Japan’s foreign minister yesterday rejected a claim that China is a bad neighbor as Tokyo tried to put a lid on anti-Beijing sentiment, appearing keen to rebuild ties after a bruising territorial row.
Speaking a day after nationalists rallied against China and a senior ruling-party politician denounced Beijing, Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara insisted that the two countries were good neighbors.
“I believe Japan and China should seek a path for co-existence and co-prosperity by firmly building strategic, mutually beneficial -relations as good neighbors,” Jiji Press news agency quoted Maehara as telling reporters.
The remarks downplayed reported comments by Yukio Edano, deputy secretary-general of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan.
Addressing a meeting north of Tokyo on Saturday, Edano called China “a bad neighbor” and said it was impossible for Japan to build “mutually beneficial” ties with the nation, according to Japanese media reports.
Arguing that China was not a law-abiding nation, Edano said “companies that have an economic partnership with such a country are quite a soft touch,” the Asahi, Yomiuri and other dailies reported.
Edano’s comment came as Tokyo seeks to mend fences with Beijing following a bitter spat over a disputed island chain, called Senkaku by Japan and Diaoyutai (釣魚台) by China.
Maehara, who has a record of making tough remarks about China, yesterday sought dialogue with Beijing while maintaining Tokyo’s stance that there was no territorial dispute over the islands as Japan has been administering them.
The row started when Japan’s coastguard arrested the captain of a Chinese trawler on Sept. 8 after he rammed two of their patrol boats near the islands, he said yesterday on a television show on the private Fuji network.
“It is important to hold diplomatic discussions on measures to prevent a recurrence. We always keep the door open,” he said.
“I believe building strategic, mutually beneficial relations is possible. Of course we make our cases on what concerns our sovereignty, but getting along well with China benefits people’s economic activity and lives. This is the same for the people of China,” Maehara said.
The ship collisions caused no injuries, but the diplomatic damage was severe, with China freezing high-level talks.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan yesterday left for Belgium for Asia-Europe summit talks but reports said he was unlikely to have a bilateral meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶).
Japan released the Chinese captain on Sept. 25.
China last week released three Japanese construction company workers detained late last month for filming in a military area but one of their colleagues was still being held in China for further questioning.
The Sankei Shimbun reported yesterday that the US Navy and Japanese maritime forces were likely to hold a joint drill immediately after US President Barack Obama comes to Japan next month for Asia-Pacific economic forum talks.
The drill, which the conservative daily described as a mock operation to retake the islands if China occupied the chain, will be conducted partly in the East China Sea, it said, citing anonymous defense sources.
Kan is under attack from political conservatives who claim he caved in to Chinese bullying.
Nationalist groups rallied in Tokyo on Saturday against China and accused Kan’s government of suffering a “diplomatic defeat” to the fast-growing neighbor.
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