Explainer: What's the China-Japan consensus on the Taiwan question?

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent remarks on China's Taiwan region have sparked fierce denunciation from Beijing. Chinese officials said the remarks have seriously violated the spirit of the four political documents between China and Japan and caused fundamental damage to the political foundation of China-Japan relations. So what exactly is the consensus between the two countries on the Taiwan question?

Over the past five decades, the two countries have signed four political documents that have served as important cornerstones in consolidating the political foundation of their bilateral relations.

During the discussions on resuming China-Japan diplomatic ties, China explicitly put forth three principles: the government of the People's Republic of China is the sole and legal government representing the Chinese people; the Taiwan region is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China; and the so-called Taiwan-Japan Treaty is illegal and invalid and must be abrogated.

In 1972, China and Japan signed the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement and officially established diplomatic relations. Three places in the joint statement relate to the Taiwan question. The first reference is in the opening paragraphs, where it is written that the Japanese side "reaffirms its position that it intends to realize the normalization of relations between the two countries from the standpoint of fully understanding 'the three principles for resuming diplomatic relations' put forward by the government of the People's Republic of China." 

The second is in Article 2 of the document, which says that "the government of Japan recognizes the government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China." The final reference is in Article 3, which states that "the government of the People's Republic of China reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People's Republic of China. The government of Japan fully understands and respects this stance of the government of the People's Republic of China, and it firmly maintains its stand under Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation."

In 1978, the two countries signed the Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between China and Japan, which explicitly states that the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement "constitutes the basis for relations of peace and friendship between the two countries and that the principles set out in that statement should be strictly observed." The treaty affirmed the principles and contents of the joint statement in legal terms and set out the legal parameters for China-Japan relations. 

In 1998, the two sides released the China-Japan Joint Declaration on Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development, in which Japan undertook to "continue to maintain its stance on the Taiwan question which was set forth in the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement" and "reiterated its understanding that there is one China." The document states that Japan will continue to maintain only private and regional exchanges with Taiwan, ruling out the legal possibility of Japan developing official relations with Taiwan. 

In 2008, the China-Japan Joint Statement on All-round Promotion of Strategic Relationship of Mutual Benefit stipulated clearly in Article 5 that "The Japanese side reiterated that it will continue to abide by its position on the Taiwan question stated in the Sino-Japanese Joint Statement."