2024.08.23
On August 22nd, 2024, GVI held a seminar at the launching of the research report “Analysis of Japan's Political Situation and Its Impact and Implications on Improving China-Japan Relations” completed by Kiyohiko Toyama （逺山清彦）, GVI’s first foreign visiting scholar and former Vice Minister of Finance of Japan.
At the conference, Mr. Toyama first spoke about Japan's political parties and system and then cited some problems that Japan is currently facing, such as the aging population, low birth rate, rising prices, and the depreciation of the yen. He underscored several key points in China-Japan relations, noting that today China-Japan business relations are in transition, people-to-people exchanges are challenged, and “China threat” rhetoric is prevalent in his country. He went on to offer suggestions for improving China-Japan relations. The two countries should manage the relationship holistically, instead of confrontation on individual issues, he said. They should step up cooperation in areas such as the green economy, medical care, and finance, and push for the establishment of a 1.5-track exchange channel.
Zhang Tuosheng, GVI’s Chief Researcher and Director of the Center for Northeast Asia Studies, commented that the two countries need to hold a broader view, strengthen cooperation on crisis management, and promote both high-level interaction and exchange of personnel visits. Mr. Hiroshi Shiratori (白鳥浩), Professor of Hosei University and Chairman of the Japan Political Science and Law Association pointed out the narrow-sightedness of the state-centered perspective and advocated handling the problems faced by China and Japan from a wider regional perspective. Zhu Jianrong, a contributing researcher at the GVI and professor at Japan's Toyo Gakuen, said that one of the major hurdles in Sino-Japanese relations is the antagonism rooted in the hearts of the two peoples, as well as the distorted perception of the threat that Japan, as an island nation, is prone to have against neighboring powers. Therefore, the two countries should build on their common position, send friendly signals, and get down to build better relations.
During the Q&A session, participants focused on Japan's foreign policy, internal political dynamics, and the prospects for enhancing China-Japan relations, highlighting the importance of strengthening high-level interactions as well as people-to-people exchanges, to ensure the friendly development of relations between the two countries.
The final revised edition of “Analysis of Japan's Political Situation and Its Impact and Implications on the Improvement of China-Japan Relations” will be officially released on the GVI website sometime in September.