Japan’s former PM Yoshihide Suga strikes conciliatory tone towards China, with eye on his legacy

Suga told the Nikkei that China is an important neighbour, but Japan and the US would speak out against its efforts to change the status quo in the region

This is in contrast to Shinzo Abe’s recent comments, and analysts suggest it could stem from LDP infighting and efforts to rehabilitate Suga’s reputation

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Former prime minister Yoshihide Suga told a newspaper that he hopes Japan and China can overcome their difficulties and forge a better working relationship. Photo: AP

Published: 4:00pm, 21 Dec 2021

Former Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga has struck a more conciliatory note towards China in a new media interview, although analysts suggest his comments may be more related to internal differences within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and also designed to rehabilitate a reputation that took a battering before he stepped down in October.

In an interview published on Tuesday by the Nikkei newspaper, Suga said it was “overly simplistic” to suggest that the statement issued with US President Joe Biden after the two leaders met in Washington in April was overly critical of China.

“Our joint statement was the first in 52 years to explicitly mention the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Suga said. “It strongly reflected our shared concern and sense of urgency.

“To view [the statement] as calling out China for criticism is overly simplistic,” he emphasised. “We stated the importance of candid conversation with China. The truth is that China is a global power, so we made it clear that Japan and the US would speak out together against its unilateral attempts to change the status quo.”

With next year marking the 50th anniversary of Tokyo and Beijing normalising diplomatic relations, Suga indicated that he hopes the two countries can overcome their difficulties and forge a better working relationship.

“China is certainly important to Japan as a neighbour, but what it is doing now is problematic,” he said. “Japan and the US need to speak out clearly and firmly against its efforts to unilaterally change the status quo in the South and East China Seas.