China looks forward to a stable relationship with Japan. (Image via Medium)

China looks forward to keep ties with Japan under Suga's tenure

As the new leader of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been elected, Yoshihide Suga will also be appointed as the new Prime Minister (PM) of Japan on an extraordinary Diet session on Wednesday. China stated its hope that Suga will guide Japan to harmonious bilateral relations with it. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin, congratulated Suga after his successful election on Monday.

Previously, Suga also pledged to improve the bilateral ties with China, making it unlikely that the next PM will do things that strain the bilateral relations between China and Japan. Wang stated that China hoped to deepen the cooperation with Japan to overcome the raging novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemics and hail improvement and development between Tokyo and Beijing.

By the next election in October 2021, Japan's House of Representatives will be abolished. Therefore, China is monitoring Japan's condition. Should Suga's way prosper, it is plausible that the President of China, Xi Jinping, will restart his first state visit to Japan since he came to power in 2013, which was delayed due to the pandemics.

Since the 2010s, China and Japan have been caught in a territorial dispute involving the acquisition of two islets, Senkaku and Diaoyu. Suga also reacted the same toward the heating tension in the East China Sea. Chinese political experts predicted that even the relation between Japan and China has stabilized, the conflict in Hong Kong and Taiwan will remain.

Taiwan President, Tsai Ing-wen, also congratulated Suga for his successful election as the leader of LDP and the next PM and hoped that Taiwan and Japan will be stronger under Suga's tenure. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry recalled how Suga longed to improve ties with Taiwan and encouraged Taiwan to participate in an international organization, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) over its success in containing COVID-19.

On the other hand, the relation between Japan and South Korea (S. Korea) might still be at its lowest point since 1965 even after Suga took over the PM seat. Japan is imposing export control on S. Korea as the neighboring country also demanded Tokyo to compensate for the wartime labor during World War II.

Source: https://bit.ly/3hAlDmi