Hopes high in Japan for Masahiko Komura’s mission to Beijing
Masahiko Komura's visit to China will be judged by who the LDP No 2 meets and whether he can pave way for more cordial ties
When Masahiko Komura arrives in Beijing on Sunday, the vice-president of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party will be bearing a personal message from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as well as his government's hopes that bilateral ties might be improved.
Tokyo is watching very carefully to gauge the warmth of the greeting that he and the other eight members of the Japan-China Friendship Parliamentarians' Union receive and the seniority of the representatives of the Chinese government they are able to meet.
"Komura is known to be very pro-Chinese and has strong relations with many people in key political and business positions in Beijing," Go Ito, a professor of international relations at Tokyo's Meiji University, said.
"This visit is symbolic. The Chinese are aware of that, and it will be interesting to see the rank of the person that Komura is able to meet during his stay."
Komura has been sent to Beijing with the aim of paving the way for better diplomatic relations and, ultimately, a resumption of top-level talks between the two governments. Japanese media reported that diplomatic sources had said Abe told Komura: "I want you to convey Japan's will to restore [bilateral relations] to a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests."
Abe has not been able to meet his Chinese counterpart since he was elected in December 2012, with the Sino-Japanese relationship sinking to new lows in the last couple of years.
The row over the sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands, which China claims as the Diaoyu archipelago, has polarised opinion in both countries.