Japan must not decouple economy from China

Japan should keep its political promises to China on the Taiwan issue and other historical matters, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has told Tokyo.

During a virtual opening ceremony on Monday for a seminar in the Japanese capital to mark the 50th anniversary of the normalisation of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Wang said Tokyo and Beijing must work to maintain supply chains amid a US-led “decoupling from China” strategy.

“China and Japan should keep promises and commitments to ensure long-term stability and bilateral ties, based on the political foundation both sides have built [in the five decades],” Wang said via video link from Beijing, referring to the consensus reached in four key political documents signed by both sides since their diplomatic ties were normalised in 1972.

“There should be no ambiguity or backsliding when dealing with history and major issues like Taiwan, as well as some fundamental principles concerning Sino-Japanese issues.”

Under the four documents signed from 1972 to 2008, Tokyo outlined its one-China policy, recognising that Japan “fully understands and respects” Beijing’s stance that “Taiwan is an inalienable part of the territory of the People’s Republic of China”, the official name of the Chinese mainland.

China and Japan are partners and should not pose a threat to each other, Wang told the seminar, which was also attended virtually by his Japanese counterpart, Yoshimasa Hayashi.

“The two sides should foster a strong sense of partnership by deepening cooperation and achieve win-win results at a higher level,” Wang said, urging both countries to resist “the wrong ways of decoupling and cutting supply chains”.

The strategy was initiated by former US president Donald Trump to counter China and has been inherited by President Joe Biden’s administration.

“[China and Japan] have to work together to keep and protect the stability of global supply chains, as well as a fair and open trading investment environment.”

Without referring directly to diplomatic tensions between the two countries, Hayashi said there was a “common goal” for the two East Asian neighbours to build “constructive and stable” bilateral relations through voluntary efforts, Kyodo News reported.

Sino-Japanese ties have been strained amid Beijing’s anger over Tokyo’s increased alignment with Washington on Taiwan in the aftermath of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s August visit to Taipei.

In response to the visit, the People’s Liberation Army staged unprecedented live-fire drills around Taiwan that amounted to an island blockade, with five missiles falling into waters designated as part of Japan’s exclusive economic zone, which Beijing does not recognise.

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Japan must not decouple economy from China

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