Japan told to steer bilateral ties

BEIJING: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi yesterday called on Japan to “steer the course of the bilateral relations from a strategic perspective” after the leaders of the two countries agreed to promote the growth of relations.

He said in an online speech to a Beijing symposium that it is important for the two Asian neighbours “to avoid backpedaling and flip-flopping, be farsighted and forward-looking” in their relations after they commemorated the 50th anniversary of the normalisation of bilateral ties in September.

On the United States, he said Beijing has firmly rejected Washington’s “erroneous China policy”, under which it has “stubbornly continued to see China as its primary competitor and engage in blatant blockade, suppression and provocation”.

He reiterated that the Taiwan question is “at the very core of China’s core interests” and “a red line that must not be crossed” in China-US relations.

In response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit in August, made despite China’s “stern warnings”, Beijing has taken “firm and resolute measures” and “strongly deterred anti-China elements in the US and the ‘Taiwan independence’ forces”, he said.

China, which views the self-ruled island as its own, held large-scale drills near Taiwan and halted US cooperation in a range of areas, including climate change and defence exchanges. Those steps “fully demonstrated our iron will in safeguarding national sovereignty and security,” Mr Wang added.

With President Xi Jinping and US counterpart Joe Biden agreeing in their summit last month in Bali to effectively manage differences and advance practical cooperation, Mr Wang urged Washington to “cultivate a favorable atmosphere for communication and cooperation”.

In reference to the easing of China’s “zero-Covid” policy earlier this month, he said it had “ushered in a new stage in the pandemic response” and indicated it will relax border controls.