By Liz Lee and Sakura Murakami
BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) – Seafood trade is expected to be high on the agenda on Wednesday as Japan's foreign minister visits China, Japan's biggest seafood export market until Beijing shut down protests against Tokyo dumping treated sewage into the sea.
In Takeshi Iwaya's first visit to the Chinese capital since becoming Japan's foreign minister in October, he will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and meet with other Chinese officials.
“I believe it is important to have concrete and tangible examples of future opportunities for Japan-China,” Iwaya said at the start of the meeting with Wang.
“It is important that both Japan and China fulfill their responsibilities and move forward together in the pursuit of peace and prosperity for the region and the international community,” he said.
Wang also emphasized that the importance of bilateral relations goes beyond bilateral relations.
“If China-Japan relations are stable, Asia will be more stable,” Wang said.
The main sticking point in bilateral relations has been Japan's removal of waste water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Beijing was strongly opposed and criticized Tokyo's decision and tightened inspections on Japanese goods in response.
China imposed a total ban last year after Japan began releasing radioactively treated water, but the two governments reached an agreement in September that would pave the way for the resumption of seafood exports from Japan to China.
A newspaper reported this week that China was considering lifting a ban on Japanese seafood imports.
But China still needs assurances from Tokyo that it will fulfill its commitment to establish a long-term international monitoring arrangement and allow stakeholders like China to conduct independent sampling and monitoring of treated water.
With adequate monitoring, China will “adjust appropriate measures” and gradually restore exports that meet standards and regulations, a foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.
The one-day visit follows an agreement between the leaders of the two countries to work on a mutually beneficial strategic relationship.
Relations between the neighboring countries are “in an important period of improvement and development”, Chinese President Xi Jinping said last month when he met with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Lima, Peru.
Xi said the two should be “partners, not threats”.
Relations between China and Japan, trading partners with close economic and investment ties but competing security and territorial claims, are complicated by long-standing political differences and wartime sensitivities.
As the first Japanese foreign minister to visit since April last year, Iwaya could raise his country's concerns about Chinese forces surrounding Japan and regional issues including North Korea.
Japan expressed “grave concern” last month about North Korea's security alliance with Russia, where North Korea stands to gain advanced military technology and combat experience.
Ukrainian and allied investigations show that Pyongyang has sent about 12,000 soldiers to support Russia's war in Ukraine. Ukraine warned this week that North Korea could send personnel and equipment to Moscow's military.
On a less serious topic, China could encourage Japan to return to its visa policies.
Last month, Beijing extended its visa-free arrangements to include Japan until the end of 2025, restoring a policy that was suspended during the pandemic.
China, which has added countries to its visa-free list, has also extended the period of stay to 30 days from 15.
Japan has not made a decision on reciprocity but China has said it hopes Japan will work to improve people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.