It is important to repeatedly have candid talks on pending bilateral issues between Japan and China and to try to build confidence.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi held talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, who visited Japan. With an eye toward Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Japan, scheduled for next spring, both agreed on advancing practical cooperation. Both countries will aim at increasing mutual benefits in such areas as the economy, the environment and energy.
The visit to Japan by Xi as a state guest will mark an important milestone for Japan and China to build a stable relationship for the long run. Making use of this occasion, it is important for both countries to talk candidly on such matters as China's legal system and issues related to Hong Kong, to say nothing of the challenges existing between the two countries.
In conjunction with Wang's visit, the Japanese and Chinese governments concluded an agreement on animal health and quarantine, which will be needed for Japan-raised beef to be exported to China. The accord is aimed at facilitating safe trade by reinforcing controls on animal diseases, such as bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).
Following an outbreak of BSE in Japan, Japanese beef exports to China have been suspended since 2001. Should they be resumed, it could lead to the expansion of new marketing channels for Japan's livestock industry.
The consumption of beef has been growing in recent years in China. Smuggling of Japan's wagyu beef into China has been rampant, and men who tried to take materials such as fertilized eggs of wagyu cattle out of Japan to China were arrested in March.
Both governments should move quickly to hold the final round of talks for resuming the exports.
China continues imposing import restrictions on Japan-made food on the grounds of concern over the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. The Japanese government also needs to tenaciously approach the Chinese side to rescind these measures.
Earlier this month, Chinese authorities released a Hokkaido University professor who had been detained over suspicion of violating a Chinese anti-espionage law. The Chinese side probably decided to release him as reactions such as avoiding travel to China spread among academic circles and elsewhere in Japan.
There have been a series of incidents in which Japanese citizens were detained in China. Among them, a Japanese employee of Itochu Corp. in his 40s was detained in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, and given an unsuspended prison sentence.
There is strong criticism that China's law enforcement and judiciary proceedings are opaque. It is vital for the Japanese government to deal with these matters resolutely, such as by demanding that China provide Japan with information related to the detained Japanese.
Not to be forgotten is how to respond to the situation in Hong Kong.
During his talks with Wang, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed the importance of a free and open Hong Kong prospering under the "one country, two systems" policy.
If China takes an oppressive stance on Hong Kong and makes the Hong Kong situation deteriorate, regional stability will be impaired. The Japanese government must repeatedly convey its concern to China, urging Beijing to exercise self-restraint.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 27, 2019)
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