Chinese Premier Li Qiang urged Japan to refrain from following the US, during a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister (FM) Yoshimasa Hayashi in Beijing on Sunday.
Li requested Hayashi that Japan “treat China with honesty and credibility,” as the two are “important trade partners,” and must “realise mutual benefit and achieve win-win cooperation at a higher level.”
Similarly, Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, told Hayashi that although relations “have maintained overall stability,” they are “still faced with various disturbances and interference from time to time.”
Wang Yi, director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met with Yoshimasa Hayashi, Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, in Beijing on Sunday https://t.co/uv6bzF6GOJ pic.twitter.com/PUyIbFTUMl
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) April 2, 2023
Wang said that the “fundamental cause” for the hiccups in relations was that “some forces” in Japan were “deliberately” following the US’ “erroneous” China policy and cooperating with the superpower “to smear China and make provocations on issues concerning China’s core interests.”
“Such moves are strategically short-sighted, politically wrong and even diplomatically unwise,” Wang underscored. Wang expressed hope that Japan will remember that “the two countries are cooperative partners posing no threat to each other.”
Qin Gang held talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi in Beijing on Sunday, pointed out peaceful coexistence and friendly cooperation are the only correct choices for China-Japan relations.https://t.co/sKezUb6G5n pic.twitter.com/WuwFLkkEOK
— Caoli 曹利 (@Cao_Li_CHN) April 2, 2023
Chinese FM Qin Gang echoed Wang’s concerns and stressed that “Faced with disputes and differences, forming exclusive blocs and shouting out one-sided demands to exert pressure will not solve any problem, but only widen the barrier between each other.”
In her own comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning reiterated that China stands ready to take the 45th anniversary of the signing of their Treaty of Peace and Friendship “as an opportunity to enhance dialogue and communication, deepen practical cooperation and manage and control differences, and together work to build a stable and constructive relationship.”