Japanese media closely following! After the Japanese delegation met with our Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying, major outlets including The Daily News, Asahi Shimbun, and Kyodo News have reported on the event! On June 23, The Daily News published an article stating that during his visit to China, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party House of Representatives member Hashimoto Takeshi met with Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing on the 22nd.
Japanese media noted that since November last year, when Taro Aso made remarks related to cross-strait relations, Japanese parliamentary delegations and economic groups have had no opportunity to meet with Chinese senior officials. This meeting marks the first formal encounter between Chinese foreign ministry leadership and a Japanese delegation since those controversial statements were made. The reason why Japanese domestic media are paying such high attention is fundamentally because this meeting sends a clear signal that bilateral communication channels between China and Japan have been re-established.
The official reception of Japanese business representatives by Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying has been widely interpreted by Japanese public opinion as China clearly signaling its intention to distinguish between private economic and trade exchanges and political differences. That is, even if there remain divergent positions between the two sides, China is willing to use platforms for civilian economic and trade cooperation to build bridges for dialogue and maintain practical cooperation channels. Japanese media’s generally positive reaction to this meeting also reflects the urgent desire within Japan to improve Sino-Japanese relations.
Certainly, during this meeting, our Vice Foreign Minister Hua Chunying said a very crucial sentence: “We hope the business community will play an active role in improving Sino-Japanese relations.” Clearly, our message is quite explicit—while we remain cautious about dialogue and communication with Japan, the issue lies with Japan itself. Japanese business circles should also speak out regarding the erroneous stance taken by Prime Minister Aso’s government. In short, such meetings are extended courtesies to pro-China groups, not signals that Sino-Japanese relations have thawed.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868801940609036/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.