Japan must face up to relations with China

Japanese ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa has concluded his term of office and the new ambassador is about to take office. Various forces in Japan are working on the general election campaign and the new leader will be selected next month. In 2012, China and Japan fall into the most serious crisis since the normalization of diplomatic ties. For either Japan that tends to be rightism or China stressing win-win cooperation, an urgent problem is whether the two sides can seize the opportunity to ease the bilateral relations. A preferred choice of China-Japan diplomatic ties is to establish mutually-beneficial relations. The achievement of the goal concerns easing the current tensions and decides the future direction of China-Japan relations and the international relations in Asia-Pacific region. China will adhere to peaceful development road with a clear, consistent and well-meaning strategic intent. The political situation in Japan is complicated and confusing. Its domestic issues and foreign affairs are unpredictable. Japan must make efforts to improve its relations with China, no matter who will be the next prime minister. Firstly, Japan must adjust the strategic mentality in a timely manner and put China in the right position of its foreign strategy. Both China and Japan are major countries in Asia and have common interests and responsibilities. Only by taking China as its strategic partner can Japan deal with the differences well. However, Japan still cannot break the deadlock of the Japan-U.S. relationships because it fears that the establishment of China-Japan strategic partnership will damage its relations with the United States.Secondly, Japan should properly handle the sensitive issues and seize the opportunity to show goodwill to China. In 2012, Japan constantly plays dirty tricks on issues related to Xinjiang and Tibet. Therefore, new Japanese leaders should be highly cautious of these issues involving China's core interests. Japan should realize that the Diaoyu Islands issue cannot be solved in a short period of time and the side which breaks the status quo must take initiative to break the deadlock and show goodwill, which is the requirement of the times. Thirdly, Japan should actively promote sincere dialogues with China and promote the development of the public diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy between two countries. The improvement of China-Japan relations relies on the efforts of both sides and Japan's efforts containing the rise of China with the help of third party will deepen mutual strategic suspicion. The third party is warmly welcomed to play a constructive role in the improvement of China-Japan relations, but serving as a man-in-middle to interfere in bilateral relations is not allowed. The non-governmental friendship between China and Japan is the basis to restore their relations and an important issue is how to explore the potential of public diplomacy and people-to-people diplomacy. In the next 10 years, China will be more open, confident and tolerant to take the road of peaceful development in foreign affairs. Both China and Japan should consider the long-term interests and establish new relationship with neighboring powers through sincere dialogues, which is not only the essential requirement of China's peaceful development but also the common expectation of the region and the world to the new leaders of both sides.