Former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya visits China and meets with Chinese Vice Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, exchanging views on historical issues and Taiwan issues

[Beijing Current Affairs] Former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, who is visiting China, met with Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on the 29th. The day before, he also met with Communist Party Politburo member and Foreign Minister Wang Yi. According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Wang, bearing in mind Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's parliamentary response regarding the Taiwan crisis in November last year, requested that Japan ``immediately correct the erroneous statements made by Japan's leaders on the Taiwan issue.''

Former Foreign Minister Iwaya meets with Chinese Foreign Minister, Hong Kong media report

Mr. Iwaya led a delegation to China as the chairman of the Japan Association for the Promotion of International Trade (Kokubo), one of the seven Japan-China friendship organizations. This is the first time that the Chinese government has officially announced a meeting with a Japanese politician since relations cooled down after the Diet's response. The Chinese side appears to have an intention to keep the Takaichi administration in check by meeting with Mr. Iwaya, who emphasizes relations with China.

At a press conference after the meeting on the 29th, Iwaya said, ``I feel that China wants to encourage Japan to make efforts to improve the situation.I want the Japanese government to make an effort to return to its roots.''

Mr. He expressed his concern to Mr. Iwaya, saying, ``Some Japanese politicians are trying to challenge China's bottom line on the Taiwan issue.'' Meanwhile, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency, Mr. He also said, ``China and Japan are important economic and trade partners for each other.We have always welcomed Japanese companies' expansion into China.''

At the meeting, Wang pointed out that this year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo Tribunal), and said, ``If we cannot take the right attitude on historical issues, we will not be able to face and navigate the future.'' Regarding the current Japan-China relations, he emphasized, ``We are in a difficult situation. We need to normalize.''

Japan has held numerous meetings with Chinese leaders in the past to promote trade between the two countries, and has played a role in Japan-China diplomacy. The group was originally scheduled to send a large-scale delegation to China in June of this year, but it was postponed due to the death of former House of Representatives Speaker Yohei Kono, who was the group's chairman. During the meeting, Mr. Wang praised Mr. Kono's attitude toward confronting "the crimes committed by Japanese militarism."