Chinese FM urges Japan to remove factors disrupting ties

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) — Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday called on Japan to remove disturbances that undermine China-Japan relations, and work with China to maintain their hard-won friendship.

Wang made the remarks during a virtual meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi.

Last year, the top leaders of the two countries reached an important consensus on building a relationship that meets the requirements of the new era, Wang said.

He urged the two sides to follow the consensus as guidance and take the 50th anniversary of the normalization of their diplomatic ties this year as an opportunity, to consolidate the political foundation of bilateral relations and maintain and develop the hard-won friendship forged by the two peoples.

Japan’s negative moves on Taiwan and other issues concerning China’s core interests and major concerns have become prominent recently. In response, Wang called for removing disruptive factors in bilateral relations as soon as possible.

He urged the Japanese side to honor the commitment it has made so far, abide by the basic trust between the two countries, and prevent forces trying to undermine China-Japan relations from gaining ground.

Addressing the subject of the “quadrilateral mechanism” summit between the United States, Japan, Australia and India, which will be hosted by Japan next month, Wang said that what causes concern and alarm is that even before the U.S. leader has arrived, the argument that Japan and the United States would jointly confront China has already been widely heard.

“Japan and the United States are allies, while China and Japan have a treaty of peace and friendship,” Wang said, noting that bilateral cooperation between Japan and the United States should not provoke bloc confrontation, still less should it undermine China’s sovereignty, security and development interests.

“We hope that Japan will not pull chestnuts out of the fire for others, and will avoid pitting itself against its neighbors,” Wang said.

For his part, Hayashi said that Japan and China share broad common interests and enjoy huge potential and broad prospects for cooperation.

Japan is ready to work with China to cherish the original aspiration of normalizing diplomatic ties, maintain candid communication, reduce misunderstanding and misjudgment, properly handle sensitive issues and enhance political mutual trust, he said.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of common concern and agreed to continue communication.