Photo/Illutration Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, right, and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi conclude a joint news conference held in November 2020 in Tokyo. (Pool)

Strong concerns about China’s expanding military capability and maritime advances were included in the Diplomatic Bluebook released by the Foreign Ministry on April 27.

The annual foreign policy document is a record of Japan’s diplomatic efforts and a description of the current international situation.

The latest bluebook, covering mainly 2020, preserved wording regarding China from last year’s version, calling the neighboring nation “one of Japan's most important bilateral relationships.”

But touching on China's aggressive maritime advances, the bluebook also stated, “there are strong concerns related to security for the region, including Japan, and the international community.”

In comparison, last year’s version only described such maritime advances as “common concerns in the region and international community.”

The bluebook's detailed explanation of efforts being made to realize a free and open Indo-Pacific region also was clearly intended with China in mind.

It also mentioned the Chinese Coast Guard's repeated entry into Japan's  territorial waters around the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and for the first time criticized such moves as “a violation of international law.”

The document also said the government would continue to raise the deep concerns felt about the enactment of China’s new Coast Guard law that allows the use of weapons against foreign ships by the Chinese Coast Guard.

A new entry related to U.S.-China relations was also included this year, reflecting the increasingly confrontational relationship between the two major powers since the inauguration of the Biden administration in Washington.

The bluebook pointed out that stable bilateral ties between the two major powers “was an issue of interest not just for Japan but the entire international community.”

South Korea, as in last year’s document, was described as an “important neighboring country.”

But the bluebook also touched upon the Seoul Central District Court's ruling in  January that ordered Japan to pay compensation to former “comfort women,” who were forced to provide sex to Japanese military personnel before and during World War II.

Pointing to the fact the ruling violated international law and past agreements with South Korea, the document expressed extreme regret at the ruling and said the government “could absolutely never accept it.”

On North Korea, the bluebook said efforts would continue to be made for its denuclearization and the return of Japanese nationals abducted by Pyongyang decades ago.

Wording related to Russia also took a step backward from the description included since 2018 of bilateral ties having “the greatest underlying potential.”

This year’s document said the “latent possibilities” with Russia should be considered in developing improved ties.

When Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was still in office, he met repeatedly with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an attempt to resolve the dispute over the Northern Territories, which the Soviet Union seized in the closing days of World War II.

Those efforts led to the description of "underlying potential," but with no specific results produced and the current stalled nature of the talks, more cautious wording was used this year.

The Diplomatic Bluebook also played up Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s meeting in Washington this month with U.S. President Joe Biden and described the Japan-U.S. bilateral alliance as “the strongest it has ever been.”

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