Top Chinese, Japanese diplomats hold talks to boost bilateral exchanges

ISTANBUL

The top Chinese and Japanese diplomats Wednesday held high-level talks to boost bilateral exchanges, with Foreign Minister Wang Yi set to visit Tokyo next year.

Appointed earlier this year, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya is on his maiden trip to Beijing for high-level talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang.

Iwaya also met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing as the maritime neighbors move to improve bilateral ties.

After meeting Li, Iwaya and Wang held a Japan-China high-level people-to-people and cultural exchange dialogue, the second since the mechanism was launched in 2019.

The high-level exchanges come after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba met last month in Peru, where they agreed to promote "mutually beneficial" and "stable" relations.

According to a Japanese Foreign Ministry statement, Wang will visit Japan next year to hold high-level economic dialogue and "to proceed with concrete coordination."

While Beijing has already granted visa-free entry to Japanese travlers, Tokyo said it will also relax visa requirements for Chinese citizens to boost tourism and business activities.

Following downturn, seeking better ties

After seeing bilateral relations spiral down, Japan and China in recent months have taken mutual steps to improve ties.

Tensions have lingered over Japan’s close ties with the US and its release of treated water from its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

Tokyo also raised concerns with Beijing over attacks on Japanese citizens in China. At least two such incidents have been reported, though China denies the attacks were racial in nature.

The two sides now aim to boost people-to-people contacts and mutual high-level visits and also maintain communication.

Following the release last year of treated nuclear waste from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, China imposed a complete ban on seafood imports from Japan. It now says it will review the decision.

Tokyo also raised the issue of a Japanese citizen detained by Beijing over alleged espionage.

Iwaya and Wang also discussed the situation in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait while the Japanese side raised concerns over stepped-up Chinese military activities, buoys, and China’s "unilateral development" of natural resources around the East China Sea, including the waters around the Japanese-controlled disputed Senkaku islands, known by Beijing as the Diaoyu Islands.

The statement said the two foreign ministers exchanged views on the situation in Ukraine and the Middle East as well as North Korea, including the nuclear and missile issues and the abduction issue.

Tokyo accuses Pyongyang of abducting its nationals in the past.

The countries "reaffirmed that Japan and China have an important responsibility in the peace and prosperity of the region and the international community and confirmed to actively engage in dialogue on the regional situation and global issues," the statement said.