In early June, Yukio Hatoyama stepped down as leader of Japan, and Naoto Kan became Japan's fifth prime minister in four years. Naoto is regarded as "pro-China." How will this influence Sino-Japanese relations? How should we understand Sino-Japanese relations?

Since the end of World War II, Sino-Japanese relations have been described as having a repetitive oscillation with limited amplitude, like a sine wave in mathematics. The two ends of a cycle of the wave can be regarded as alliance (crest) and war (trough). More specifically, it is impossible for war to break out between China and Japan, and it is also impossible for China and Japan to become allies. The two parties deal with their relations within this cycle, avoiding the maximum or minimum and creating an environment that fits with their national interests. Sino-Japanese relations are just like a snake in a tunnel, stuck in an interval between maxima and minima.

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