Japanese Ambassador Uichiro Niwa recently embarked on a three day visit in China. According to China Daily, Niwa met Japanese entrepreneurs and local officials in a move that analysts said will help improve strained ties between China and Japan.
Media and some analysts from Japan and China say although Niwa’s trip to China is mainly business, it would definitely improve the bilateral ties.
China Daily reported that the trip is significant because the two nations have been overwrought after Japanese authorities illegally detained the captain of a Chinese trawler and some members of its crew in waters off China’s Diaoyu Islands in September.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu said that Sino-Japanese relations have shown positive signs of improvement and development because of the recent visit of Niwa, according to China daily.
She explained that both sides should act responsibly and maintain the healthy and stable development of the relationship. Jiang also attached great importance to the bilateral relationship between China and Japan and she added that China is ready to work with Japan to endorse the mutually strategic relationship to new directions.
The People’s Republic of China and Japan are geographically separated only by a relatively narrow stretch of ocean. Chinese architecture, culture, philosophy, and law have had a great impact on Japan. By the late 1980s, despite occasional outbreaks of tension, the two governments held regular consultations, high-level leaders frequently exchanged visits, Chinese and Japanese military leaders had begun contacts, and many Chinese and Japanese students and tourists traveled back and forth. Now, China and Japan are respectively the world’s second and third-largest economies and they understand the importance of their relations with each other and the world.