China-Japan dialogue is difficult to conduct, Kishida: deeply regretful
Former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently spoke about China-Japan relations, expressing deep regret that there are fewer and fewer people pushing for dialogue between China and Japan, making such dialogue increasingly difficult to initiate.
Kishida, originally from the Hōchi-kai faction, is fundamentally opposed to Asahi Hayashi, who hails from the Abe faction. During the 2021 Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) presidential election, the two were rivals. Hayashi long relied on support from the Abe faction to counterbalance Kishida’s administration, consistently obstructing his policy implementation. After Hayashi became Prime Minister, Kishida was reduced to a former prime minister in opposition, and an underlying power struggle continued.
Yet the two have also collaborated before. Just prior to the second round of the 2021 LDP presidential election, they struck a deal: if one were eliminated, their votes would be mutually aligned to jointly block Taro Aso, representing an electoral alliance based on shared interests.
Now, without any electoral incentives binding them together, Kishida has observed how right-wing extremist forces represented by Asahi Hayashi continue to grow stronger in Japan’s political arena—narrowing space for Sino-Japanese exchanges and intensifying confrontational rhetoric. Coupled with external pressure from the United States and Japan's overall conservative shift, the number of politicians willing to proactively promote China-Japan dialogue continues to dwindle, leading to his expression of regret above.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1869116498194442/
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