A marked change has occurred in the normally blustery exchanges between China and Japan. The last couple of days have brought new signs of a thaw.
The change clearly is linked to Shinzo Abe’s climb to the prime minister’s job in late September, replacing Junichiro Koizumi, whom Beijing disliked with a passion.
Abe made a trip to Beijing in early October, the first Sino-Japanese summit in half a decade. At the time, Chinese commentators already were describing a breakthrough in the impasse.
The Xinhua news agency today just published a Chinese-language transcript of a magazine interview with Wang Yi, China’s ambassador in Tokyo, in which he elaborates at some length on improving relations.
“After the political stalemate was broken, there has been an obvious trend of improvement and development in all areas of bilateral cooperation,” Wang says in the interview in Globe Magazine. Wang notes that Beijing recently welcomed the head of Japan’s Upper House of the Diet, and will soon host the chief of the Lower House.
“Important officials of Abe's cabinet are preparing to visit China one after another. Leaders of major parties are thinking about visiting China, too,” Wang says.
Reuters has a story based on the interview.
Moreover, military exchanges have cranked up again. Here’s a link to a Xinhua story saying a Chinese delegation of military officers and scholars recently returned from Japan.
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