China and Japan face ‘crisis’ in ties as they fail to adapt to ‘new reality’: ex-PM Fukuda

Former Japanese leader Yasuo Fukuda urges action as public sentiment between the countries drops to 20-year low

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Attendees gather for the annual Beijing-Tokyo Forum in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo

Zhao Ziwenin Tokyo, Japan

Published: 10:00am, 5 Dec 2024Updated: 11:14am, 5 Dec 2024

Former Japanese prime minister Yasuo Fukuda has warned of a “crisis of dialogue, comprehensive understanding, and mutual trust” between Japan and China, urging leaders from the two nations to take decisive action.

“In the past three years … mutual understanding has declined further with goodwill towards each other plummeting,” Fukuda said in a written speech at the annual Beijing-Tokyo Forum on Wednesday.

“China and Japan are in a crisis of dialogue, comprehensive understanding, and mutual trust. This crisis must be overcome.”

Fukuda said concrete action was necessary to advance the strategic and mutually beneficial relationship between China and Japan.

The former leader’s remarks came as public sentiment between the two countries reached its lowest point in two decades. A poll by the forum released earlier this week showed that nearly 90 per cent of respondents from the two nations held negative views of each other.

Fukuda acknowledged changing global dynamics, noting that “the existence of China, which has become a world power, has had a great impact on the entire world”. He said both Japan and China had failed to adapt to this shift.