Building Closer Ties

By Li Yifan

A recent opinion poll shows that changes in the relationship between China and the U.S. over the past year have had striking impacts on relations between China and Japan. Moreover， more than 60 percent of Chinese respondents and half of all Japanese respondents believed these impacts were negative.

The annual surveys results were released during the 17th Beijing-Tokyo Forum， jointly held both online and in person by China International Communications Group （CICG） and Japans Genron NPO on October 25 and 26. More than 100 participants from political， business， academic and media circles exchanged views on a wide range of issues.

U.S. disruptions

Yao Yunzhu， a senior advisor at the Academy of Military Science of the Peoples Liberation Army， believes that security relations between the United States and Japan are a big factor weighing on China-Japan relations. “A strengthening Japan-U.S. alliance not only affects territorial disputes between China and Japan， but also means to intervene in Chinas internal affairs， such as matters concerning Xinjiang and Hong Kong， negatively impacting China-Japan relations，” Yao said. “Japan， as a member of the U.S.-led U.S.-Australia-India-Japan Quadrilateral Security Dialogue， is also taking advantage of the dialogue to guard against and counter the rise of China.”

Shinsuke Sugiyama， former Japanese Ambassador to the U.S.， argued that an important factor that is affecting the China-U.S. relationship is the latters anxiety and vigilance against Chinas rapid rise.

“When I was serving in Washington， D.C. 30 years ago， the GDP of the United States accounted for 20-25 percent of the worlds total， while that of China was less than 2 percent， but now while the U.S. share is 24 percent or so， that of China stands at 16-17 percent. The gap between two countries economic strength has sharply narrowed，”Sugiyama said. “Additionally， China is increasingly expanding its strength in 5G technology， the digital economy， artificial intelligence （AI） and so on， and all this has caught the U.S. on the wrong foot.”

Sugiyama also indicated that Japans status as an ally of the U.S. does not necessarily mean that it will take actions against China in lockstep with the U.S. “The United States is only more than 200 years old， but Japan and China have been in communication with each other for dozens of centuries. We need to reflect on the past and also look into the future， and work more closely for a better Japan-China relationship”.