Japan's FM to visit, discuss exchanges

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will visit China on Wednesday to hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and attend the second meeting of a high-level consultation mechanism on people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Japan.

The top diplomat's visit comes after President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba agreed last month to continue high-level exchanges and make good use of high-level dialogue mechanisms between the two countries on economy and culture.

The first meeting of the High-Level Consultation Mechanism on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges between China and Japan was held in Tokyo in 2019, to which both President Xi and then Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe sent congratulatory letters.

"China attaches importance to Foreign Minister Iwaya's visit," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Iwaya was appointed as Japan's top diplomat in October.

Ahead of his visit to China, the Japanese foreign minister said at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday that Japan's relations with China represent one of his country's most important foreign relationships.

While there are numerous challenges and pending issues between Japan and China, there are also many possibilities, Iwaya said, highlighting the two countries' shared responsibility for maintaining peace and prosperity in the region and across the world.

Iwaya said he hopes to engage in candid and in-depth exchanges of views with his Chinese counterpart in line with the goals of comprehensively advancing the bilateral strategic relationship of mutual benefit and building a constructive and stable Japan-China relationship.

Lyu Yaodong, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Japanese Studies, said the Ishiba government, since taking office, has expressed its intention to develop relations with China, and Iwaya's visit is the latest signal.

"But we didn't see more action from the Japanese side to substantiate what had been reached in the four political documents between China and Japan. The upcoming visit will be an opportunity for the two countries to sit down and discuss details on building a constructive and stable relationship that meets the requirements of the new era," Lyu said.

On Tuesday, Mao, the ministry spokeswoman, was asked about media reports that the Chinese government is considering resuming imports of Japanese aquatic products. A ban was imposed in August last year due to Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the sea.

"After China participates substantively in the long-term international monitoring ... China will begin to adjust the relevant measures based on scientific evidence and gradually resume imports of Japanese aquatic products that meet the regulation requirements and standards," Mao said.

She emphasized that China's opposition to Japan's discharge of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea remains unchanged.

"The key is that Japan will fulfill its promise earnestly, and make sure that international monitoring will continue being implemented, and China and all other stakeholders can carry out independent sampling and monitoring," Mao said.