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Xi Jinping’s visit to Japan ‘invaluable strategic driving force’ for bilateral ties: Chinese envoy
- Kong Xuanyou, China’s ambassador to Japan, said that people-to-people exchanges between the two countries are likely to ‘recover at a full scale in the near future’
- Kong added Beijing will ‘pay attention to the will of the people’ amid protests against its zero-Covid policy
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China’s ambassador to Tokyo said on Thursday that President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Japan as a state guest, if realised, would be “invaluable” for bilateral relations that have often been strained over issues that include a territorial row.
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Kong Xuanyou also stressed that China must continue to emphasise “leader-level” exchanges with Japan, weeks after the two Asian powers held their first summit in almost three years.
Kong’s remarks came as protests against China’s zero-Covid policy, involving lockdowns and quarantines under strict public surveillance, have been spreading at home, with some demonstrators making an extremely rare demand for Xi to step down.
While the ultra-stringent coronavirus restrictions have prevented the flow of people between the two nations, Kong expressed expectations that the Communist-led government will ease the measures down the road in consideration of Chinese citizens.
A state visit to Japan by Xi, who secured an unprecedented third five-year term in power in October, would be “an important thing and an invaluable strategic driving force” for the Sino-Japanese relationship, Kong said in an interview.
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