Foreign Minister of Japan Takeshi Iwaya landed in Beijing early in the morning on Dec. 25 for a series of meetings to follow up on the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Lima, Peru last month.
Iwaya and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi issued a ten-point consensus at the end of the High-Level Consultation Mechanism on People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges between China and Japan—the first of its kind in half a decade. The items include youth and educational exchange visits, sister city activities, improvements in visa-free travel, increased support for translation of each other’s classical works, and cooperation among think tanks.
Wang Yi, in his public remarks at the opening of the meeting, acknowledged that, “influenced by geopolitical, ideological, and other factors, the national sentiment between the two countries has not been ideal in recent years, and the phenomenon of low mutual favorability deserves attention.” To improve this, he called for “more and more people from both countries to come closer … and personally feel the friendly sentiments between us.”
He was frank about the upcoming 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Japanese aggression in World War II: “We should not forget the past as it serves as a guide for the future.” He added, “We hope and believe Japan will once again demonstrate its determination for peaceful development and work with China to promote the healthy and stable development of China-Japan relations.”
