In this photo taken on Nov. 24, 2020, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimichi Mogi in Tokyo. “.
The latest was a phone call between Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimichi Shigeki and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on April 5, which was reportedly initiated by the Chinese side, according to TV Asahi. However, the call did not turn out as expected, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry published a press release of the call on its official website late on the 5th, in which Wang Yi used a very stylized phrase to warn Japan “not to extend its hand too far”.
Why is Wang Yi so angry? According to the Chinese press release, Wang Yi asked Japan to respect the internal affairs of the Chinese Communist Party and “not to extend its hands too far. According to a statement issued by Japan’s Foreign Ministry earlier the same day, it turns out that during the call, Toshimichi Mogi expressed “strong concern” about the Chinese Communist Party’s incursions in disputed waters, the situation in Hong Kong and the human rights issues of the Uighur minority.
The Japanese statement said that during the call with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Toshimichi reiterated his deep concern about the Chinese Communist Party’s maritime police intrusion into the waters of the Diaoyu Islands and its implementation of the ‘maritime police law’ that allows the maritime police bureau to use force, and expressed serious concern about the situation in the South China Sea, the situation in Hong Kong and the human rights issues in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. They strongly demanded that the CCP take concrete actions to improve the situation.
Therefore, the CCP asked the Japanese side to abide by the basic norms of international relations and “maintain a minimum of respect for China’s internal affairs and not to extend its hand too far.
According to a Chinese press release, Wang hoped that Japan, as an “independent and autonomous country,” would “not get involved in the so-called confrontation between major powers” and take an objective and rational view of mainland China’s development, “instead of being ‘led by the rhythm’ of some countries that are biased against the CCP. countries.” Wang Yi also said, “The will of a certain superpower does not represent the international community, and the few countries that follow this superpower have no right to monopolize multilateral rules.”
Reading the official Chinese Communist Party press release and listening to Wang Yi speak to Japan, it sounds like sage advice and a side-note warning to the U.S. and a threat to Japan not to follow the U.S. But China should know that the U.S. is Japan’s ally, and the CCP is not. Moreover, the Chinese Communist Party has made no effort to improve Sino-Japanese relations on issues of concern to Japan in the recent past, but has instead accused Japan of “reaching out too far”, apparently because the Chinese Communist Party has not adapted to Japan’s increasingly harsh posture toward the Chinese Communist Party.
The ‘Wall Street Journal’ commented that Japan is usually cautious to avoid angering the CCP, its biggest trading partner. Tokyo, a close ally of Washington, did not join the U.S. and several other countries in March in imposing sanctions on the Communist Party over its suppression of the predominantly Muslim Uighur population. However, Tokyo sent an unusually strong signal this time.
Japanese TV Asahi reported that Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga will hold a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House on April 16, and there is a perception that the Chinese Communist Party has offered to hold phone talks between the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers in order to keep Japan in check ahead of the U.S.-Japanese summit. Judging from Wang Yi’s subsequent accusation that Japan’s hand is too long, it is clear that Wang Yi has not achieved his goal.
The New York Times Chinese website pointed out in an April 2 article, “Can Japan Remain Silent on Xinjiang in the Face of Public Pressure?” Japan’s cautiousness has led it to move at a different pace from its Western allies on the Xinjiang issue. The newspaper notes that if Japan were to fully join efforts to force the CCP to end human rights abuses in Xinjiang, it would add a key Asian voice to this Western campaign.
However, Japan has hardened its tone toward the CCP on other issues. On the eve of the U.S.-China dialogue in Alaska, Secretary of State Blinken and Defense Secretary Justin visited Tokyo for a joint 2+2 meeting, and the United States and Japan signed a joint statement severely criticizing China’s “coercive and destabilizing behavior” and violations of the “international order” in the Asia-Pacific region. The U.S. and Japan signed a joint statement that severely criticized China’s “coercive and destabilizing behavior” in the Asia-Pacific region and its violation of the “international order” and expressed opposition to China’s efforts to intimidate other countries in the region and harm regional stability.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Japan’s defense minister both criticized the Chinese Communist Party by name, in a tone rarely seen as blunt and forceful. In an analysis of the Chinese side’s “discomfort” and frustration, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian on March 17 slammed Japan and the United States for “acting in cahoots” and “acting as a strategic vassal of the United States. It is “disgraceful” and “lures wolves into the house” and so on.
Sino-Japanese relations seemed to be getting more and more moderate a year or so ago, when both sides confirmed a state visit by CCP President Xi Jinping to Japan last April when Japanese cherry blossoms were in full bloom, which was later delayed due to the epidemic, and now, Japan has no desire to mention Xi’s visit to Japan.
Japanese public opinion is becoming increasingly disgusted with the Chinese Communist Party, not only because of the repeated presence of Chinese ships in the disputed waters between the two sides, but also because of human rights issues in mainland China. The New York Times reports that for years, expressing dissatisfaction with the CCP’s treatment of ethnic minorities has been considered a matter for Japan’s hawkish right-wing forces, with centrists and leftists often seeing it as an excuse for Japan to abandon post-war pacifism and pursue regional hegemony. But the CCP’s behavior in Xinjiang has forced many liberals to change their views, and even the Japanese Communist Party has called it a “serious violation of human rights.
Recent Comments