Japan Foreign Chief Stresses Need for Communication with China

Tokyo, Feb. 20 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi in a speech before parliament Friday stressed the importance of communication with China. It is necessary to keep in touch with China all the more because there are pending issues between the two countries, he said. Japan is open to dialogue, Motegi added. Japan-China relations have deteriorated since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made remarks last November over a possible contingency concerning Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be at the center of its core interests. In the foreign policy speech, Motegi pledged to evolve the free and open Indo-Pacific initiative, proposed by the late former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe 10 years ago. Mentioning China’s unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the East China Sea and the South China Sea as well as the significance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Motegi said that Japan hopes to comprehensively promote a mutually beneficial strategic relationship with China and build constructive and stable ties with the neighboring country. Motegi said Japan will promote responsible diplomacy, advocated by Takaichi. The Japan-U.S. alliance, the linchpin of Japan’s diplomatic and national security policies, is the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, he said, vowing to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence and response capabilities and expand cooperation between the two countries, such as steadily implementing their tariff agreement reached last year. The minister said that Japan will develop its relations with South Korea, an important neighbor, in a future-oriented and stable way. Meanwhile, he stressed that the Sea of Japan islets of Takeshima, which are under the effective control of South Korea, are inherent territory of Japan. Tokyo will deal with the territorial issue decisively, he said. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an outrageous act that is shaking the foundation of the international order, Motegi said, underscoring that Japan will continue its support for Ukraine and sanctions on Russia. He expressed serious concerns over progress in the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. On Japan-Russia relations, Motegi vowed to follow past administrations’ stance, saying that Tokyo aims to conclude a World War II peace treaty with Moscow after resolving their long-standing territorial dispute over four Russia-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan. He also said Japan will patiently ask Russia for the restart of visits to graves on the islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan, by former Japanese residents, who are getting older and older. The islands were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. The territorial dispute has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from concluding a peace treaty to formally end their wartime hostilities. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]