Distorting Ishiba's Words, China Far from Being a Good Neighbor

Judging by this flagrant provocation, building a normal relationship based on trust between Japan and China, let alone a "strategic mutually beneficial relationship," may be no easy matter.

Japan has protested the Chinese foreign ministry's statement regarding the March 21 meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Chinese statement was factually incorrect, and Japan demanded that the misrepresentations be deleted. There has been no cooperation, however, from the Chinese side. 

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs must correct its statements, including on its website, containing false attributions to Prime Minister Ishiba. Until that is verified, neither PM Ishiba nor Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya should meet with Wang Yi again.

China's Distortion

The Chinese foreign ministry homepage describes Wang's meeting with the Japanese prime minister. That description misstates Ishiba's remarks on issues of significant difference between Japan and China. On those issues, it reports that Ishiba told Wang, Japan "respects the positions elaborated by the Chinese side."

Japan's foreign ministry denied that Prime Minister Ishiba ever made such a statement. Subsequently, a spokesperson at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs retorted, "Isn't it normal for nations to respect each other's positions in exchanges between nations?" 

Shigeru Ishiba merely asked Wang Yi to convey his sincere greetings to Chinese leaders. Such a misrepresentation by the Chinese side is nothing more than an attempt at verbal coercion.

Attempting to Obscure the Enormous Differences

There is a yawning gap between Japan and China regarding their positions and views on many issues. Those include the detention of Japanese nationals in China, the Senkaku Islands, and Taiwan.

Attribution of the phrase "respects the positions elaborated by the Chinese side" to Japan's prime minister unabashedly distorts Japan's position. It gives the distorted impression that Japan acquiesces to China's positions on these thorny subjects. That would undermine Japan's own position and national interest, and is not what the Prime Minister said.

The Chinese foreign ministry should realize that falsifying the content of the meeting is also detrimental to its own nation.  If it is not corrected, other countries will likely be wary of meetings with Chinese leaders.

No Basis for Friendship

China has shown signs of wanting to improve relations with Japan in the face of increasing pressure from the Trump administration. It is therefore puzzling that even as it was seeking to cozy up to Japan, it should release such a false statement. Surely, Beijing must not want to intensify Japan's resentment towards China and further strain our bilateral relations.

During his meeting with Prime Minister Ishiba, Foreign Minister Wang pressed Japan to "earnestly fulfill important political commitments on historical issues and the Taiwan question." The expression "political commitments" might be seen as a "unilateral check" on Japan's ability to respond to bilateral issues.

This is the 80th year since the end of the Pacific War. By trotting out historical issues, China appears to be trying to impose a psychological disadvantage on Japan.

There are rumors that the Japanese government may be planning for a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping sometime this year. 

However, before that can happen, there needs to be a significant improvement in China's actual behavior. That includes removal of the distorted account of the meeting between Ishiba and Wang. Without that, it will be difficult to welcome Xi or other top Chinese officials, or strengthen relations with China.

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(Read the editorial in Japanese.)

Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun