Takaichi vows to build stable China relations

DIFFICULT TIMES: While promoting dialogue, the prime minister said Japan would also firmly assert the country’s position and call for responsible behavior

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday called China an “important neighbor” and pledged to build a stable relationship between the rival nations in a policy address.

Diplomatic relations between the Asian economic giants have been at rock bottom since Takaichi suggested in November that Tokyo might intervene in any attack on Taiwan.

“China is an important neighbor, and despite difficulties, we have built up a long-standing relationship over the years,” she said during an extraordinary session of the lower house of parliament.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi delivers a policy speech during an extraordinary session at the lower house of parliament in Tokyo yesterday.

Photo: Bloomberg

“We will work to ensure communication on shared challenges, promote dialogue to safeguard our national interests, and build a constructive and stable relationship,” she said.

However, she added that Japan would also “firmly assert our country’s positions” and “strongly call for responsible behavior.”

Takaichi also signaled her government would draft a comprehensive plan to deal with population decline, which she called a “quietly advancing national crisis.”

Despite enjoying unusually high approval ratings a year into office, Takaichi is navigating a number of challenges, including rising inflation, market concerns about Japan’s mounting debts and a diplomatic spat with China that has been rumbling since making the comments about Taiwan last year.

The policy speech came after China’s top diplomat last week said ties with Tokyo were “waiting to be normalized again” as he met a former Japanese foreign minister who was leading a trade delegation in Beijing.

China had last year warned its citizens against travel to Japan, and imposed trade restrictions that have reportedly led to big drops in supplies of vital rare earth minerals to Japanese firms.

On population decline, Takaichi promised to formulate a comprehensive strategy by the end of the year. The number of Japanese people living in the country fell below 120 million for the first time in 42 years, according to government data released in July.

She also pledged to ensure she had the trust of the market, repeating her commitment to a proactive and responsible fiscal policy, after her program of expansive government spending rattled markets.

The parliamentary session, scheduled to run through December, is to discuss several bills, including plans to cut a consumption tax on food for two years to curb the impact of inflation on voters’ daily lives.

Takaichi’s speech also included a pledge to support the International Criminal Court after the US targeted the tribunal’s Japanese president, Tomoko Akane, with sanctions in August.