Purpose of Japanese politicians' China tour

Key Words: China-Japan; Diaoyu Islands

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Edited and Translated by Yao Chun, People's Daily Online

From today to Jan. 31, at the invitation of China-Japan Friendship Association, former Japanese Prime Minister and honored adviser of China-Japan Friendship Association Tomiichi Murayama and former secretary general of Japanese Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) Koichi Kato will pay a visit to China together with deputy secretary general of LDP Gen Nakatani and Shigeyuki Tomita, acting secretary general New Komeito Party, according to kyodo news service.

Considering the previous visits of former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and New Komeito Party Leader Natsuo Yamaguchi to China, this has been the third wave of Japanese politicians’ visit to China.

What do these intensive visits mean? How will this help the Sino-Japanese relationship move forward?

The visit of Japanese politicians Tomiichi Murayama is a civil act which doesn’t represent Japanese Government. They actually will pay the visit under great pressure given that Japanese are manifesting an upsurge of nationalism, said Liu Jiangyong, deputy chief of contemporary international relations institute with Tsinghua University.

The visits show that there are increasing different voices about Japanese government’s attitude towards the Daioyu Islands Issue. The peace activists, in particular, have become more and more anxious and hope to ease the confrontation between China and Japan with their efforts. The Chinese government also wants to establish contact with these politicians in order to keep the bilateral ties developing in a positive direction. The common aspirations contribute to these recent visits, said Wang Shaojin, director of Asia Pacific Affairs Research Center at Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Since the Japanese government hasn’t shown any willingness to make concession on the Diaoyu Islands Issue, it is hard to come up with a solution acceptable for both sides. And there are no signs that Sino-Japanese ties will have substantial progress, said Wang Jinpu.

Only if Japan, the provoker of Diaoyu Islands Issue, first makes sincere moves to create a favorable environment for the bilateral ties, the Chinese government can make a positive response to mitigate the tension in Sino-Japanese relationship.

Read the Chinese version: 日政要密集访华透露啥信息, source: Jiefang Daily, author: Wang Shaoji

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