Miyamoto Yuji, who served as Japan's ambassador to China from 2006 to 2010 and now chairs the Japan-China Friendship Center, told the Global Times that resuming dialogue is urgent, the paper reported on October 15. The Japanese government's position was not part of the interview.
The Global Times on October 15 published an interview with Miyamoto Yuji, the former Japanese ambassador to China and chairman of the Japan-China Friendship Center. The paper noted that he had written in mainstream Japanese media urging that dialogue with China resume without delay.
광고 문의 · 300×250The Global Times attributed the strain in relations to Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae's remarks on Taiwan, a major increase in Japan's defense budget, repeated talk of a China threat and rising conservatism in Japanese society. That is the Chinese outlet's diagnosis, and the Japanese government has offered different explanations.
Claims made in the interview
Miyamoto said his basic stance is the same as during his September 2024 visit to China, and that many ordinary Japanese stay silent amid the current social climate but understand the need for dialogue and exchange, the paper reported. He said younger Japanese have had little occasion to think about what healthy bilateral ties look like, and that China's growth, which has narrowed the power gap, is a major reason perceptions are changing.
He described relations as resting on four pillars: politics and diplomacy, the economy, culture and people-to-people exchange, and military security, with political and diplomatic ties the most urgent. On security, he called for building coexistence, crisis management and trust-based dialogue. He rated the 2008 joint statement on a mutually beneficial strategic relationship, which he helped advance as ambassador, as the fourth political document since normalization, and said Japanese society needs to be reminded of its purpose.
Plans and room for interpretation
He said the center will restart stalled academic exchanges, hold expert meetings on world order and the postwar international system, and screen a Chinese film every month from October. He added that he has not visited China in nearly a year and hopes to return soon.
He called peaceful, friendly cooperation the only correct choice and warned that confrontation or mutual obstruction would harm regional and global stability. His remarks are a personal view, edited by a Chinese outlet, and cannot be taken as representing Japan's government policy or Japanese public opinion as a whole.
Tokyo and the ruling camp have long said that stronger defense and its China policy respond to the regional security environment. The direction of ties depends on whether communication between leaders and diplomats actually resumes.
