SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST



 

 
 

• Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the recent meeting between two nations’ leaders points to healthy, stable development, according to Japanese reports
• Komeito Party chief Natsuo Yamaguchi faces formidable issues, including Fukushima, alleged spying and territorial disputes, as he leads delegation to China

China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said on Thursday that now is an important time to move the relationship with Japan forward based on what has been achieved so far, according to Japanese reports.

Wang was speaking at a meeting with a Japanese delegation in Beijing, and also noted that this year was the 45th anniversary of the conclusion of their nations’ bilateral friendship treaty, according to the Kyodo news agency.

He added that the mutually beneficial relationship between the two countries had been reaffirmed during a recent meeting between the two countries’ leaders and pointed to a healthy and stable development.

The Japanese delegation’s two-day trip is being led by the head of the junior partner in Japan’s ruling coalition, Natsuo Yamaguchi, the leader of the Komeito Party, who is on a mission to build on momentum following a recent meeting between the leaders of the two nations during the Apec summit in San Francisco.

It is Yamaguchi’s first visit to China in four years, as he seeks to further ease strained bilateral relations between Tokyo and Beijing.
  Yamaguchi has also met with other top Chinese officials, including Cai Qi, the fifth-ranked Communist Party member, whom he met on Wednesday.

During the meeting, Cai called for the ruling parties of both countries to “accurately grasp each other’s development and strategic intentions, and promote positive and friendly mutual understanding”.
  Liu Jianchao, the head of the International Liaison Department of the party’s Central Committee, also met the Japanese delegation on Wednesday.

“China-Japan relations are in a moment of improvement, and both sides need to seize this opportunity … and promote China-Japan relations to truly return to a track of healthy and stable development,” Liu said.

The ruling Communist Party hoped the Komeito Party would carry on the spirit of constantly consolidating the “Golden Bridge” of China-Japan friendship, and make positive efforts to help bilateral ties move forward in spite of the current difficulties.

The delegation’s visit to China came after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum last week, where they pledged to coexist peacefully and build “constructive and stable” relations.

The Komeito Party, the junior coalition partner of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has long maintained friendly exchanges with China.

Yamaguchi had planned to visit China in late August, but the trip was postponed after Japan discharged treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean.

Soon after, China imposed a ban on all seafood imports from Japan. According to Japanese media, Yamaguchi called for the lifting of the ban during his meeting with Cai.

Aside from the Fukushima issue, the two largest Asian economies have been at odds over disputed territorial claims in the East China Sea, Tokyo’s stance on Taiwan, semiconductor bans, and the detention of Japanese nationals in China, among other matters.

Meanwhile, at least 17 Japanese nationals have been detained on suspicion of spying and other activities since 2015, according to Japan’s NHK.

The public broadcaster also reported that Cai and Yamaguchi had agreed to work together towards the resumption of formal dialogue between the Communist Party and the LDP-Komeito coalition, which had been stalled since 2018.

Hailing Yamaguchi’s efforts to improve ties as commendable, Global Times cautioned in an editorial that the space in which he and the Komeito Party could act would diminish if Tokyo did not change its strategy towards Beijing.

“There have been few Japanese political figures who can win the trust of Chinese society like Yamaguchi, and this raises the concern that the China-Japan friendship lacks successors,” the Chinese nationalist tabloid added.