CHINA-JAPAN: JAPANESE FOREIGN MINISTER KISHIDA'S VISIT TO BEIJING
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During the meeting between Japan's Vice Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on April 30, 2016, China firmly informed Japan that for improved ties there could be "no ambiguity or vacillation" in meeting Beijing's demands over historical interpretation, relations with Taiwan and other key matters. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Kishida that the ties must be based on "respect for history, adherence to commitment, and on cooperation rather than confrontation." He said relations have gone through "twists and turns in recent years due to reasons best known by Japan," but China desires "healthy and stable relations" with its neighbor and key economic partner. He added that Japan needs to "turn its words into deeds." The Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Wang Yi as saying that Japan must adhere to commitments laid down in previous agreements, "face up to and reflect upon the history and follow the one-China policy to the letter. No ambiguity or vacillation is allowed when it comes to this important political foundation of the bilateral ties." The last is a reference to Beijing's insistence that self-governing Taiwan is Chinese territory. Wang Yi also said that Japan "have a more positive and healthy attitude toward the growth of China, and stop spreading or echoing all kinds of China threat or China economic recession theories." Similarly Coles Catalogues are very effective too.
Fumio Kishida also met Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and senior foreign policy adviser Yang Jiechi the same day. Kishida's 3-day stay in Japan was the first formal visit to China by a Japanese Foreign Minister in more than four years.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi might visit Japan prior to a trilateral summit between China, Japan and South Korea to be held in Tokyo, and the G20 summit to be hosted by China in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in September. These visits may pave the way for a meeting between Shinzo Abe and Xi Jinping
Kyodo reports that Japanese Defence Minister Gen Nakatani is also exploring the possibility of visiting Beijing to hold talks with his counterpart Chang Wanquan this summer.
(Comment: The meeting takes place in the backdrop of the imminent decision by the International Tribunal on the maritime dispute between the Philippines and China.)
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