On March 9th 2016, the Institute of International and Strategic Studies (IISS) and The Sasakawa Peace Foundation held a seminar in Peking University (PKU), launching a five-year joint research project entitled “Understanding the History and Future of Sino-Japanese Relations”.

The project mainly aims to look into the future of Sino-Japanese relations and promote its healthy and stable development. As we all know, one of the major obstacles in the development of Sino-Japanese relations lies in that the two sides fail to reach adequate consensus on understanding of history of Sino-Japanese War. Today, a majority of people in both China and Japan have not experienced the Sino-Japanese war, so it is indispensable for them to reach more consensuses on the understanding of history with a view to bringing Sino-Japanese relations into the future through cooperation.

To this end, IISS and The Sasakawa Peace Foundation have decided to launch joint research project entitled “Understanding the History and Future of Sino-Japanese Relations——Dialogue with Insights”, which will initiate an in-depth discussion on such historical issues as the cause, the nature, the impact as well as the lesson of Sino-Japanese War so as to bridge the gap and build more consensus. Once a common ground is established on historical issues, both sides will work together to solve those practical problems facing the two countries and seek opportunities for future cooperation.

Therefore, a committee of experts has been formed by IISS and The Sasakawa Peace Foundation, which consists of Chinese and Japanese elites from different walks of life such as senior diplomats, historians, scholars of international relations and media professionals, roughly ten people from each side. All these experts will join in this research project and contribute to final publications as non-governmental representatives. The joint meeting of experts committee is the first official meeting that they have ever held. Wu Jianmin, former President of China Foreign Affairs University (CFAU), acts as director of Chinese experts committee and Professor Bu Ping, former director of Institute of Modern History CASS, as deputy director. Yuji Miyamoto, Chief of Miyamoto Asia Research Institute and former Japanese ambassador to China, acts as director of Japanese experts committee and NAKANISHI Hiroshi, Professor of Graduate School for Law, Kyoto University, as deputy director.

The joint meeting marks the launch of this project. Members attending the meeting introduced their research fields and study objects. They also had a discussion on the aims, objectives, content and implementation plan in 2016 of the research project, as well as reaching an agreement on its basic structure. Both sides have agreed that more experts from related fields will be invited in the future to join in the research on specific issues. The publication of all research findings during the process and the final results will be mutually agreed upon by both sides.

The next round joint meeting is scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan in the second half of 2016.