(Adnkronos) – Japan officially enters a new ‘era’ in its relations with China: for the first time in a decade, Tokyo has changed the definition of the Chinese giant in its Diplomatic Bluebook of Japan (Gaiko Seisho), the annual strategic report published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, whose objective is to present Tokyo’s diplomatic positions. Since 2016, China had been described as “one of Japan’s most important partners,” but this year’s edition simply refers to China as an “important neighbor.”
Relations between the two countries deteriorated in the autumn after Japanese nationalist premier Sanae Takaichi suggested that her country could intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan, a territory that Beijing has not ruled out reclaiming by force. The latest Bluebook accuses Beijing of “intensifying unilateral criticism and intimidating tactics against Japan.” Beyond China, the document paints a bleak picture of the current international situation. “It can be argued that the relatively peaceful era once known as the ‘post-Cold War period’ has already come to an end,” it states.
