The Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council Board, approving a resolution condemning the enforcement of a national security law in Hong Kong, also stipulated that the planned state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping should be canceled.
"The LDP's Foreign Affairs Division and Research Commission on Foreign Affairs cannot help but request the cancellation," the resolution reads, referring to the planned visit by the Chinese leader.
The adoption of the resolution comes after being strongly opposed by LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai from the drafting stage, which led LDP Policy Research Council Chairperson Fumio Kishida to make revisions after coordinating opinions.
"Our predecessors went through a great deal of trouble before getting this far in Japan-China relations," Nikai said at a press conference Tuesday while expressing his disapproval. "Diplomacy is a matter of having partners, and we should act extremely prudently."
Nikai, known for his pro-China stance, met with Xi in 2015 during a visit to China with a delegation of 3,000.
The Nikai faction, consistently opposing the resolution from the draft stage, mobilized its members at a joint meeting on Monday of the Foreign Affairs Division and Research Commission on Foreign Affairs, and let its members express critical views of the draft.
Monday's meeting was also attended by many conservative lawmakers critical of China, who countered the faction. According to participants, about 20 lawmakers expressed support for the draft, while five members of the Nikai faction opposed it.
Kishida made a move to resolve the deepening conflict, and held talks with Nikai and others at the party's headquarters ahead of Tuesday's resolution. At the meeting, Acting Secretary General Motoo Hayashi, who is closely aligned with Nikai, insisted on the deletion of the word "cancellation," to which Kishida reportedly countered by saying, "In discussions in the joint meeting, the overwhelming majority called for cancellation."
As a result, the resolution was adopted not by party consensus, but by the Foreign Affairs Division and Research Commission on Foreign Affairs. The original phrase was watered down to "cannot help but call for the cancellation," and thus what one veteran lawmaker called "a landing point" for compromise was found.
However, senior members of the Nikai faction were still dissatisfied with the fact that the word "cancellation" itself remained. A mid-career party member said, "The feud between Nikai and Kishida, who are rivals for the post of the next secretary general, looks to continue."
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