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April 2, 2009: Prime Minister Aso Taro announces up to 2 trillion yen for an Overseas Development Assistance plan to assist recovery of Asian economies. April 3, 2009: Yomiuri Shimbun poll reveals 51.6 percent of respondents favor constitutional revision, up from 42.5 percent in March 2008 survey. Opponents of revision accounted for 36.1 percent, down from 43.1 percent in 2008. Thirty-eight percent favored amending Article 9 of the Constitution, up from 31 percent in 2008. Japan-China Relations 119 July 2009 April 3, 2009: Japan and Taiwan announce reciprocal one-year working visas to begin June 1. April 8, 2009: Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura Takeo acknowledges that Mayor Ohama Nagateru of Ishigaki Island in the Okinawa chain has asked government approval to visit Senkaku Island for property tax purposes. April 9, 2009: A history textbook, authored by the nationalist Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, clears government screening. April 11, 2009: PM Aso meets Premier Wen Jiaobao in Pattaya, Thailand in conjunction with ASEAN-related meetings. April 13, 2009: Japan-China Friendship Society announces plan to preserve Silk Road relics in Kansu Province and to cooperate in green environment projects. April 21, 2009: Supra-party delegation, led by Yamasaki Taku, visits Chinese embassy in Tokyo to asks for Chinese assistance in bringing North Korea back to the Six-Party Talks April 21, 2009: PM Aso makes an offering at Yasukuni Shrine during Spring Festival. April 21, 2009: Chief Cabinet Secretary Kawamura announces that the government has no plans to accept a proposal for creating a National Cemetery. April 22, 2009: Sixty-one members of the Lower House and 26 members of the Upper House visit Yasukuni Shrine; no members of the Aso Cabinet participate April 22, 2009: Chinese movie Nanjing! Nanjing! opens on 1,400 screens in China. April 23, 2009: A fleet review commemorating 60th anniversary of PLA Navy takes place off Qingdao. Maritime Self-Defense Forces is not invited to participate but sends observers. April 23, 2009: China announces protest of PM Aso’s Yasukuni offering. April 23, 2009: Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Oriki Hirano announces that Air Self-Defense Force aircraft were scrambled 237 times in 2008 down 70 from the previous year. Scrambles against Chinese aircraft declined to 31 from 43. April 27, 2009: FM Nakasone raises the issue of Chinese military build-up and modernization during speech in Tokyo on nuclear disarmament. April 29, 2009: Joint Chinese, French, German movie on the Nanjing massacre opens in China. April 29-30, 2009: PM Aso visits China and meets President Hu and Premier Wen; delivers a speech to meeting of Japan-China Future Business Leaders. Japan-China Relations 120 July 2009 May 1, 2009: Japanese Foreign Ministry announces issuing of individual tourist visas for Chinese citizens will begin July 1. Previously tourist visas were restricted to tourist groups of four or more. May 1, 2009: Saito Masaki, head of Taipei Office of the Japan Interchange Foundation offers his personal view that the international standing of Taiwan remains undetermined. May 8, 2009: Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou announces plan to dedicate a national park to the memory of Japanese hydrological engineer Yada Yoichi. May 9, 2009: Japanese media reports sentencing of former Xinhua Foreign Affairs Bureau for passing classified information to a former Japanese ambassador to China. May 11, 2009: Former PM Abe opines that Japan’s prime minister should be able to visit Yasukuni Shrine. May 13, 2009: Japanese embassy in Beijing issues “no comment” on reports of ambassador’s relationship with former Xinhua bureau chief. The ambassador follows with his “no comment.” May 14, 2009: Former PM Abe calls on Aso government to revise its interpretation of Japan’s right to exercise the right of collective self-defense. May 25, 2009: FM Nakasone meets Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi in Hanoi and urges adoption of UNSC resolution in response to North Korea’s nuclear test. May 26, 2009: Japan’s Supreme Court rejects a suit brought by 22 Chinese plaintiffs seeking compensation for exposure to chemical weapons abandoned in China by Japan’s Imperial Army. June 2, 2009: FM Nakasone holds 30 minute telephone conversation with FM Yang on sanctions resolution. June 3, 2009: Ambassador Cui meets Democratic Party of Japan President Hatoyama and urges dialogue to resolve North Korean crisis. Hatoyama tells Cui that he will not visit Yasukuni Shrine if he becomes prime minister. June 3, 2009: Ambassador Cui meets with Japanese reporters and urges restraint in Japan’s response to North Korea’s nuclear test. June 7, 2009: Second Japan-China High Level Economic Dialogue is held in Tokyo. June 7, 2009: FMs Nakasone and Yang meet in Tokyo and discuss sanctions resolution. June 8, 2009: Swedish International Peace Research Institute announces that China has become the world’s second leading country in military expenditures. Japan-China Relations 121 July 2009 Japan-China Relations 122 July 2009 June 8, 2009: PM Aso meets visiting Vice Premier Wang and urges adoption of a strong resolution on North Korea by the UNSC. June 8, 2009: China’s Defense Minister Liang Guanglie tells a visiting Japanese delegation that China’s plans for building an aircraft carrier is “under study.” June 12, 2009: UNSC adopts resolution sanctioning North Korea for its May 25 nuclear test. June 13-14, 2009: China, Japan, and South Korean Environment Ministers meet in Beijing for 11th tripartite environment talks. They agree to continue joint research on region’s major environment issues, including sandstorms and air pollution. June 24, 2009: Tenth Japan-China Strategic Dialogue takes place in Beijing. June 26, 2009: U.S., Japan, and China announce plans to hold trilateral policy planning talks. June 27, 2009: Former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui warns against China’s political and economic strategies toward Taiwan. June 29, 2009: Japan and China hold their first policy dialogue on resources and the environment in Beijing.