Editorial | Strains on big day for China, Japan stress need for better ties

In any political, economic or diplomatic calendar, the 50th anniversary of the normalisation of relations between China and Japan stands out for geopolitical significance. But that was hardly apparent in Thursday’s restrained observance. Sadly, it will not be remembered as a celebration by former enemies of an event that helped shape each country’s fortunes for the better, but for the perception of mutual distrust at almost every turn.

China and Japan are now the world’s second and third-largest economies, China having overtaken Japan in 2010 to more than triple its gross domestic product in 2021. That is in no small measure due to Japan’s role in contributing vital capital and know-how in the early days of China’s opening up and reform.

Appropriately, therefore, the Japan Business Federation, a supporter of trade ties, held a formal event to mark the anniversary, at which messages from President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida were read out. The latter said Japan was eager to have “constructive and stable” ties with China, while Xi said Beijing would deepen cooperation with Tokyo in every field to answer the needs of a “new era”.

However, the presence of Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi rather than Kishida was a more accurate reflection of strained bilateral ties.

The reality is that there appears to be few areas on which the two governments can agree, amid a deepening rift between Beijing and Western nations. Tokyo’s welcome to United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on a tour that controversially included Taiwan did not help, China responding to the Taipei visit with combat exercises in which Japan claimed missiles violated its exclusive economic zone.