The economy ministers of the two major Asian powers are back to talking to each other, after the disputed visit by Shinzo Abe in December to the Yasukuni shrine, where, among the fallen in the service of the country, some war criminals responsible for cruelties committed during the Japanese occupation of China and Korea. The meeting took place on Saturday in Qingdao, in the province of Shandong, as part of the work of the Conference of Trade Ministers of the Member States of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation).
The meeting discussed the need to set up closer trade agreements between the two countries as quickly as possible. The two sides agreed on the difficult moment that political relations between China and Japan are going through, due to the thorny issues still open, but at the same time they underlined the importance of economic cooperation between the two nations, outlining the possibility of an agreement free trade agreement including South Korea.
In short, the political dialogue between the two states shows frictions and frictions, while the economic one seems to flow much more fluidly. Chinese Minister Gao Hucheng, however, did not ignore the dispute over the Senkaku Islands, whose sovereignty is disputed between the two countries, and declared that Japanese claims on those islands that the Chinese call Diaoyu risk undermining strained relations between the two states.
But Gao also said that "China is determined to maintain relations with Japan based on common strategic interests, which bring benefit to both nations, and it is in this perspective that it intends to encourage economic ties". For his part, Japanese Minister Toshimitsu Motegi expressed concern about the recent anti-Japanese demonstrations in China, but also expressed the full willingness of the Japanese government to cooperate in the economic sphere. The talks between the two ministers was the first of its kind since the autumn of 2012, when the dispute over the Senkaku Islands reignited.
Several factors may have played a role in prompting the Chinese government to resume dialogue with Japan on economic issues. First of all, it would have seemed too strange that China, host country of the Conference of the APEC States, did not organize a meeting between its trade minister and that of an important country such as Japan; moreover, it should not be forgotten that the volume of Japanese investments in China fell by half between January and April, compared to the same period of the previous year, with serious damage to the Chinese economy.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201405180017
