
• と — the particle と (to), "and", again.
• の — the particle の (no), linking "between" to the two countries.
• 間 — read あいだ (aida), meaning "space between" or "interval". との間の (to no aida no) means "between [the two]".
• 平 — read へい (hei), meaning "flat" or "level"; here "peace".
• 和 — read わ (wa), "harmony". 平和 (へいわ, heiwa) means "peace".
• 友 — read ゆう (yū), meaning "friend".
• 好 — read こう (kō), meaning "good" or "favourable". 友好 (ゆうこう, yūkō) means "friendship".
• 条 — read じょう (jō), meaning "article" or "clause".
• 約 — read やく (yaku), meaning "promise" or "agreement". 条約 (じょうやく, jōyaku) means "treaty".

Read as a whole, the name is "the Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China" — the same structure as the English, assembled from the same pieces.

Key Figures

• Huang Hua (1913–2010) — Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China; signed the treaty in Beijing on 12 August 1978.
• Sonoda Sunao (1913–1984) — Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan; signed for Japan on the same day.
• Deng Xiaoping (1904–1997) — Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China; his state visit to Japan on 23 October 1978 coincided with the treaty's entry into force.