Japan, China tensions heat up over diplomatic report from Tokyo
TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) – Japan criticised China in an annual diplomatic report as a source of “strong” concern in terms of security for the region and the international community, a move that led Beijing to chastise its neighbour.
The government used the wording for the first time in its so-called diplomatic Blue Book, according to the Nikkei newspaper on Tuesday (April 27). Japan’s Foreign Ministry also for the first time referred to activities by Chinese government vessels around disputed East China Sea islands as a breach of international law, the paper said.
The Blue Book added to friction between the neighbours, which has stepped up in recent months as Tokyo has joined the US and Europe in criticising China over human rights in Hong Kong and Xinjiang, as well as over security issues.
“The Blue Book hypes up the China threat, smears China and interferes in China’s domestic affairs,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. He added that “we firmly oppose that and have lodged solemn representation with the Japanese side.”
Japan’s Defence Ministry used its annual security white paper released in July to condemn Chinese actions in the region, accusing Beijing of “relentlessly” pushing its way toward uninhabited East China Sea islands claimed by the two countries and saying it was becoming a “matter of grave concern.”
In his briefing, Wang said the islands – known as the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China – are China’s “inherent territory.” China has repeatedly urged Japan not to align itself too closely with the US, its only formal military ally.
“We urge Japan to redress these mistakes and build a stable China-Japan relations with concrete actions,” Wang said.
China was high on the agenda when US President Joe Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga at the White House earlier this month, his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader since taking office in January. Japan’s Toshimitsu Motegi is also set to attend the meeting of Group of Seven Foreign Ministers in London from May 3-5, at which concerns over China are expected to be a major topic of discussion.
A state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Japan scheduled for spring 2020 was postponed amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and some prominent voices in Suga’s ruling party have called for it to be cancelled.
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