Japan must face up to relations with China

Japanese ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa has concluded his term of office and the new ambassador is about to take office. Various forces in Japan are working on the general election campaign and the new leader will be selected next month.

In 2012, China and Japan fall into the most serious crisis since the normalization of diplomatic ties. For either Japan that tends to be rightism or China stressing win-win cooperation, an urgent problem is whether the two sides can seize the opportunity to ease the bilateral relations.

A preferred choice of China-Japan diplomatic ties is to establish mutually-beneficial relations. The achievement of the goal concerns easing the current tensions and decides the future direction of China-Japan relations and the international relations in Asia-Pacific region.

China will adhere to peaceful development road with a clear, consistent and well-meaning strategic intent.

The political situation in Japan is complicated and confusing. Its domestic issues and foreign affairs are unpredictable. Japan must make efforts to improve its relations with China, no matter who will be the next prime minister.

Firstly, Japan must adjust the strategic mentality in a timely manner and put China in the right position of its foreign strategy.

Both China and Japan are major countries in Asia and have common interests and responsibilities. Only by taking China as its strategic partner can Japan deal with the differences well. However, Japan still cannot break the deadlock of the Japan-U.S. relationships because it fears that the establishment of China-Japan strategic partnership will damage its relations with the United States.