Japan reaffirms commitment to stable China relations amid rising tensions

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi stated on Monday that Tokyo will continue to pursue relations based on shared interests with China.

“Japan will continue to uphold its policy of pursuing a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests with China, a shared commitment with the neighboring nation,” Motegi told reporters, according to Kyodo News.

Tokyo’s relations with China have deteriorated since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks last November that Beijing’s possible use of force against Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province, could constitute a survival-threatening situation for Japan, in which the country could exercise its collective self-defense right.

Since then, Beijing has repeatedly voiced its opposition to Japan’s rearmament efforts.

Japan, in a significant departure from its postwar security posture, scrapped longstanding restrictions on military equipment transfers last month, opening the door to the export of lethal weapons as it seeks to expand its defense industry and strategic reach.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters Monday that Japan should “first and foremost address its wrongful rhetoric and action on Taiwan, halt its reckless remilitarization drive, return to the right track of good neighborliness, friendship and peaceful development, and earn trust from its Asian neighbors and the world with concrete actions.”