Former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya meets with Vice Premier He Lifeng and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, demonstrating progress towards improving relations

[Beijing Current Affairs] Former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who is visiting Beijing, China, met with Vice Premier He Lifeng and Communist Party Politburo member and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Mr. He and Mr. Wang are members of the Party's Politburo, which is made up of more than 20 top Communist Party members. This can be said to be a courtesy from the Chinese side as relations continue to cool down, and it appears that the Xi Jinping administration has embarked on dialogue with Japanese friendly groups.

China seeks ``correction'' in Takaichi's response, also keen on economic cooperation - talks with vice prime minister and others, former Foreign Minister Iwaya

Since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's parliamentary response regarding the Taiwan emergency last November, the Xi administration has not responded to dialogue or exchanges not only with the government but also with the private sector. However, since August this year, China has accepted two bipartisan parliamentary groups from Japan, and this time the response was even more generous.

The Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade, of which Mr. Iwaya heads the delegation as chairman, is one of the seven Japan-China friendship organizations. When relations are bad, it is a common practice for China to welcome friendly groups from other countries to convey its claims and messages, and one diplomatic source said that ``China has made some progress from the worst-case scenario where it was impossible to have any dialogue.''

In his meeting with Mr. Iwaya, Mr. Wang indicated that he would make a ``correction'' of Mr. Takaichi's answer a condition for improving relations. This can be said to be a broader expression than the "withdrawal" that the Chinese side requested immediately after Takaichi's statement. Takaichi is expected to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to be held in China in November. It will be interesting to see how the Xi administration will proceed in the future, whether it intends to embark on dialogue between the government and Japan.