China and Japan must beat mutual hostility while also handling tariffs: envoy

China and Japan must work hard to improve public opinion towards each other, Japan’s top envoy in Beijing said, as the Asian neighbours move to stabilise ties amid shared concerns about tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

“The most difficult aspect of current Japan-China relations is the sentiment between the two peoples and, very unfortunately, there are still some negative perceptions that linger in Japan regarding China, and vice versa in the Chinese society regarding Japan,” said Kenji Kanasugi, who has been Japan’s ambassador to China since late 2023.

“This situation cannot be easily remedied overnight, yet what is imperative is to make steady progress, addressing concrete challenges one by one, and proactively promoting practical cooperation,” he told students and academics at Renmin University in Beijing on Tuesday.

Although international tourism reportedly recovered to pre-pandemic levels last year, Kanasugi noted that travel between the two countries appeared to lag, even as China resumed visa-free entry to Japanese citizens in November.

“Unfortunately, there are still some Japanese who feel anxious about visiting China due to differing reasons. We continue to raise this issue with the Chinese government on various occasions,” he said.

With ties already complicated by wartime history and territorial disputes in the East China Sea, relations between Beijing and Tokyo have been further strained, including over China’s import ban of Japanese seafood since 2023 after Japan released treated waste water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean.

Political friction has deepened as Tokyo aligned more closely with Washington’s efforts to contain China in recent years. Reports of Japanese academics and businessmen being detained in China and attacks on Japanese citizens have further soured public sentiment on both sides.

  

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