Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and China

The Treaty of Peace and Friendship between Japan and the People's Republic of China (Japanese: 日本国と中華人民共和国との間の平和友好条約 (Nihonkoku to Chūka Jinmin Kyōwakoku to no aida no Heiwa Yūkō Jōyaku)^A, Chinese: 中华人民共和国和日本国和平友好条约, pinyin: Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó hé Rìběnguó hépíng yǒuhǎo tiáoyuē) is a peace treaty concluded between the People's Republic of China and Japan on August 12, 1978. The treaty was signed in Beijing by Huang Hua (1913 – 2010), Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, and Sunao Sonoda (1913 – 1984), Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan. The treaty went into effect on October 23, 1978 with the state visit of Vice Premier of the PRC Deng Xiaoping (1904 – 1997) to Japan. The treaty had its origin in the Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China of 1972. Negotiations on a formal peace treaty began in 1974, but were drawn out over various disputes until 1978. The treaty ultimately consisted of five articles, and was strongly opposed by the Soviet Union.