Japanese PM Suga meets Chinese FM, agrees to enhance bilateral relations

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (R) meets with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (L) in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 25, 2020. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Wednesday met in Tokyo with visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and both sides agreed to enhance bilateral relations.

Wang said that after the establishment of the new Japanese government, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Suga reached important consensus on improving bilateral ties, which has enabled a stable transition for bilateral relations and provided a clear direction for developing bilateral relations in the next stage.

After years of efforts, Wang said, China-Japan relations have returned to the right track and both sides should cherish the hard-won situation.

Going forward, China is willing to work with Japan to build a bilateral relationship that will meet the requirements of the new era, he said while expressing China's hope for realizing such a bilateral relationship at an early date for it to bear fruit, benefit the two peoples, and lay a solid foundation for the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations in 2022.

In further developing China-Japan relations, Wang said that firstly, the two sides need to build genuine mutual trust, properly handle sensitive issues and advance an all-round cooperation.

Secondly, he said, the two countries need to push forward regional cooperation, speed up the building of the free trade zone and jointly build a better future for Asia.

Thirdly, Wang said, the two countries need to make joint efforts to reform the global governance system, make globalization to be more open and inclusive and of win-win results, and shoulder their due international responsibilities.

In their meeting, Suga said that the development of stable Japan-China relations is not only of great significance to both countries, but also to the region and the international community, adding that this is a shared responsibility of the two countries.

The new Japanese Cabinet attaches great importance to Japan-China relations and is willing to work with China to enhance mutual trust and jointly push for a steady development of bilateral relations, he said.

The Japanese side hopes to strengthen cooperation with the Chinese side to make both the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Beijing Winter Olympics a success, and to jointly celebrate the 50th anniversary of the normalization of Japan-China diplomatic relations.

During his visit to Japan, Wang also held talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato, former Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Secretary General of the Liberal Democratic Party Toshihiro Nikai, respectively.