Beijing Likely to Stay Tough against Tokyo after Japan Election

Beijing, Feb. 9 (Jiji Press)–China is expected to maintain its hard-line stance against Japan after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party secured a landslide victory in Sunday’s election for the House of Representatives, the all-important lower chamber of parliament. Concerned that the Takaichi government may accelerate moves to revise Japan’s three key national security-related documents and amend its Constitution to have the top law clarify the existence of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces, the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping could possibly increase pressure on Japan, informed sources said. Beijing has been frustrated at Takaichi’s parliamentary remark last November regarding a possible contingency over Taiwan. At a press conference Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian urged Takaichi to retract the remark. Lin said that China asks Japan to “follow the path of peaceful development” rather than returning to militarism. “China’s policy on Japan…will not change because of one election,” he added. The Xi administration’s biggest foreign policy issue has been his country’s ties with the United States, with efforts being made to improve the bilateral relations, including a planned visit to China by U.S. President Donald Trump in April. China is also working to mend fences with other Western countries, such as Canada and Britain. Under the circumstances, a diplomatic source said that Beijing is not seeing a need to advance dialogue with Japan at the moment. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]