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1894 – Japan's Emperor Meiji orders the invasion of China
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1895 – China cedes Taiwan but international pressure forces Japan to give up claim
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1931 – Japan invades Manchuria and installs puppet regime
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1933 – All-out war sees Japan capture Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing
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1941 – Japan attacks Pearl Harbor prompting allies to declare war
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1945 – US drops atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki
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1945 – Japan gives up claims on China with the end of Second World War
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1949 – Mao Tse Tung founds the People's Republic of China
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1963 – China's Cultural Revolution sees further downturn in relations
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1972 – Diplomatic relations are resumed under pressure from Richard Nixon
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1992 – IMF ranks China's economy as third largest after US and Japan
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2001 – Trade war breaks out as countries impose tariffs on each others' imports
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2001 – Protests in Beijing as Japanese PM visits shrine dedicated to the war dead
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2004 – China signs trade agreement with 10 south-east Asian countries
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2005 – Chinese anger provoked by Japanese school book "glossing over" wartime atrocities
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2007 – Wen Jiabao becomes first Chinese PM to address Japanese parliament
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2008 – Japan and China agree to jointly develop gas field in East China Sea
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2009 – Relations improve as Democratic Party of Japan wins general election
