Japanese ambassador urges China to consider reasons behind its poor public image
- One poll found that just 10 per cent of people in Japan have a positive image of China, as issues such as Hong Kong continue to weigh on relations
- Newly appointed ambassador Hideo Tarumi tells media outlet that Tokyo is still committed to building stable ties
Japan’s new ambassador to China has urged the country to look at the reasons why it has a poor image among many Japanese people and said it remains to be seen whether Beijing can meet the high standards required to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In an interview with Chinese news portal The Paper, Tarumi said the most important thing was to build “stable bilateral relations”.
“Although our prime minister has changed, the general direction and strategy will remain the same,” Tarumi said. “I believe this is Prime Minister Suga’s diplomatic policy towards China.”
Sino-Japanese relations have long been strained by the legacy of Japan’s wartime occupation of China and an ongoing territorial dispute in the East China Sea, but both sides have been eager to boost their economic and trade relations.
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In the interview, Tarumi referred to a public opinion survey conducted by the Beijing-Tokyo Forum this year, which found that while 45 per cent of Chinese people surveyed had a favourable opinion of Japan, a record high, the number of Japanese people with a favourable view of China had fallen to a new low of 10 per cent.
“In terms of Japanese sentiment towards China, we hope China can look into the reason causing the sentiment. Of course, we are willing to work with China to think about it and make suggestions if necessary,” Tarumi added.
“President Xi said China will actively consider joining the CPTPP. But it remains to be seen whether China is ready to meet the higher requirements,” Tarumi said.
The CPTPP includes broad commitments to tariff elimination and on issues such as digital trade and the role of state-owned enterprises, issues that have proved a problem in China’s negotiations with other leading economies in the past.
Meanwhile, China, South Korea and Japan have also been trying to finalise a three-way trade deal.
“China and Japan do have some long-standing problems, but as countries that can make a great impact in the world economy and as engines of prosperity in East Asia, Japan, China and Korea should work together hand in hand towards pragmatic cooperation in response to different global issues,” he said.
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The career diplomat, like his predecessor Yutaka Yokoi, belongs to the Japanese foreign ministry’s “China School” of diplomats who underwent Chinese-language training as Tokyo sought to develop its relationship with the emerging power.
He has had four separate postings to mainland China, starting in June 1989, and has also been stationed in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Last week in an interview with Reuters, Japanese Defence Minister Yasuhide Nakayama urged US president-elect Joe Biden to take a similar line on Taiwan as Donald Trump, who has significantly increased military sales to the island – which Beijing regards as a breakaway Chinese province.
Meanwhile, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Japan in November, Suga called on China to take “positive action” on the contested Senkaku Islands, known as the Diaoyus in China.
