Junior Japan lawmakers meet with senior China officials to lower tensions

A delegation of junior Japanese lawmakers met senior Chinese officials on Monday in an effort to ease tensions between the two nations, according to a member of the delegation. The group emphasized the importance of bilateral people-to-people exchanges during their meetings with Liu Bin and Yang Wanming, a Chinese official and chief of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, respectively.

The eight-member delegation, consisting of young nonpartisan lawmakers, is on a three-day visit to China. Their visit comes amid heightened tensions since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested last November that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose a survival threat to Japan, prompting a response from Japanese defense forces.

Beijing responded by imposing trade curbs and urging its citizens not to visit Japan. The delegation's leader, former LDP secretary general Hiroshi Moriyama, believes these in-person talks represent a significant step forward in improving strained bilateral ties. If such encounters continue, Moriyama expects dialogue between the two governments to resume.

Despite the diplomatic dispute, government-level and business exchanges between Japan and China have stalled. While the Chinese side did not completely dismiss the idea of continued bilateral communications, they underscored that China will not alter its stance on the Taiwan issue unless Tokyo revises its view. Earlier this month, two Japanese opposition lawmakers met with a Chinese vice minister, but China's vice minister stressed that China will not change its Japan policy without a change in Tokyo's position on Taiwan.

Additionally, a delegation from a Japanese trade promotion organization, led by former Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, is set to visit Beijing from September 27 for a four-day visit.