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TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan's prime minister will travel to Beijing on Thursday for his first formal bilateral summit with Chinese leaders in seven years, as Asian rivals attempt to consolidate relations with Washington.
China has intensified its relations with Japan and other countries by engaging in trade with the United States.
Japan, concerned about China's growing naval power, wants its economic relations to be harmonious with its biggest trading partner. He must manage this rapprochement without disturbing his main security ally, the United States, with whom he has his own trade problems.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who returned to power in 2012 when Sino-Japanese relations were in tatters due to a feud over the islands of the East China Sea, met with Chinese President Xi Jinping several times since their first cautious conversation in 2014, on the sidelines of a regional conflict. summit in Beijing.
But his meeting with Xi Friday will be the first full-fledged Sino-Japanese summit since 2011.
Abe will meet with Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday and attend a reception marking the 40th anniversary of a peace and friendship treaty. Both parties hope that other visits will follow.
"If Xi promised to come to Japan next year, that would be very important," said Kiyoyuki Seguchi, research director at the Canon Institute for Global Studies in Tokyo.
"If this happens, the improvement of relations between Japan and China will accelerate."
A series of agreements is expected, ranging from a currency exchange agreement to a new dialogue on innovation and the protection of intellectual property, with a view to a better understanding. communication between their armed forces.
Japan also hopes that progress will be made in the implementation of a 2008 agreement on the joint development of gas fields in disputed waters and hopes that China will relax the import limits of the gas fields. products from areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
A business forum on private sector cooperation in third countries is expected to result in about 50 non-binding agreements, including one on a project in Thailand, said a source from the Japanese government.
China may be hoping that Abe will make a positive statement about its Belt and Road initiative, a vehicle to finance and build transport and trade links in more than 60 countries.
"STRATEGIC TARGETS"
The Belt and Road project has been criticized for indebting poor countries with large projects that are not economically viable. China rejects criticism.
Japanese participation could improve the image of this initiative and dispel the fears of debtor countries, officials said.
However, Japanese defense officials are wary of its military implications and Tokyo is highlighting its free and open Pacific strategy to promote trade and infrastructure in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Japan also wants to ensure that all joint projects with China are transparent, open and fiscally sound, officials said.
"We are ready to discuss practical cooperation in third countries, but … we think that it is not necessary to qualify this cooperation as" initiative, "said a Japanese Ministry of Affairs official Foreign.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono said this week that Japan was ending its development assistance after stopping most of its aid more than a decade ago. Instead, they will look for ways to help others.
Despite the thaw, mistrust persists.
The history of the war is still topical, with China often complaining that Japan has not completely redeemed its occupation of parts of China before and during World War II.
Japan is wary of China's military spending and its dominance over the South China Sea, through which much of its trade passes.
A recent survey showed that 86% of the Japanese had a "bad image" of China.
"Abe will try to develop relationships," said Akio Takahara, China specialist at the University of Tokyo.
"But in the end, if the strategic goals are different, we will not be able to establish a stable relationship."
Report by Linda Sieg; Edited by Robert Birsel
