Having fought two wars against Japan ( 1894 – 95 and 1937 – 45 ) , China 's long-standing concern about the level of Japan 's military strength surfaces periodically , and criticism of Japan 's refusal to present a full version of the atrocities of World War II in its textbooks is a perennial issue . The relationship between China and Japan has been strained at times by Japan 's refusal to acknowledge its wartime past to the satisfaction of China . Revisionist comments made by prominent Japanese officials and some Japanese history textbooks regarding the 1937 Nanjing Massacre have been a focus of particular controversy . Sino-Japanese relations warmed considerably after Shinzō Abe became the Prime Minister of Japan in September 2006 , and a joint historical study conducted by China and Japan released a report in 2010 which pointed toward a new consensus on the issue of Japanese war crimes . However , in the early 2010s , relations cooled once more , with Japan accusing China of withholding its reserves of valuable rare earth elements
Japanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes
Foreign relations of China