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Top official visits as Japan refocuses

By Ai Yang (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-20 07:43

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi made his anticipated visit to Japan yesterday at a crucial juncture for the Japanese government as it shifts political focus to Asian countries.

It will be the first visit for a top Chinese diplomat to Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan took over in September.

The foreign minister's visit comes as United States President Barack Obama concludes his Asia tour, during which he stressed engagement and cooperation with Asian nations.

"Yang's visit came after Japan's new leaders agreed to enhance strategic and mutually beneficial relations with China," said Gao Hong, an expert on Japan studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Gao said Japan will likely raise the East Asian Community idea, the flagship proposal that indicates the nation is putting more of an emphasis on Asia.

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Hatoyama proposed the formation of the East Asian Community at the G20 summit in the US city of Pittsburgh in September. It would establish a regional organization similar to the European Union.

Qin Gang, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday, did not elaborate on what issues would be discussed during Yang's visit, but he said he would not be surprised if the issue of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is brought up.

Huo Jiangang, a scholar at the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, said Japan's new government "still attaches great importance to the US, but it understands that by enhancing Sino-Japanese relations, it will actually gain more respect from the US".

Hatoyama said in August that the Japan-US security pact will continue to be the cornerstone of Japan's diplomatic policy.