China and Japan have always been natural enemies, why would anyone expect them to be friends?

When the Ming were founded, the Japanese were beginning to consolidate under a central authority. The Ming were afraid that the Japanese would eventually become a threat so they banned all contact with Japan. The Japanese found this to be an aggressive move and so the Japanese began to prey on Chinese ships. Eventually, the Japanese would invade Korea and China but were defeated. <br><br>For the next 300 years, the Qing were obsessed with Japan. They banned all trade with Japan and imposed strict restrictions to prevent any contact. Japan responded by imposing strict restrictions of their own.<br><br>The Opium Wars happened and China was forced to allow European trade. The Japanese saw what happened to China and imposed stricter restrictions on Europeans which led to the US forcing open trade with Japan and Japan realized they needed reforms to strengthen themselves.<br><br>After the Opium Wars and into the early 20th century, China started to disintegrate with civil war after civil war. This, combined with the industrialization and modernization of Japan led to Japan defeating China in war in 1895. <br><br>China then disintegrated further until Japan invaded and conquered Manchuria. The Chinese were too weak to resist and then the Japanese invaded all of China and conquered the capital. <br><br>Then came the Chinese civil war. Japan surrendered and gave control of Manchuria to the Soviet Union who gave it to the Communists. The Communists easily defeated Chaing and took the mainland. <br><br>Chaing then imposed martial law on Taiwan for decades and then they slowly transitioned to democracy. The mainland slowly opened up and then they also transitioned to a semi-democratic system but then the current president consolidated power in the same manner as Xi.<br><br>After these 500 years, there is no reason to believe that China and Japan will ever be friends.