Japan’s Kishida meets senior Chinese diplomat, pledges to ‘fully utilise’ all available dialogue platforms with China

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tells Beijing’s international liaison head Liu Jianchao of Japan’s willingness to ‘enhance high-level communications’

‘Challenges remain’ in bilateral ties though they have taken a positive turn, says Liu, who is leading a delegation to Tokyo for the first time

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Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party’s International Department, with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 6:18pm, 29 May 2024

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to “utilise all available dialogue platforms” to resolve issues of concern with China, as he met a senior Chinese diplomat in Tokyo on Wednesday in the latest bilateral exchange to bolster ties.

Liu Jianchao, head of international liaison for China’s ruling Communist Party, is currently leading a delegation to Japan, his first visit since taking up the post in 2022.

His trip comes shortly after Japan, China and South Korea wrapped up a trilateral summit in Seoul, aiming to boost cooperation on various fronts and seek greater regional balance of power.

“Japan would like to enhance high-level communications with China, fully utilise all available dialogue platforms, address some issues of concern through dialogue, and collaborate on mutually beneficial projects,” Kishida said, according to a readout of their meeting from Liu’s office, the International Department of the Central Committee.

Kishida did not elaborate on what exactly those pending issues might be, but Tokyo is keen for Beijing to lift its ban on Japanese seafood and has also expressed “serious concerns” about People’s Liberation Army manoeuvres in the Taiwan Strait.

China, a top importer of Japanese seafood, slapped the ban last August after Japan went ahead with releasing treated radioactive water from its damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, despite opposition from Beijing over environmental concerns.