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Alyssa Chen

Japan has offered to ease visa rules for Chinese visitors as the two sides seek to step up engagements.
Japan will extend the maximum length of multiple-entry visas from five years to 10 years, while the maximum stay for groups of tourists will also be increased from 15 days to 30 days, Japanese media reported.
It follows China’s decision to add Japan to its visa-free entry scheme last month, allowing visitors to stay for up to 30 days.
The measure was announced by Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya on a visit to Beijing on Wednesday, where he met Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi and invited the latter to visit Japan when it is mutually convenient for economic talks.
Both sides agreed to promote cultural and educational exchanges, including more visits by young people, and work to increase the number of students studying in the other country, the Chinese foreign ministry said.
They also agreed to measures to promote tourism and boost connections between the media and think tanks to “play a positive role” in influencing public opinion.
The two sides also confirmed that dialogue mechanisms covering areas such as security and diplomacy would be restarted while talks on allowing Japanese beef and more milled rice imports into China would also resume.
Iwaya’s visit comes amid a drive to improve ties before Donald Trump returns to the White House next month.
“China-Japan relations are currently at a critical juncture for improvement and development,” Li told Iwaya, who was making his first visit to China since taking up the post in October.
Li called for stronger economic ties and exchanges between the two countries’ citizens, according to state news agency Xinhua, adding: “[We] hope the Japanese side can…constructively and properly manage differences.”
Iwaya said: “Japan hopes to advance Japan-China relations in the direction of building constructive and stable bilateral ties.”
Iwaya also told reporters before meeting Li that he hoped the meeting would be “fruitful” and help “restart Japan-China relations”. The last visit by a Japanese foreign minister to China was in April last year when his predecessor Yoshimasa Hayashi visited Beijing.
Before heading to China, Iwaya told Phoenix TV that he hopes to “build trust with Wang on a personal level through this visit”.
Wang urged Japan to “ keep its word on major sensitive issues such as history and Taiwan,” according to the foreign ministry in Beijing, and said it should maintain mutual trust and be objective about China’s development.
He also called for a joint effort to explore cooperation in “emerging” technology and in maintaining global supply chains
Talks between the pair, including a working lunch, lasted three hours, according to the Japanese foreign ministry, which said they had agreed to “reduce challenges and matters of concern while increasing cooperation and collaboration”.
It said the pair also acknowledged the importance of “direct and open dialogue” between them, adding that Iwaya’s visit was “valued as an important step” in developing relations.


Iwaya’s visit comes at a time when the two countries are working to stabilise ties under the new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba while Trump’s return to office has called into question future US commitments to its allies, including Japan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping met Ishiba in mid-November on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
Xi said he hoped for constructive relations, adding that he hoped Japan could “face history squarely” and “properly handle” major issues, including Taiwan.
Japan’s wartime record and a long-running territorial dispute between the two countries continue to cast a shadow over relations.
More recently Tokyo has expressed concern about China’s increasingly assertive military activity and attacks on Japanese citizens in China. It also protested about an incident in August when a Chinese warplane entered Japanese airspace, something Beijing insisted was unintentional.
In August, China officially charged a Japanese national, who had been detained last year, with espionage.
During the talks, Iwaya called for the prompt release of detained Japanese nationals for greater transparency about China’s espionage laws.
He also said that Tokyo is “closely monitoring the situation in Taiwan and recent military activities”.
Beijing regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has never ruled out the use of force to reunite it with the mainland. In common with most countries, Japan does not recognise Taiwan as independent, but it opposes any attempt to seize the island by force.
Iwaya also called for the early lifting of import restrictions on Japanese seafood, according to the foreign ministry in Tokyo. Beijing imposed the ban last year after Japan began releasing treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant.
In September Japan agreed to an international monitoring framework that allows other parties, including China, to engage in independent sampling and monitoring activities. Beijing is currently testing samples it collected near Fukushima under the agreement.
“China will begin to adjust relevant measures on the basis of scientific evidence, and gradually restore imports of Japanese aquatic products that meet standards and regulations,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Tuesday.


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Chinese Premier Li Qiang welcomes Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) ahead of their meeting in Beijing. Photo: Kyodo

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News

China

Diplomacy

Takeshi Iwaya made the announcement a month after Beijing added Japan to its own scheme to allow visa-free travel


Takeshi Iwaya made the announcement a month after Beijing added Japan to its own scheme to allow visa-free travel.


Japan

Li Qiang

Fukushima nuclear disaster and water release