Photo/Illutration Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, left, and Chinese Premier Li Qiang shake hands before their meeting in Vientiane, Laos, on Oct. 10. (Pool)

VIENTIANE, Laos—Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese Premier Li Qiang confirmed their commitment to promoting mutually beneficial ties at a meeting here on Oct. 10, amid concerns over Chinese military activities and the recent slaying of a Japanese schoolboy in China.

The talks took place in Laos on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit. This is Ishiba’s first meeting with a Chinese leader since assuming office on Oct. 1.

At the beginning of the talks, Ishiba told Li that their countries “share a broad direction of comprehensively promoting a mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests and building constructive and stable bilateral relations.”

The two leaders agreed to instruct their working-level officials to work toward realizing concrete outcomes, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Ishiba expressed “serious concerns” over Chinese military movements in areas surrounding Japan, including a Chinese military aircraft’s intrusion into Japan’s territorial airspace in August.

Ishiba also urged China to clarify the facts surrounding the killing of a Japanese school student in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, in September, and to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals in the country.

The meeting also addressed China’s import ban on Japanese seafood, which was imposed shortly after Japan began releasing treated radioactive water into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in August last year.

Referring to the agreement reached between the two governments in September to ease the blanket ban, Ishiba urged China to promptly lift the restrictions.

Ishiba also met with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, and the leaders agreed to further strengthen bilateral relations, which had significantly improved under former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s administration.

While Ishiba is a proponent of creating an Asian version of NATO, the idea was not discussed in either the Japan-China or Japan-South Korea meetings, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Ahead of his talks with Chinese and South Korean leaders, Ishiba attended a summit with the ASEAN leaders.

With China’s expanding maritime activities in mind, Ishiba expressed strong opposition to “continuing and intensifying activities that infringe upon Japan’s sovereignty, and provocative military activities in the East China Sea.”

"Japan is also seriously concerned about the continuing and intensifying militarization and coercive activities in the South China Sea," the prime minister added. 

He said that Japan is strengthening maritime security cooperation with ASEAN by providing patrol vessels and other support to the 10 member nations. 

Ishiba emphasized the importance of “peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait for the region and the international community.”

“Japan will continue to maintain close communication with China at all levels,” he said.

As for North Korea, Ishiba expressed concern about its advancing nuclear and missile capabilities and activities.

Related News