Advertisement
China-Japan relations
ChinaDiplomacy

China-Japan ties: Beijing rolls out high-level talks for Tokyo foreign minister but little progress, say analysts

  • Yoshimasa Hayashi met Chinese Premier Li Qiang, top diplomat Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Qin Gang
  • But no breakthroughs on major contentious issues – including tech restrictions, detention of a Japanese citizen and regional conflicts – observers say

Reading Time:4 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
44
Japanese foreign minister Yoshimasa Hayashi shakes hands with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing, China on Sunday, April 2, 2023. Photo: Kyodo/via Reuters
Kawala Xie
China and Japan failed to make any breakthroughs in technology restrictions or Ukraine in high-level talks on the weekend, suggesting that distrust will persist even as Beijing appears willing to engage Tokyo, analysts said.
Advertisement
Yoshimasa Hayashi’s two-day visit in Beijing, the first by a Japanese foreign minister in more than three years, was welcomed with considerable diplomatic protocol, including a flurry of meetings with new Chinese Premier Li Qiang, top diplomat Wang Yi and Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
But analysts said little progress was made on the major contentious issues – from Tokyo’s newly announced tech restrictions against China to the detention of a Japanese citizen accused of spying in China and regional conflicts.

01:54

‘Don’t help a villain’: China urges Japan not to follow US’ lead on tech isolation

‘Don’t help a villain’: China urges Japan not to follow US’ lead on tech isolation

In talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sunday, Hayashi pledged not to decouple from China, saying Japan would not adopt a “de-Sinicisation” approach, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

Li called for threats to their economic relationship to be eliminated, saying the two countries should preserve “free trade” and eliminate uncertainty and instability in their trade relations amid Tokyo’s planned tech restrictions.

“[We] hope the two countries will work together to maintain free trade, practise real multilateralism, actively promote the process of regional integration, maintain the stability and smoothness of the industrial chain and supply chain and jointly reduce uncertainty and increase stability, to make due contributions to the development of the region and the world,” Li said.

Advertisement

Li said China and Japan’s trade interests were “deeply integrated”. The two countries should continue to expand their economic cooperation, especially in the digital economy, green development, finance and healthcare.

Advertisement