[2] China's expectations for this trip was high because in the previous month, South Korean President Kim Dae-Jung made his state visit to Japan which was considered successful.
[4] Relations between the two states further declined when the People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted nuclear weapon tests from October 1993 to July 1996, despite fierce criticism from Tokyo.
Taking into account public anger, deeply rooted in anti-nuclear feelings, Japan had no choice but to impose sanctions on China in the form of discontinuing ODA grants.
Although there were no major military threats to China's security after the Cold War, the decay of Communist ideology gave rise to an internal legitimacy crisis that became a grave concern for the Chinese state.
In order to further perpetuate Chinese nationalism into the minds of children, the Communist government launched the patriotic education campaign after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.
[6] In 1995, Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama sought to express an apology that the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan had refused to issue for over 50 years.
In the hope that no such mistake be made in the future, I regard, in a spirit of humility, these irrefutable facts of history, and express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology.
Prime Minister Obuchi used the Murayama statement to settle the fierce negotiations over the matter of historical recognition in the Joint Declaration with Korea and China.
[3] Kim's successful trip to Japan had raised Chinese expectations as President Jiang Zemin was scheduled to visit Tokyo in November 1998.
[3] In regards to the matter of Taiwan, after fierce negotiations, the Taiwanese section was cut down considerably to four lines, as both sides failed to gain ground on the issue.
[8] The largely negative reaction to Jiang's behaviour during the visit hardened Japan's attitude towards China, which would have more far reaching repercussions on the relationship of the two countries.
Meanwhile, forums appeared overseas which admired Jiang's behaviour as showing national spirit and boldness of vision, especially in his speech at Waseda University.
[4] Part of the reason why China chose to take a hard stance on the controversial issue of history was because President Jiang was under pressure to protect himself from conservative criticism, and he used the state visit as a vie for popularity with the Chinese people to solidify his legitimacy.
This was because he thought that the Emperor Akihito's visit to China in 1992 where he said that he “deeply deplore(s) the “great sufferings” Japan inflicted on the Chinese people during the war, was sufficient.
Obuchi's deputy spokesman and one of his close aides, Akitaka Saiki, told Reuters after the meeting that Tokyo could not agree to a written apology similar to the one offering in South Korea because the cases were different.
Most importantly, Obuchi failed to gain a critical concession from Beijing - by which China would announce that it would refrain from bringing up the issue of history at future summits.
President Jiang Zemin urged Tokyo to abide by the 1972 joint communique in which reiterates that Taiwan is an inalienable part of the People's Republic of China.
[4] Both sides agreed to include a section that stresses the importance of UN activity in the area of maintaining peace in the region, and for economic and social development throughout the world.