With bilateral ties in a deep freeze since late last year, a flurry of planned China visits by Japanese lawmakers and business leaders has been interpreted as an attempt to break the ice ahead of November’s Apec summit in China.
However, analysts warned that these efforts to carve out a diplomatic opening with Beijing might not achieve much unless Tokyo sends a clearer signal to mend ties from the very top.
Relations reached their lowest point in a decade following Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks last November that a Taiwan contingency could constitute a “survival-threatening situation” that could allow Tokyo to exercise collective self-defence.
An eight-member cross-party delegation of junior lawmakers led by the Liberal Democratic Party’s Masahiro Takamura is visiting Beijing this week.