Negotiations for the first Japanese emperor to visit China in 1992 were kept so secret that the prime minister at the time, Kiichi Miyazawa, complained he was not sufficiently consulted.
U.S. President George H.W. Bush suggested to Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa in 1992 that Emperor Akihito visit the United States to underscore cooperation between the two then-bickering countries, newly released diplomatic records showed.
Japan found itself in the enviable position of being among the first nations to learn that Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev had survived a failed attempt by Communist hard-liners in 1991 before it collapsed under the weight of his reform programs.
The Foreign Ministry’s China Division in 1991 listed the pros and cons of arranging a visit to China by Emperor Akihito, including the possible impact on diplomatic relations around Asia.
Talks between U.S. and Japanese leaders in 1990 following the Tiananmen Square crackdown show that even 30 years ago Western nations were concerned with China’s human rights problems, according to recently declassified documents.