엊그제 열린 한미일 3자 회담에서 중국 겨냥 공동성명 정도는 있었지만,
중국은 한국과 일본에 대해서 다른 평가를 하고 있네요.
일본이 미국 측의 전략적 움직임에 훨씬 더 적극적으로 따르고 있고,
게다가 감히 신장 위구르 인권 문제를 언급하고 있고,
중국이 일본의 주권을 침해하고 있고 지역 갈등을 높이고 있다는 식으로 일본이 말하고 있는 점을
중국 측이 지적하고 있습니다.
* 일일이 열거하긴 어렵지만, 지금 바이든을 빼면 중국이나 러시아 등에서는 우군 확보를 위한 치열한
외교전을 벌이고 있습니다. 수퍼파워 중국이 유일하게 미국보다 못한 점은 아무래도 나동맹 차원 정도일 것입니다.
그런 중국이 우군 확보나 아니면 적어도 대중국 적대적 정책 완화를 위한 대대적 작전에 돌입한 것은 어쩌면 당연한 일일지도 모릅니다.
이미 오래 전부터 일본이 선을 넘은 것이라고 중국 측이 생각하는 것 같고,
반면 한국과는 대화가 된다고 생각하고 있는 것 같습니다.
미국과의 동맹을 견고하게 유지하면서도,
우리는 중국과도 잘 지내야 하는 것은 바로 옆 나라라는 숙명이기도 합니다.
우리에겐 북한 문제가 있고
또 우리의 산업 경제 부문에서 양측과의 긴밀한 협력이 서로 필요하고,
한반도는 더 이상 패권국가들 간의 외교 갈등의 무대가 아닌 중재와 협상의 장이 될 수도 있는
그런 기회의 땅으로 만들 수 있는 조건, 환경이 조성되는 시간이 오고 있습니다.
...... [2022-11-15] IIS 지식정보네트워크.
Global Times
CHINA / DIPLOMACY
Kishida rhetoric on China adds obstacles to China-Japan relations: experts
By Chen Qingqing
Published: Nov 14, 2022 08:12 PM
Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida speaks at the start of the tenth annual review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty at UN headquarters on August 01, 2022 in New York City.Photo: AFP
Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida. Photo: AFP
After the US-Japan-South Korea meeting touched on the Taiwan question at the East Asia Summit, strongly opposing "any unilateral attempts to change the status quo" in the Indo-Pacific, the Chinese Foreign Ministry urged the relevant countries to abandon their Cold War mentality and stop building up small cliques.
Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida explicitly criticizing China during the latest ASEAN-East Summit in Cambodia adds new obstacles to Japan-China relations, despite the leaders of the two countries were reportedly to have their first in-person meeting in three years, Chinese experts said.
Following a US-Japan-South Korea meeting on Sunday on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit, the leaders of the three countries issued a joint statement strongly opposing "any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in waters of the Indo-Pacific." Kishida, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and US President Joe Biden also emphasized that their basic positions on the Taiwan question "remain unchanged," reiterating the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, the statement said.
The Asia-Pacific is a promising land for cooperation and development, not a chessboard for major-power rivalry. The countries concerned need to follow the trend of the times, abandon the Cold War mentality, stop piecing together exclusionary circles, and refrain from affecting peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific, Mao Ning, spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told a routine press conference on Monday.
If the countries concerned truly hope to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, what they need to do is to follow the one-China principle, and join China in unequivocally opposing "Taiwan independence," she said.
While the international community expecting the ASEAN-East Asia Summit as well as the upcoming G20 and APEC to bring new momentum to the world's economic recovery and help find new consensus for regional and global cooperation, some countries, particularly the major allies of the US, have actively hyped up the so-called concerns over China's influence in the region, casting a shadow over possible interaction between the leaders at the meetings.
Speaking at the East Asia Summit in Cambodia on Sunday, Kishida told other Asian leaders that "China was infringing on Japan's sovereignty" and escalating tensions in the region, Reuters reported. He also mentioned that ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits was important for regional security, voicing "serious concern over the human rights situation" in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
Compared to South Korea, Japan has been much more eager to cooperate with the US' strategy of containing China in the region, some experts said. Right-wing forces in Japan have been rising and hyping the "China threat," and Japan's substantive moves on the Taiwan question have gradually escalated over the past few years. Furthermore, Kishida's latest remarks dampen the atmosphere of a possible meeting between the leaders of the two countries, experts said.
"What Kishida had said reflects the strategic intention of Japan," Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Monday.
China should remain cautious about Japan's moves on China, including the use of multilateral mechanisms such as US-Japan-South Korea and Quad to contain China, and Japan may further flip-flop on the Taiwan question, pointing fingers at China's internal affairs, Da said.
Kishida will hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday at an APEC gathering in Bangkok, Reuters reported on Monday, citing Tokyo's top government spokesperson. The leaders spoke on the phone in October 2021 after Kishida's election, but this will be their first in-person meeting, the media report said.
"What the Japanese prime minister has said is like pouring cold water on the possible meeting of the two leaders… We won't count on one meeting to change the course of bilateral relations, but the two sides need to manage differences effectively amid rivalry of major powers," Da said.
2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan diplomatic relations, but the status of bilateral ties has been riven with difficulties given the influence of historical and geopolitical factors, experts said.
"Kishida faces growing pressure domestically, as his cabinet's approval rating fell to a record low and he needs to show this kind of strong stance on diplomacy to win more points," said Da, who also warned of duplicity from Japan in its China policy.
Over the past three years, Japan has been taking a much more active stance in cooperating with the US. For example, it has been provocative on the Russia-Ukraine crisis and adding problems to China-Japan relations, experts said.
"We hope that Japan won't escalate those moves in damaging bilateral ties, and we need such occasions to present our clear stances on matters related to the territorial integrity and international situation," Da said.
