Japan ought to mirror on its China coverage errors and rectify them

A file photograph of Mount Fuji behind Tokyo Tower in Tokyo, Japan, January 7, 2012. /AP

Editor’s word: Ma Ning is a particular commentator on present affairs for CGTN. The article displays the writer’s views and never essentially these of CGTN.

The newest sign of the terribly extreme downturn in China-Japan relations in current occasions got here on Friday, when the Japanese authorities launched its 2026 Diplomatic Bluebook. In this programmatic doc guiding Japan’s overseas technique, Tokyo has downgraded China-Japan relations, described as “one of the most important bilateral relationships” for over a decade, to a mere “important neighbor.”

Although Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried to play this down, saying “expressions in various fields are adjusted every year,” any discerning observer can see that this rhetorical retreat is not any unintended technical revision. Rather, it’s a deliberate show of coldness following Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s egregious remarks on Taiwan-related points, which have severely undermined the political basis for bilateral ties.

Japan seems intent on downplaying the importance of its relationship with China to cowl up its breach of belief on issues of core precept. Such an ostrich coverage will solely lead it additional down the mistaken path.

In stark distinction, on the identical day, Xi Jinping, common secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Party, in Beijing. Both sides reaffirmed that “the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family,” demonstrating the Chinese folks’s agency confidence that they’ve the knowledge and talent to correctly deal with their inner affairs. This constructive cross-Strait interplay stands in sharp reduction to the shortsightedness and hazard of Japan’s steady probing of purple strains and undermining regional belief on the Taiwan query.

To halt the decline and stabilize China-Japan relations, Japan ought to exhibit its sincerity in being a very good neighbor and its resolve to hold out efficient and thorough self-correction on three ranges

It ought to return to the basics of the political basis and totally abide by the 4 political paperwork which are the cornerstone of the bilateral relations, fairly than selectively abiding by them. The 4 paperwork are the 1972 Sino-Japanese Joint Statement, the 1978 Treaty of Peace and Friendship Between China and Japan, the 1998 China-Japan Joint Declaration on Building a Partnership of Friendship and Cooperation for Peace and Development, and the 2008 China-Japan Joint Statement on All-round Promotion of Strategic Relationship of Mutual Benefit.

In these paperwork, Japan explicitly acknowledges the federal government of the PRC as the only real authorized authorities and the truth that Taiwan belongs to China. This is the prerequisite for the normalization of diplomatic relations between the 2 nations and an integral a part of the post-World War II (WWII) worldwide order, brooking no ambiguity, retrogression, or so-called grey zone manipulation.

Yet lately, an especially harmful development has emerged in Japanese politics. While proclaiming in diplomatic rhetoric that it abides by the paperwork, Japan has, in apply, been step by step hollowing out their non secular core by means of its intention of revising three nationwide safety paperwork. This displays its harmful strikes to hurry up “remilitarization,” and hype up the “Taiwan emergency.”

The downgrading of China on this yr’s Diplomatic Bluebook is an try by the Japanese authorities to distance Japan from China psychologically, paving the way in which for extra confrontational insurance policies sooner or later.

Japan should acknowledge that the 4 political paperwork aren’t a “menu” to be picked from and chosen at will, however a solemn ethical and diplomatic covenant. The logic for enhancing relations is simple: Japan should truthfully return to the framework of the 4 political paperwork.

The National Diet Building in Tokyo, Japan, January 14, 2026. /Xinhua

It also needs to retract its faulty remarks immediately, and abide by the one-China precept with concrete actions. The direct set off for the speedy deterioration of China-Japan relations is the faulty Taiwan-related remarks made by Takaichi. She beforehand claimed that Japan couldn’t abandon its allies if a disaster have been to happen within the Taiwan Strait. Such remarks quantity to an open problem to the one-China precept and a grave affront to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. They not solely represent interference in China’s inner affairs but additionally problem the post-WWII worldwide order.

If Japan actually needs to enhance relations, its first step have to be to retract these faulty Taiwan-related remarks, stop sending mistaken alerts to “Taiwan independence” separatist forces, halt all types of official exchanges and navy collusion with the Taiwan area, and above all, chorus from cooperating with sure exterior forces in hyping the narrative of a “Taiwan emergency.”

Exchanges and dialogues between the mainland and other people of perception in Taiwan, together with the Chinese KMT, have confirmed that the proper path to sustaining peace and stability throughout the Taiwan Strait lies in adhering to the one-China precept and the 1992 Consensus, not in inviting exterior interference so as to add gas to the fireplace. If Japan genuinely needs to contribute to regional peace, it ought to restrain itself and respect China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It ought to abandon the mindset of containing China and translate its “future-oriented” commitments into verifiable, constructive measures. Inconsistency between phrases and deeds is a serious impediment plaguing present China-Japan relations. Tokyo claims it hopes to construct a “constructive and stable Japan-China relationship” whereas repeatedly taking hostile actions within the navy and safety fields that exacerbate tensions.

Japan’s protection price range for fiscal yr 2026 exceeded 9 trillion yen (about $58 billion) for the primary time, hitting a document excessive. It overtly labels China as so-called an unprecedentedly grave strategic problem. Recently, former Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba publicly advocated strengthening the US-Japan-South Korea navy alliance to forge an “Asian version of a mini-NATO” to encircle China. This duplicitous strategy – speaking about cooperation whereas sharpening knives – has utterly eroded the muse of diplomatic dialogue.

“Taking history as a mirror and facing the future” should not merely be a slogan. If Japan needs to regain China and different regional nations’ belief, it should cease its provocative phrases and deeds on points such because the East China Sea and the South China Sea. It should additionally stop following nations in pursuing unique “decoupling, breaking industrial chains” and “small yard, high fence” insurance policies.

As shut neighbors that can’t transfer away, China and Japan each profit from cooperation and lose from confrontation. Japan ought to abandon the outdated cold-war containment mindset, view China’s improvement and rejuvenation with an open thoughts, and put constructive vitality into bilateral relations by means of pragmatic financial and commerce cooperation, people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and coordination on regional affairs.

The present deadlock in China-Japan relations is solely attributable to Japan’s faulty phrases and deeds. If Japan persists in downgrading relations and shifting blame, it can solely sink deeper into regional geopolitical rivalry, finally harming its personal nationwide pursuits.

China’s coverage towards Japan has at all times been dedicated to growing long-term, steady pleasant cooperative relations. However, all that is premised on Japan honoring its commitments, correcting its errors and implementing the political consensus reached between them. Whether Japan can seize the chance to vary course will function an acid check of its strategic rationality and diplomatic integrity.

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Source: CGTN