As China looks to rebuild bridges with Japan, will ‘better relations’ last beyond Trump?
China’s overtures aim to mitigate possible pressure under Trump 2.0, but could return to being confrontational in the future, analysts say
China has made a number of conciliatory overtures to Japan recently, including promises to ease military tensions and remove controversial installations, signalling a strategic pivot by Beijing to counter anticipated pressure from US president-elect Donald Trump’s next administration.
“[Chinese President Xi Jinping] wants better relations with Japan to act as a deterrent against Tokyo unilaterally siding with Washington on every decision after January,” Go Ito, a professor of international relations at Tokyo’s Meiji University, told This Week in Asia.
However, analysts warn that any warming of ties between Beijing and Tokyo is likely a short-term strategy aimed at navigating Trump’s second term, with a return to a more confrontational posture expected in the future.
Xi hinted at Beijing’s desire for better relations with Tokyo in talks with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in the Peruvian capital of Lima on November 15.
China’s leader expressed a “strong commitment” to advancing people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, the Cabinet Office reported. One week later, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the resumption of short-term visa exemptions for Japanese nationals.
The exemptions were suspended in early 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, but were not reintroduced even after the health crisis had largely passed.
