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China and Japan need ‘frank’ talks to find common ground, Tokyo’s envoy tells security forum
- Kenji Kanasugi says exchanges between individuals and local governments in both countries can also help improve relations
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China and Japan should increase “frank” communications, Tokyo’s top envoy to Beijing said on Saturday, as the two Asian neighbours grapple with disputes ranging from the East China Sea to Japan’s alignment with the US.
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“Japan and the US are allies and our relationship is very close, but in reality, there are many, many negotiations under the table,” Kenji Kanasugi, Japanese ambassador to China, said during a panel discussion at the World Peace Forum in Beijing on Saturday.
“I once worked in Tokyo to coordinate economic matters with the US, and Japan and the US are not the same, and the interests of Japan and the US are not the same, so there are many differences under the table that need to be managed by different departments, and we manage the difference well,” Kanasugi said through translators at the event organised by Tsinghua University.
“The same is true for Japan and China, that we should have a frank dialogue to find common ground.”
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