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Jan. 3, 2009: Prime Minister Aso Taro visits Issei Shrine to pray for a prosperous 2009.
Jan. 4, 2009: Yomuri Shimbun reports that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will set up mechanism to protect Japan's intellectual property rights in farm, forestry, and fisheries sectors in China.
Jan. 4, 2009: Sankei Shimbun reports that China has unilaterally initiated drilling in the Kashi/Tianwaitan natural gas field in the East China Sea. Japan-China Relations 114 April 2009
Jan. 6, 2009: China's Foreign Ministry states that independent development of the Tianwaitan/Kashi field does not contradict the June 2008 China-Japan agreement on joint development in East China Sea.
Jan. 9, 2009: Japan's Council on Security and Defense Capabilities begins discussions on revising the Defense Program Outline.
Jan. 9, 2009: Vice Foreign Ministers Yabunaka Mitoji and Wang Guangya meet in Beijing.
Jan. 10, 2009: Hong Kong's Mingpao reports Hunan provincial police prevent the opening of a conference sponsored by China's Defend the Senkakus Association.
Jan. 20, 2009: China releases its defense white paper.
Jan. 21, 2009: Marubeni Corp. reports scrap iron steel exports to China have quadrupled over past two months with export prices increasing 28 percent from January 2008.
Jan. 22, 2009: Sankei Shimbun reports that Japan has decided on a three-year freeze on construction of plants to dispose of chemical weapons abandoned in Jilin Province, China.
Jan. 23, 2009:Yomiuri Shimbun cites Xinhua reports that Hebei Province Middle Court has given death sentences to three defendants convicted in melamine milk poisoning cases.
Jan. 29, 2009: Japan releases its 2008 official development assistance white paper, which indicates that among OECD members Japan's standing has fallen from third to fifth place and records the second consecutive year that Japan's standing has fallen.
Jan. 30, 2009: First anniversary of gyoza controversy.
Feb. 3, 2009: Sankei Shimbun, citing China's Legal Evening Report, reports that China's Foreign Ministry has released documents indicating that in November 1956 Chairman Mao responded favorably to a request from visiting Japanese academicians to allow an early release of ill Japanese prisoners of war; Mao cautioned that given the emotional context in China, release would require some time to pass.
Feb. 4, 2009: Xinhua reports that a local Beijing court convicted four Chinese defendants involved in illegal departures of Chinese citizens to Japan
Feb. 13, 2009:Asahi Shimbun reports China is planning to build two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers some time after 2020.
Feb. 17, 2009:Sankei Shimbun reports that a Chinese think tank analyst was arrested in January for leaking classified information on North Korea and health of Kim Jong-il.
Feb. 17, 2009: China acts to investigate organ transplants allegedly given to 17 Japanese visitors. Chinese law prohibits organ transplants to foreigners.
Japan-China Relations 115 April 2009
Feb.17, 2009: Taiwan's Association to Defend the Senkakus announces May plans to land on islands to protest Japanese occupation.
Feb. 19, 2009: Japanese Fisheries Agency seizes Chinese fishing boat for operating in Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone off Nagasaki Prefecture.
Feb. 22, 2009: ASEAN Plus 3 finance ministers meet to expand funding mechanism of the Chiang Mai Initiative.
Feb. 26-27, 2009: Japan-Taiwan fisheries talks resume in Taipei after three-year hiatus.
Feb. 27, 2009: Taiwan's Foreign Ministry protests Prime Minister Aso's statements on the applicability of Japan-U.S. Security Treaty to Senkaku Islands.
Feb. 23, 2009: Wang Jiarui, head of Chinese Communist Party's International Department, meets Prime Minister Aso and Democratic Party of Japan President Ozawa Ichiro in Tokyo
Feb. 26, 2009: Prime Minister Aso tells the Lower House Budget Committee that the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty extends to Senkaku Islands.
Feb. 27, 2009: Former Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo attends ground-breaking ceremony for the Japanese pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Exposition.
Feb. 28, 2009: Foreign Ministers Nakasone and Yang meet in Beijing.
Feb. 28, 2009: American Institute on Taiwan issues a statement affirming that Japan-U.S. Security Treaty extends to Senkaku Islands.
Feb. 28, 2009: China's National People's Congress passes a law aimed at strengthening food safety that will take effect on June 1.
March 1, 2009: Foreign Minister Nakasone meets Premier Wen Jiabao and State Councilor Dai Bingguo in Beijing.
March 3, 2009: Yomiuri Shimbun reports that Beijing has informally asked Japan to allow construction of a consulate on Okinawa.
March 4, 2009: China announces large-scale April naval exercise off Chingdao to commemorate 60th anniversary of the founding of the PLA Navy, which is April 23. The announcement states that invitations to attend the exercise have been extended to foreign countries.
March 4, 2009: China releases its 2009 defense budget with a 14.9 percent increase, marking the 21st consecutive year of double-digit increases in defense spending.
Japan-China Relations 116 April 2009
March 4, 2009: U.S. State Department issues official statement that U.S.-Japan Security Treaty extends to the Senkaku Islands.
March 5-13, 2009: China's National People's Congress meets in Beijing.
March 5, 2009: Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura Takeo tells a press conference that there is no change in U.S. policy toward the Senkaku Islands.
March 6, 2009: Japan's Finance Ministry cites China as a major source of counterfeit goods seized by Japanese Customs.
March 7, 2009: Foreign Minister Yang holds a press conference during National People's Congress and addresses the East China Sea and gyoza issues.
March 9, 2009: Fukuoka High Court dismisses a suit by 45 Chinese seeking compensation for forced wartime labor. It rules that by signing that 1972 Japan-China Joint Communiqué, China waived the right of individual Chinese to seek war reparations from Japan.
March 13, 2009: Beijing press conference announces the joint Japan-China production of the Akutagawa Prize-winning novel "Wall of Dreams." Filming began in Hebei province in February with a target 2010 release date.
March 16, 2009: China announces that it will postpone compulsory certification system for information security technologies. Japanese and Western companies are concerned that compulsory registration would expose source codes.
March 15-17, 2009: Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party President Tsai Ing-Wen visits Japan and calls on Japan to play the role of regional balancer.
March 20-21, 2009: Japan's Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu visits China.
March 23, 2009: Saiki Akitaka, Foreign Ministry director general for Asian and Oceanic Affairs, meets Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei in Beijing to discuss Six- Party Talks and North Korea's pending ballistic missile launch.
March 29-April 4, 2009: Li Changchun, fifth-ranking member of the Politburo's Standing Committee who is said to be hard-liner toward Japan, visits Tokyo and meets Prime Minister Aso and Foreign Minister Nakasone.
March 30, 2009: Taiwan's Association of East Asian Relations announced plans to open a representative office in Hokkaido to support growing number of Taiwanese visitors to the northern island.