Japan’s new foreign minister calls for stable ties with China, ‘responsible behaviour’

Yoshimasa Hayashi said relations between the two nations are ‘increasingly important for the peace and prosperity of the region’
Hayashi also announced he will quit as the head of a parliamentary group promoting Japan-China friendship to avoid ‘unnecessary misunderstanding’

Japan

Reuters

Published: 1:44pm, 11 Nov 2021

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Japan’s new foreign minister said on Thursday it was important to build constructive and stable ties with China while calling for responsible behaviour from its giant neighbour.

Staunch US ally Japan has recently been more outspoken on questioning China’s assertiveness on issues such as the disputed South China Sea and self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

At the same time, Japan’s ruling party plans to review defence posture amid China’s military build-up and it aims to increase defence spending sharply.

Yoshimasa Hayashi, in his first news conference as foreign minister, stressed the importance of constructive, stable relations with China.

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“Ties between Japan and China are increasingly important not just for our two countries, but for the peace and prosperity of the region and the international community,” Hayashi said.

“We need to assert and ask for responsible behaviour while at the same time, maintain dialogue and firmly cooperate on shared challenges,” he said.

He did not elaborate on what he meant by responsible behaviour.

Ties between Japan and China have been plagued for years by a territorial dispute over a group of tiny East China Sea islets as well as the legacy of Tokyo’s past military aggression.

Hayashi said time was not ripe to set a date for a visit to Japan by Chinese President Xi Jinping because of the coronavirus pandemic.

A state visit by Xi was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed because of Covid-19.

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In the wake of other security challenges such as the threat posed by North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes, Hayashi underscored the increasing importance of the alliance between Japan and the United States, calling it “the basis for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.”

On South Korea, Hayashi demanded “appropriate actions” by Seoul to resolve disputes over wartime labour and compensation based on Japan’s position so that the two countries could restore a “healthy relationship.”

Hayashi, a 60-year-old lower house lawmaker often seen as holding a “pro-China” stance, also said he has decided to quit as the head of a cross-party parliamentary group promoting Japan-China friendship, after serving for about four years, “to avoid causing unnecessary misunderstanding.”

There have been doubts among conservative lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party that Hayashi, as the head of the league, could take a firm stand on China, media has said.

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Yuko Obuchi, a former trade minister and daughter of former prime minister Keizo Obuchi, would take over as head of the league, the Kyodo news agency reported.

Having previously served as defence, agriculture, education, and economic and fiscal policy minister, Hayashi was named foreign minister by Fumio Kishida, who was re-elected as prime minister after his ruling coalition won a general election last month.

Hayashi graduated from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government before winning a House of Councillors seat in 1995.

Additional reporting by Kyodo

This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: New foreign minister calls for constructive and stable ties with China