31.03.2023
Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Fangzheng was invited to Beijing this weekend for a two-day visit to China. The last time a Japanese foreign minister visited Beijing was at the end of 2019. The two sides are expected to discuss issues such as nuclear sewage and Japanese citizens involved in espionage cases. However, scholars believe that Lin Fangzheng’s trip is likely to repeat the agreement reached by Xi Jinping and Kishida last November.
(Deutsche Welle Chinese Network) The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on Friday (March 31) that Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng will visit China this weekend. This will be his first visit to China since he took office as Japan’s foreign minister in November 2021. .
According to the news released by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lin Fangzheng will visit Beijing from April 1 to 2, during which he will meet with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning confirmed this at a regular press conference on Friday, and mentioned that Lin Fangzheng’s visit to China was “at the invitation of State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang”.
Talking about nuclear sewage and espionage cases involving Japanese citizens
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan pointed out that during Lin Fangzheng’s visit to China, a series of topics will be discussed to express Japan’s position.Including this month, an Astellas Pharma employee was detained in China on suspicion of “espionage”, and the discharge of treated nuclear sewage into the sea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also mentioned that Lin Fangzheng will have “sincere and frank exchanges” with Qin Gang in order to establish a constructive and stable Japan-China relationship. Previously, the Japanese media Kyodo News Agency also reported that the Japanese side intends to use Lin Fangzheng’s visit to China to promote the consultation framework such as the “Japan-China High-Level Economic Dialogue” at the ministerial level. The department’s “hotline” started consultations.
Relations between Tokyo and Beijing have been tense in recent years, with Japan wary of China’s growing military presence in East Asia. Japan overhauled its defense and security strategy last year, announcing that it would raise defense spending to 2 percent of GDP by 2027.
Japanese foreign minister visits China again after more than three years
The suspension of diplomatic visits during the COVID-19 epidemic also affected Sino-Japanese exchanges. According to public information, the last Japanese foreign minister who visited China was Toshimitsu Motegi who visited China in December 2019. Chinese President Xi Jinping was originally scheduled to visit Japan in April 2020, but it was canceled due to the epidemic and changes in bilateral relations. Only then Mainland Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Japan in November 2020. As the epidemic gradually eased,Fumio Kishida and Xi met on the sidelines of a summit in Bangkok last Novemberand pledged to continue high-level contacts.
In November 2022, Kishida Fumio and Xi Jinping held talks in Bangkok, Thailand
In February this year, Qin Gang and Lin Fangzheng had a phone call.At that time, Qin Gang expressed the hope that the Japanese side would uphold an objective and rational understanding of China, keep its promises on major issues such as history and Taiwan, be prudent in its words and deeds, act prudently in the field of military security, and stop right-wing provocations on the Diaoyu Islands issue. sayChina expresses serious concern over Japan’s decision to discharge nuclear sewage into the sea. Lin Fangzheng pointed out on the phone that the relationship between the two countries is facing many challenges and unresolved issues, and the Japanese public’s view of China is “extremely severe.” At the same time, he also expressed serious concerns about the stability of the East China Sea, including the increasing frequency of China’s joint military operations in the East China Sea, around Japan, and with Russia, and emphasized the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Academics: Repeat last year’s agreement
Regarding the Japanese foreign minister’s visit to China, Chen Youhua, an assistant professor of Chinese studies at Japan’s International Education University, pointed out that Japan’s current foreign policy is largely determined by Kishida; while China’s most important diplomatic official is Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission , that is, Lin Fangzheng and Qin Gang are not the foreign policymakers of the two countries. Therefore, he believes that the meeting is likely to repeat the agreement reached by Xi Jinping and Kishida in Bangkok last November. In addition, Chen Youhua also mentioned that the current strategy of the Kishida government is to make Sino-Japanese relations more constructive and more stable. This is very similar to the language used by the Biden administration today.
Stephen Nagy, a senior associate professor at the International Christian University in Japan, said that although there are positive interactions between China and Japan, such as the deepening of equal bilateral trade, the strategic competition between the United States and China continues to rage, and Japan is in the the forefront of this competition. He believes that the visit will be positioned as an attempt to stabilize the relationship between the two countries, but this masks the real focus of Japan and China on each other.
(comprehensive report)
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