Xi Jinping’s unprecedented third term may prod Japan to review its China policy

This is the 50th anniversary of normalisation of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations – an incentive to cooperate with Chinese leaders

China and Japan have been at odds over the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. Japan calls them the Senkaku Islands

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Flags of China and Japan. Photo: Shutterstock/File

Published: 5:04pm, 24 Oct 2022

With Chinese President Xi Jinping securing an unprecedented third term in power, fears are mounting that Sino-US tensions may escalate further over Taiwan and economic security, forcing Japan to review its Beijing-facing policies.

Calls are growing in Japan for the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to reinforce the country’s alliance with the United States in a bid to ensure peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region by countering China’s increasing influence.

But not everyone believes Japan should remain coupled with Washington in the future.

The regional security environment became more complex in the eight years from around 2012 during which Japan was being led by recently assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He pursued a hawkish foreign policy platform that irritated China, some political experts believe.

Kishida, a self-proclaimed dove, should pursue a well-balanced diplomatic strategy toward Beijing as a fellow Asian nation, distancing Japan from the United States and its attempts to isolate China economically through an array of hi-tech restrictions, they said.